The election is finally over, but the smoke has far from cleared since the latest GSB election. Controversy after controversy has made its way to the front pages of the Daily. Every day a new scandal would pop up and rattle a lot of people. Everybody and his or her brother has an opinion about the candidates and how the entire election has been run, but this is my column and I call the shots.

I tried to stay neutral. I tried to keep my mind open about the candidates and the election in general. I was going to look at the facts and only the facts. I swore to look at what each candidate stood for and then make a well-rounded, thoughtful decision. But then the mud started flying, and I had to dive under my desk for cover. When I was basically hit head-on by one of the many crap-laden balls of campaign “information,” I decided it was time to speak up. I was embarrassed by the way the whole campaign process went down. Accusations left and right, promises of a kinder, gentler, “Adam Gold-free” nation, and a lot of concern about rules. It seems people didn’t like the guidelines set up by the election officials, and some of the candidates decided not to follow them.

Two slates were fined for displaying campaign material outside the “campaign zone.” A poster and a button had the editors of the Daily and a political science professor crying “free speech, free speech,” and the candidates just played like they were innocent victims of the mean, nasty election commission.

This rule was set up last year to cut down on the amount of litter in Ames. I’m sure many Ames residents could care less about who is running for a GSB seat and even if they did, they wouldn’t want a zillion posters put up, beautifying the streets, anyway. The GSB election is an Iowa State University affair and should stay within the confines of the university. A lot of ground can be covered on campus. The residence halls, university- owned buildings, and the Memorial Union allow plenty of space for campaigning without taking over Welch Ave.

Come on, the candidates are adults (even if they may not act that way) and they knew the rules before they decided to play this game.

Brad Lozan, candidate for GSB president, knows the rules, all right. He seems to know exactly what to say and when to say it. He knew it was fine and dandy to distribute information to greek houses and he took full advantage of it.

On Monday night, Lozan came to the front door of my sorority house and distributed a pamphlet into each and every mailbox. He was gone before anyone was fortunate enough to read the helpful information.

In a nutshell, Lozan and his running mate, Melissa Cross, basically stated that Amber Powell and Todd Swanson weren’t really greek and only joined the greek system at ISU to get votes. Lozan must have assumed that most of the people in the greek system are so shallow and clueless that they would only vote for a candidate who was greek. Greeks don’t look at the issues and the character of the candidate, just the letters on their chest, so it seems.

The GSB elections are turning into one big circus, and unless some things change, we will be sure of an exact replay next year. Rules are meant to be followed, not skirted around. Candidates should be chosen on their merit, not their greek letters, and ISU students have to be wise enough to know the difference.

Leana Benson is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Madrid.