Iowa State has an extensive student government organization, not unlike many state and federal governments. And like state residents and U.S. citizens, ISU students are continually accused of having little knowledge of their student government’s structure.

Students are often unaware how and by whom they are represented. Detailed below is an insight into ISU’s sometimes mystic and bureaucratic system of student government.

SPECIAL STUDENT FEE COMMITTEE

At the top of the pyramid sits the Special Student Fee Committee. It consists of five administrators and six student members. Its main functions are to review the assessment and distribution of student fees, which all ISU students pay on a semester basis, and to make recommendations to ISU President Martin Jischke.

Special Student Fees Committee members allocate $115.48 in fees per student each semester to help support several ISU entities. Some of the line-items include: Memorial Union, $3.90; Hilton Coliseum , $9; Cy-Ride, $14.78; and GSB, $23.92.

Members of the 1995-96 Special Student Fee Committee include: Warren R. Madden, vice president for business and finance; Rabindra Mukerjea, assistant to the president for budget planning and analysis; Kathleen MacKay, dean of students; Willie Clark, campus organizations representative; Dan Mangan, president of the Government of the Student Body; Jennifer Sulentic, vice president of the GSB; Josh Hansen, GSB senator; Steve Elliot, GSB finance director; Cheryl Bartleson, president of the Graduate Student Senate; and Alex Soejarto, GSS finance committee member.

GOVERNMENT OF THE STUDENT BODY

The Government of the Student Body consists of three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. Like the federal government, the branches that govern GSB are equal, but independent of each other.

Executive branch

Members of GSB serve as official representatives of the student body. The government’s executive branch consists of the president and the vice president. The GSB Cabinet is headed by the chief of staff. One of the cabinet’s employees is the Clerk of the Senate. The finance director and the Finance Committee are an extension of the cabinet. The executive secretary/treasurer is under the finance director’s authority.

The president, vice president and the finance director receive free tuition for one academic year. They also each receive the equivalent of the price of a single residence hall room and the price of a full meal plan. The chief of staff and the executive secretary/treasurer both earn minimum wage salaries of ten hours per week. Dan Mangan is the GSB president. Jennifer Sulentic is the vice president.

Cabinet

Cabinet members include: Dan Mangan, president; Jennifer Sulentic, vice president; Scott Vinson, chief of staff; Matt Dummermuth, director of legislative affairs; Puneet Arora, director of academic affairs; Brad Feuerhelm and Kirk Kolhof, Freshman Council co-directors; Amber Powell, director of human relations; Sarah Mueller, director of lectures, arts and entertainment; Adam Gold, director of recreation and intramurals/events; Ben Bartles, director of student information; David Schooff, director of traffic and transportation; and Jason DeStefano, clerk of the Senate.

Finance Committee

Finance Committee members include: Steve Elliot, director; Erika Schmidt, executive secretary/treasurer; Alan Beck, James Cashman and Adam Obrecht, Senate representatives; Brian Allen and Nader Badr, alternates; Heidi Christensen, TyWanne Hill, Todd Swansen and Jeremy Williams, at-large members; and Jennifer Bass and John Hobson, alternate at-large members.

Legislative branch

The legislative branch of the GSB consists of the Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Senate is made up of student representatives by colleges, residence areas and diversity. Each Wednesday the Senate holds a session where it passes bills and resolutions and makes amendments to the GSB Bylaws. The vice chairman or chairwoman presides over a session if the chair is absent. The sessions are chaired by the vice president.

Residence senators

Residence senators include: Ginger Cowger, vice chairwoman and UDA senator; Alan Beck and Kerri Moegenburg, RCA; Matthew McLaren, TRA; David Ammann, Nate Baldwin, Eric Bauer, James Cashman, Matthew Goodman, Troy Oetker, Ryan Raschke and Jason Waldron, off-campus; Brian Allen, USAC; Carolyn Jones, Panhellic; Jason Springer, InterFraternity.

One more position as an off-campus senator is open. Buchanan-Westgate is not represented.

College senators

College senators include: Alan Beck, Sandra Frantzen, Scott Milburn, Brian Sayer and John Tannehill, LAS; John Holtan, Mark Nimmer and Ryan Pletka, Engineering; Josh Hansen and Adam Obrecht, Agriculture; Brian Hille and Travis Keister, Business; Jamey Hansen, Education; Chris Juhl, Design; Peter Van Alstyne, FCS.

The College of Veterinary Medicine is not represented

Student senators

Student senators include: Nader Badr and Gustavo Herrarte, international; Stein Avloes, Robert Livingston and Wassef Masri, graduate; Rick Howard, nontraditional.

There is a disabilities and minority seat open. There are two openings for non-traditional senators.

Senate Judiciary Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee acts as a judicial representative for the legislative branch of GSB. Its functions include proposing and administering judicial review concerns within the Senate.

Senate Judiciary Committee members include: John Tannehill, director; Nate Baldwin, Ginger Cowger, Carolyn Jones and Scott Milburn, Senate representatives; Konni Cawiezell, Gregory Hewitt and Kurt Moffitt, at-large members.

Judicial branch

The GSB Supreme Court makes up the judicial branch. This body of the government is responsible for hearing grievance cases. Cases must be filed by a registered student organization, a student or a group of students.

Supreme Court members include: Aaron Cooper, chief justice; Trisha Sandahl, chief justice pro tem; Andre Amador-Batine, Dave Bauer, Randy Childers, Fred Silva, Chad Stevens and Mark Veldman, associate justices.