Iowa State Student Government election polls open Monday. Eleven of the seats on the ballot are represented by the United Residents Off-Campus (UROC). Daniel Hayes, a senior in political science, is one of 11 candidates running to serve as a senator for the college.

What do you hope to accomplish in this position?

My big thing is making sure that there’s a community sense on Iowa State’s campus, which is why I got involved in Student Government in general. I think that when it comes to what students care about and stuff, a lot of people, they get the resources, they get the civic engagement and they get everything else. I think that social events that can bring people together for the purpose of being together serve a much greater purpose than simply something tangible, and that’s something I’ve always been really passionate about, is bringing people together in that sense. Other things I’d like to accomplish would be something to go along with Homecoming Week. In Student Government, there seems to be a lack of representation for clubs in particular. There’s representation for colleges and for areas of living…I feel that just having somewhere to lobby for clubs’ rights would be a big thing for me. When it comes to ClubFest and stuff like that…they’re only effective if you know what you’re looking for, so providing some way for clubs to really be able to showcase themselves. 

What do you think is most important for this position and why should students care about the election?

Most importantly, I feel like it’s just the range of possibilities that Student Government has. When you’re talking about any sort of change that you’d want to see on campus, Student Government, besides just direct contact to the administration, would be the place to go. Especially when you have, again, just so many student-operated things because of Student Government. Just realizing that there’s so much that could be happening as long as we put in the effort. There are just major problems that happen for college students when a lot of your life circulates around a couple of people in a board room making decisions that affect thousands of students.

What do you think makes you specifically qualified for this position?

I got involved with Student Government my freshman year. I was just at-large on the PR committee. This is my fourth year in Student Government, and I feel like experience can lead into possibility in the future. I feel like I know what is possible and I’ve brought my scope of knowledge of how to get things done. When it comes to not only ideas but also effectiveness of implementing those ideas, I feel like I’m a qualified candidate and I’ve done well in my role as a senator this year. 

What do you specifically want to accomplish for off-campus students?

I’d like to see student safety extend to all the areas that students live in, and for UROC students in particular. I know that [Frederiksen Court] doesn’t have all of their bus stops covered for poor weather conditions, as well as there are crosswalks that need to be put in. 

What would you do to promote a greater understanding between students and Student Government?

That’s sort of the driving point about making a community. And that’s why I think that a lot of the events where people just get together and interact with each other without the purpose of necessarily some resource, but just for the purpose of fun or something like that, those are the ones that are going to make it so that students can interact with their representatives and realize some of their people and their good intentions. When you see who’s representing you, you’re going to be able to tell you’re at least going to make an opinion. We do try really hard to make student life better.