As Student Government elections wrap up Wednesday, some senators fear for the upcoming year as half of the senate seats will remain vacant.

Liberal Arts and Sciences senator Obi Agba, a junior majoring in political science, said this year’s election held only 16 candidates, with only one not being an incumbent. In contrast, last year’s election saw 39 candidates run.

“We face a major scarcity in potential leaders,” Agba said. “I believe that part of the scarcity is partly due to the outdated resources on our website, which has long been a topic of discussion amongst our organization.”

Agba and student body President Jacob Ludwig, a senior double majoring in economics and political science, agreed that updating the web page for Student Government to make information more accessible will help with the problem.

“The idea is that, for students who may be inexperienced with Student Government [or] who may not understand the processes and everything, updating those resources can help them understand more and be more involved,” Agba said.

Ludwig said that student constituencies could appoint representatives to the senate to fill vacancies until a new senator is elected.

External Matters

The senate voted 21-0 to grant the rodeo club $30,000 for their 2023 Cyclone Stampede 60th Anniversary, with funds allocated to make the event free for student attendees.

Connor Pickhinke, a junior majoring in animal science and a member of the club, said the rodeo has had more than 1,000 attendants with four shows over two days.

“We have student-athletes coming from all over the Midwest coming into our university, and we’d love to fill the stands and be able to afford this event and make it as representative of Iowa State as possible,” Pickhinke said.

Pickhinke said the majority of the expenses for the event would be going to the rodeo stock contractor who will provide the animals at the rodeo.

The senate voted unanimously to allocate $588.18 to the Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization (AMMO) to attend the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky.

The student organization looks to improve students’ real-world marketing and business operations focused on agriculture, according to the student organization database. The conference provides networking opportunities with equipment dealers and industry representatives.

The Equestrian Club – Western Team is a student organization that promotes the sport and discipline associated with competitive horse riding, according to the student organization database. The club was granted $659.81 to cover travel and registration costs for competition semifinals in Weirsdale, Florida.

The team will compete for two days in four classes with an $85 registration fee per class. The senate voted 23-0 in favor of the proposal.

The bill was originally set to be addressed by the senate before their next meeting. However, off-campus senator Nicholas Tansey, a senior in political science, moved to waive the first reading, noting that the club’s competition is next week.

New Business

At their next meeting, the senate is set to address a proposed change to the bylaws which would offer stipends to directors of project-based opportunities.

Agriculture and life sciences senator Jennifer Holliday, a junior in agricultural studies, said the senate would need to vote to approve the work before issuing the stipend.

“The president and vice-president would meet with the director after a certain point in the semester hits and reflect on everything they have done so far to see if they are meeting the standards granted,” Holliday said.

The senate is also set to address a contract funding the Analysis and Social Services Evaluation Team (ASSET) for the fiscal year 2024. If passed, the contract will fund 5% of their fiscal budget ($268,541) through fiscal year 2024.

The senate will also address amendments to its contract with the Iowa State Daily. The amendment would add a one-year extension to the contract as well as increase the Daily’s funding to $540,000 per year and add a new cancellation process to the contract.