Our message to the newly elected officials of the City of Ames is simple: Keep Iowa State students in mind. 

While many students only stay in the city for about four years, they play a significant role. Beyond supporting the economy and working at local businesses, students provide diverse perspectives to the community. Not to mention the cutting-edge research and projects students head up at Iowa State.

While they are different from permanent residents, students should be seen as the important constituents that they are. After all, the decisions made by city officials not only affect permanent residents, but Iowa State students, too.

During the campaigns, there was notable discussion of student issues — some of it good and some of it, well, less than aware of how issues impact students. Now is the time to make progress on those issues.

Student Government Speaker Zoey Shipley told the Daily she hopes the officials will continue bringing students to the table now that the campaigns are done.

“I don’t think we’ve all sat down to realize how much of an impact that Iowa State’s campus as a whole has on Ames and its citizens along with the students,” Shipley said. “I really would like to see more engagement between the citizens.”

Additionally, the discussion around students at the city level has at sometimes been less than ideal.

And sometimes, officials’ comments have been ignorant at best when talking about student issues. The ISD Editorial Board has a few particular issues that impact students that we’d like to see the city work on. 

Housing

“Student slum” was a term recently thrown around in a housing discussion. Comparing students to those in the movie Animal House is not only stereotypical, but highly inaccurate. While there are very clearly issues with some students breaking social etiquette, to imply that all students are the problem is unfair. 

If you have not already done so, check out the Daily’s series on the ordinance on occupancy limits. We don’t ask that you make the decision on this ordinance solely with students in mind, but we do ask that you at least bring them to the table. Housing is one of the largest expenses that students pay and with already rising tuition costs, we must keep it affordable. 

Additionally, we agree with and support the Student Government resolution that discourages the ordinance be based on off-street parking spaces.

Lease gaps are another issue that students face. While this is something issued by landlords, it’s a little naive to think the City of Ames doesn’t play a role. We ask this, if permanent residents were forced to be homeless for a few days, to weeks, to months, would you think the same about the issue? If students are displaced, help provide them a resource for storage and temporary housing. Of course this isn’t something the City has to do, but if it were operating in the best interest of all its constituents, it would. 

Sexual assault

Moreover, at a candidate forum, one official said that they’d never thought of sexual assault as a city problem, but rather a university problem. This idea, while probably based in ignorance, is heartbreaking for the number of members in our community that are coping with sexual assault.

If a sexual assault occurs off campus, what agency could they report to? Ames Police. If a survivor decides to go to the hospital for care, where do they go? Mary Greeley Medical Center. These are just two resources for sexual assault survivors that the City of Ames is responsible for.

And if that isn’t enough to show why it’s not just a university problem, we encourage you to think of all the sexual assault survivors — some Iowa State students and some not — and imagine telling them it’s just a university problem.

To help prevent this problem, the ISD Editorial Board encourages more education about consent. The Ames Public Schools should set a precedent for other public schools by including education about consent in sex ed programming. Start talking about sexual assault early and instilling in our youth and community members that sexual assault is never OK and is always the fault of the perpetrator.

Moreover, help create a supportive environment for survivors. Things like Iowa State Police’s Start By Believing campaign encourage people to believe survivors when they tell you what happened to them. Create a culture where “what were you wearing?” or “were you drinking?” never come across to place blame on the victims. 

Safety and a welcoming environment

In the past year, we’ve seen white supremacy posters and stickers found around the community. The City of Ames officials should play an active role in showing that we have zero tolerance for such actions. Let’s create more education surrounding cultural competency and conversations that help us better understand someone who looks different, worships different, speaks different or identifies different than you. 

It’s also important to understand that things like white supremacy posters or the continuous occurrences of sexual assault will make people feel unsafe. Things like lighting and cameras are not only a way to help make areas more safe, they also can help individuals feel more safe, which better helps their wellbeing. Moreover, pedestrian safety is something we need to look into further. 

Listening

While these are just three of the top issues we feel you should prioritize to keep students in mind, there are plenty more. Things like CyRide, Campustown development, mental health and bike safety are just a few more. 

Reach out and listen to students. There is no doubt that students could be more engaged with local government. However, expecting students to show up to City Council when meetings are not held near campus and at a time when many are in club meetings and doing homework, may not be the best way to engage students. Take it upon yourselves, to go listen to students by inviting feedback on social media or through email and by hosting discussions on campus. 

Thank you for choosing to serve the community. Our only hope is that you’ll keep all members of the community, including students, in mind.