The Government of the Student Body is the voice for the students. It is made up of representatives from all different backgrounds representing the more than 34,000 students at Iowa State. The GSB manages more than $2 million every year and has a very influential voice with the administration that it uses to make sure that the students are heard and taken care of.

With the upcoming presidential and vice presidential election for GSB, you may have seen advertising around the university, including chalk writing, yard signs, buttons and posters. These are all essential tools used to help advertise the candidates who wish to serve the students. And they are perfectly legal and respectable strategies as long as they follow the rules set forth by the election commission. But unfortunately, as with most if not all elections, there are bound to be some dirty tactics. There have been reports of candidates’ posters being torn down, illegal advertising, et cetera. Whether done by the candidates themselves, their campaign team, or just students who support a particular team, resorting to these actions is part of what gives politics a bad name.

We want students to get involved in the political process and there are plenty of appropriate and respectful ways to do that. But I believe that when campaigns turn ugly at any level of government, it turns people off from wanting to get involved, which I believe is part of the reason we have such a low voter turnout.

All of the candidates running for GSB president and vice president want to win so that they can make sure that the students have a voice and so that they can do what’s best for their fellow cyclones. They are all respectable candidates with a lot to offer. So if you want to support whomever you think would do the best job, great! Please do! But make sure you do it in a way that does not violate any of the election codes and gives this crucial election the respect and dignity it deserves.