If LSC ruled the town

It's the year 2016 and three Lyndon State students sit on the select board for the town of Lyndon. They have fired the police chief and hired one of their buddies. College students are now making all the decisions on how the town should be run.

It may seem far-fetched, but it could happen. Students who live on campus can technically claim residence in the town that they go to school in, meaning they can register to vote in the town they live in.

Student Government President John Kleinhans, who is currently running for a national position in the College Republicans, also plans to run for state office after graduation. He believes that students could have a great impact on the town.

"The town of Lyndon is much smaller and the ability to make a big impact is greater," he said. He compares the town to the United States. He often says that one vote in a presidential election doesn't mean all that much but in a smaller election, it could have a huge impact.

 "We always talk about how boring the town of Lyndon is," said Kleinhans. "This would be our opportunity to do something."

He does note that students often complain about things on campus and it is still hard to get them to come out and vote for SGA elections.

"If we defeat apathy on this campus and show there is the ability to make a difference," he said he thinks this could happen.

Kleinhans thinks students voting and running for positions in Lyndon would help both parties in the long run.

"The students and the town need to interact," he said. "Without the college it would be a huge economic downturn. Students can make a difference, a huge difference because we bring a fresh prospective and new blood."

If LSC's residential students registered to vote in Lyndon, they could potentially outnumber the voters who come out to town meeting day.

The town of Lyndon has 3,111 registered voters. Last year at town meeting day, 468 of them visited the polls for the Australian ballot portion and just 174 attended the actual floor meeting.

During the last presidential primary Lyndonville had 1,119 of its registered voters vote.

Lyndon State College has about 1,400 students, approximately 900 of whom live on campus. According to Student Government Association President John Kleinhans, only about 200 of them vote in the SGA elections, a number he is happy about, but would like to see improve.

Most college students are over 18 and do in fact register to vote, but most register in their hometown. If they desire to, however students can register to vote in the town they go to school if they live on campus. For the 900 students who live on campus, their residence is technically 1001 College Road, Lyndonville, Vt., an address that town clerk Lisa Barrett does say she sees sometimes on the registered voters list.

"We would be ecstatic if students came out to vote," said Barrett. "There is so much work that goes into an election, we would rather see 1,000 people than 200."

If a student registered in Lyndonville they could even run for a position if they so desired. Lyndonville runs on an Australian ballot, which means the elections are done through poll voting. In order to get your name on a ballot you must fill out a petition and garner the proper amount of support in order to make a run at the seat.

It's not unheard of for college students to run for local governmental positions. Several years ago a student at Dartmouth ran for town treasurer and won. However, it didn't take long for the town to become unhappy with her work. She stopped showing up and was not actually doing her job.

In Loretto, Minn. the mayor is a senior at St. Cloud University. Kent Koch is also on the baseball team at St. Cloud. He did not return phone calls to The Critic regarding this story. However in an interview with ESPN, Koch said he ran for the position because it's something he always wanted to do and he only had to take three credits in order to graduate this May.

Barrett says she thinks a college student on the ballot could improve the numbers at town meeting day. First off,  if all the students who lived on campus came to the meeting it could possibly outnumber the people from the town who attend town meeting.

She also thinks that the number of townspeople who come to the meeting could improve as well. She doesn't think it would be because a student would be on the ballot, but more likely because it would create competition.

"Historically when you have a challenged office you get a bigger turnout," said Barrett. "It comes down to choice."

She isn't sure if a student could win office.

"Depends on the person, and what they are running for," she said.

 "We've had people write in cartoon characters," said assistant town clerk Michele Maccalous, a situation that has also occurred in student elections at Lyndon.

"Someone who grew up in the area might have a better chance," said Barrett. She explained that she would like to see a student who is committed to the position, but she fears the student would leave after graduation and leave a seat behind, and most positions are three-year terms.

Social science professor David Plazek doesn't see it happening any time soon.  

"No, I don't think students would do that in large numbers," said Plazek. He thinks college students are still too young to think about government.

"I always say there are two parts to your life," said Plazek. "24 and below and 25 and above."

He says that the 25 and above population are the people that begin to care about politics.

Plazek doesn't see students getting involved, because most of them don't pay taxes in the town so it would be hard for them to care about what the town spends money on. He did say that if students cared about things that were being voted on it may be a reason for them to vote.

"When things can materially affect daily lives in that town students may vote," said Plazek.

However, he thinks there would be no logical reason for students to care about the town politics, especially if a student does not make their full time residence in Lyndon.

Several students, including Kleinhans and former SGA President Andrew Chapin, have shown interest in starting a political career after college and Plazek thinks the town government would be the perfect place for a student interested in such a career to gain experience and get settled into that type of career.