The 37-seat Dane County Board of Supervisors has drawn no shortage of ire from this board in past years, most specifically centered on the primarily student-occupied fifth district, currently helmed by Analiese Eicher after her victory over challenger Michael Johnson in April.

Every 10 years, following the release of the U.S. Census, the districts comprising the board undergo a redistricting. Depending on who you talk to, Dane County could see anywhere from five to 18 seats consolidated into neighboring districts in the coming year. After racking up a whopping total of 264 votes in a district with upwards of 14,000 constituents during the last election, District 5, it may very well have been nice knowin’ ya.

On principle, the thought of UW students losing a substantial voice on the board by likely not having one of their own in the mix is surely nothing to celebrate on a campus in which activism and involvement in local affairs have been hallmarks. With but a few exceptions, including the battle to secure a student seat on the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee, students have by and large failed to show strong enough interest to warrant a lasting seat on a body such as the county board.

That’s not to say students have become irredeemably cynical, merely the affairs of the board and the quality of the candidates mean comparatively little when measured against city affairs whose effects can be readily seen by students. Few on this campus would claim to have any pressing stake in the realm of rural land usage and managing contracts at the airport, both responsibilities of the board; but when a bar gets shut down or police patrols are stepped up under direction of City Council, the impact is greatly more visible.

Should the fifth district be divvied up among the surrounding districts, a significant portion would likely be co-opted by District 1 under Sup. Scott McDonell, a man with significant knowledge of county affairs and no shortage of experience in interacting with constituents. We’d be in good hands, just hands that likely haven’t raised a beer bong in a few years.

Pragmatically, what it comes down to is this: mMaintaining unnecessary seats on the board, even if it does fill out the room a little more, is financially wasteful for the county and potentially a hindrance to the efficacy of the board’s decision-making process. If the historically poor showing in District 5 elections is any indicator, eliminating the district is merely trimming fat. We recognize that a student voice on the county board is valuable, but students’ failure to prove interest in, or even recognition of, this value may exempt them from the privilege.

Students would ideally have a permanent voice on the board to raise concerns on issues that impact them and could adequately represent their needs. Better yet it would be a refreshing surprise to have county candidates who aspire to more than handing out cookies near the dorms and putting together a rudimentary website to win elections.