Very often, a dynamic duo rises to the occasion to tackle tough issues. The two individuals combine the fruits of their leadership and wisdom in order to create a very tasty smoothie of success. With the recent election of juniors Neil Gerstein and Malcolm Squire as next year’s co-presidents of Ames High, one can only speculate as to the good fortune that they will spread like a wildfire throughout the school during the coming year. Clearly, a pair to match the likes of Romulus and Remus, Louis and Clark, or even Jake and Amir has arisen. "I was euphoric when [Principal] McGrory told us we won," said Gerstein. Gerstein said that he and Squire put a lot of effort into their campaign, and thinks he got a lot of the underclassmen vote from the campaign’s use of Ben Tuggle. Gerstein and Squire will be replacing this year’s co-presidents, seniors Seth Forsgren and Cory Baughman "We’re excited about winning the election and thankful for all our supporters, everyone that helped campaigned for us, and the people that voted for us," said Squire. "We have a lot of work ahead of us." A main issue Ames High will face next year is that selling bake sale goods, Crush cans, and candy bars for the band program will no longer be allowed. This measure is apparently trying to promote healthy habits for students, but it also eliminates a main source of funding for clubs and programs at Ames High. "We want to try to find new ways to fund raise to create revenue for clubs," said Gerstein. One of these new ways is having more fundraising dance parties. The Tucheze dance that SHEPH hosted during March turned out to be a very successful event, and having more next year would help generate revenue. Another idea that Gerstein and Squire stated is having bake sales after school hours, when these delicious fundraisers would not be against the rules. They suggested for these bake sales to possibly be held during sporting events. Clearly, Ames High is having more money issues than Mike Tyson. Not only are school clubs going to struggle to generate funds, but big budget cuts are causing our beloved teachers to be let go, left and right! "Good teachers who don’t deserve to be cut are being cut, just because they’re new," said Squire. As a result of these cuts, Gerstein said that bigger class sizes threaten to inhibit the learning of individual students. The new co-presidents have some plans on how to deal with some of the money problem. "We want to negotiate with the people in charge," said Gerstein. "We will talk to and write letters to the school board and the new superintendent [about the budget]." Squire said they want to look outside of Ames and contact other school districts to see how their schools are dealing with budget issues. Some other plans include putting up student artwork and changing the pictures to more current pictures, plans that "didn’t happen this year." Gerstein and Squire also state the need for better music in the hallways during passing periods. The introduction of a "student council iPod," might be a good idea, or maybe conducting a music survey to see what kids want to hear. The new co-presidents are firm supporters of indie rock, but basically anything would be better than what is playing have right now. "No more Lite 104.1," said Squire. Gerstein and Squire say they are looking forward to meeting the new principal, Spence Evans. They want to help the principal and students to be able to communicate well together, and have Evans attend many student council meetings. Gerstein is also impressed by the height of the tall, new principal. "He’s really big," he said. "I want him to give me piggyback rides." Gerstein and Squire want to keep communication lines open between the student body and them. Remember their awesome campaign video? "We may try to have some