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COLUMN Caucuses cause confusion

Despite coming to a conclusion regarding a winner far earlier than the Iowa Caucus, the Nevada Caucus has been slower to get results back and is further proof of the antiquity in the caucus system. If the Iowa caucuses had had such an obvious winner as Sanders in Nevada at this point, Troy Price may still have a job, and the Iowa Democratic Party may still have the reputation that they lost after the asco earlier this month.

At this point, Nevada has only 60 percent of precincts reporting, and, when compared to the Iowa results, Iowa has been outperforming Nevada as far as the amount of results that have been put out. Despite Nevada having the prime example of a botched caucus in Iowa, they still failed to get their results out faster and have, in fact, put them out slower than their Iowan counterparts.

Why then, you may ask, has the narrative surrounding the caucus been entirely dierent?

Bernie Sanders has performed extremely well in the state and especially well with Latinx voters who have been seen as the state’s pivotal demographic from an electoral perspective (Nate Cohn has a perfect regression plot that illustrates this). The factor of Nevada, a far more diverse state than Iowa, made the result far less competitive than the Iowa result.

Additionally, according to the 2010 census, over 95 percent of Nevada’s population lives in urban areas, and a lot of that is concentrated in Washoe and Clark counties where Reno and Las Vegas, respectively, are located. is means that precincts located in these counties will have significantly more people than the precincts located throughout the state, and more voters from a numerical perspective will be counted sooner. is also makes it easier for analysts to extrapolate on the results of fewer precincts, given the geographical homogeneity of these precincts.

It is this amalgamation of evidence combined that shows us that the relative announcement and projection of a winner in Nevada should not be seen as evidence of Iowa’s specic malpractice or of the viability of the caucus system generally.

is, however, highlights something that I feel has gone under-discussed in this discussion of caucuses and their viability in selecting the nominee for the party. is is the rst cycle of these sorts of elections where it has been asked that the rst and nal votes should be tallied in addition to the nal state delegate equivalents.

While I think it is right for the information regarding these vote tallies to be reported, I think that it is important to account for this while judging the state parties on how eectively they have reported the results.

at being said, it has been known that these numbers were to be reported for a long time in advance, and though there isn’t as much money being put into these systems due to constraints of being a statelevel party, there was enough notice to know whether these systems would work or not.

Don’t get it twisted, the chair of the Nevada Democratic Party is only avoiding the same scrutiny and backlash that the Iowa party got because of the nature of the results, not because of how they were reported. BY ZACHARY.JOHNSON @iowastatedaily.com The results of the Nevada caucuses prove antiquity of the system

CAITLIN YAMADA/ IOWA STATE DAILY Columnist Zach Johnson says the Nevada caucuses are proof as to why the caucus system is outdated.

EDITORIAL

Small changes that help the environment

BY ISD EDITORIAL BOARD

We have all been guilty of throwing away items that could be reused in another way, shape or form. is has probably happened countless times, and many of us perhaps didn’t even give it a second thought.

ings like bagging your purchased items in plastic bags every time you buy something from the store, throwing away things around your home because you claim you don’t need it for its intended purpose and throwing away clothes that no longer t you can be overlooked, and the list goes on.

There are simple solutions to these actions that we are always reminded of and most people should be familiar with. When it comes to bagging any items we may have purchased, consider using a reusable bag. For things around the home that we think we no longer will need, a quick DIY Pinterest search will give you multiple ideas to reuse that item.

For clothes, if you have grown out of them or you simply won’t be wearing an item anymore, then you have the option of donating them to multiple dierent places or passing them onto another member of the family that can grow into them or may want them.

Many other things are suggested as a way to help our environment. Even if they are considered to be small things, they can still have a big impact if practiced regularly. When baking, one should consider using a metal pan that you are able to reuse for other baking and cooking purposes. Buying tin after tin each time you plan to bake something can quickly add up. is also includes any other type of cooking that involves using single-use tools.

Instead of using a disposable cup each time you pick up your favorite coee from a coee shop, consider getting a reusable cup. Places like Starbucks and many other coee shops sell reusable mugs under their own brand that you are able to use with when buying your daily dose of caeine. On top of reusable cups, there are the famously known reusable straws.

Additionally when it comes to reusable items, instead of using plastic spoons and forks each time you go out to eat, consider buying yourself a reusable utensil set that you can easily carry around in your purse or backpack. A reusable utensil set can be found on Amazon at an aordable price of less than eight dollars. One particular eco-friendly set can come with a fork, knife, spoon, chopsticks, straw and cleaning brushes.

Another small way that we can all help the environment is to save meal leftovers. Having leftovers does not mean that you have to eat the same thing multiple times for more than one day. Instead of throwing them away, you can take any extra food and turn it into a completely new dish. A lot of perfectly edible food could be saved from being disposed of if people took some time to get creative with their cooking to create new meals.

When you go out to eat, if you happen to end up unable to nish the rest of your meal due to the large portions some restaurants tend to serve, take it home with you. Most restaurants oer to-go boxes at the end of the meal for those that would like to take some home with them. Ask for a to-go box to enjoy your meal at another time or carry your own container.

Despite diering opinions on environmental issues, keep in mind that you do not need to completely change your lifestyle to help the environment. In whatever small way you are able to help the environment, it can add up to be impactful.

Editorial Board Annelise Wells, editor-in-chief Melanie De Anda, opinion editor Peyton Hamel, assistant opinion editor Seth Pierce, student Darryl Castaneda, student

Opinions expressed in columns and letters are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily or organizations with which the author(s) are associated.

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