Penn State students announced Sunday their intent to form a "Student Party" in an attempt to obtain three State College Borough Council seats that will be on the ballot in November.

The candidates planning to run will be announced within the coming weeks, the students said.

"Things aren't going to change for the better if students don't get represented on the council," Martin Austermuhle, co-founder of Students for Accountability and Reform and one of the organizers of the Student Party, said.

The party hopes to address issues concerning fair housing and zoning as well as parking, Austermuhle said.

"We are going to sponsor a lot of educational workshops, so students understand how the are getting screwed over," Austermuhle said.

The Student Party has an unusual aspect as well.

The party is comprised of people from all over the political spectrum such as conservative and liberals who are usually butting heads, said Sean Clark, member of the Penn State Conservative Coalition who is also organizing the new party.

"We come together to get students represented," Clark said.

However, council member Thomas Daubert said it is not the council that is taking advantage of the students, but rather the developers and the landlords.

"If it wasn't for us, they would be living in disgusting conditions," Daubert said.

Students barely ever show up for council meetings, but get upset about actions that are passed, Daubert said.

"We have to have rules or else there would be riots," he said.

Daubert is weary about students having enough time to take on the responsibility of becoming a council member.

"I wouldn't care if a student became a council member, but they have to know that it's a lot of time," he said.

Being a council member requires about 15 hours of work per week, and members need to be up to date on the issues, he said.

Daubert also questioned student members' dedication to the council after they graduate.

Students are in and out of State College so it may be hard to find someone to make a commitment, Daubert said.

But, Clark said if any of the candidates were elected they would stay in State College after graduation to ensure that student needs are being accommodated.

"We made sure they (candidates) knew the process and time commitment and they are even willing to stay here past graduation if need be," Clark said.

Even if the Student Party is able to find candidates who are willing to stay, Daubert also thinks it would be hard to get students to the polls to support them.

"Students notoriously never vote," he said.

Organizers of the Student Party said they have planned mechanisms to get students involved.

"We are going to have major voter registration drives to get students to register," Clark said.

This would not be the first time a student ran for Borough Council. The council has had a student member before and it didn't work out well, Daubert said.

But organizers of the new party are confident their prospective candidates would do a good job and better represent Penn State students. Austermuhle wants to make the council aware of student problems.

"We are forcing them to address certain issues," he said.

The Student Party thinks it will be able to rally enough votes to win at least one seat, but Daubert said the most student votes the council has ever had was about 300.

Daubert said a more effective method to address student concerns would be to increase interaction between the Undergraduate Student Government and the council.

"We used to do that, but I don't know why we don't anymore," he said.

As a third party, the Student Party would not be required to rally votes for the May primaries.