Your mild-mannered roommate or an opinionated fellow classmate could one day live a double life as the head of State College government.

At least that is what Gavin Keirans, executive director of a student advocacy group, said could become a reality.

A hypothetical student candidate could win the upcoming mayoral election in 2009, Keirans said on a recent blog entry on the Safeguard Old State (SOS) Web site, safeguardoldstate.org.

State College Mayor Bill Welch won the last mayoral election with 2,506 votes. If only 7 percent of the student body were to vote for a student candidate, he or she could carry the election, Keirans said.

"I think the State College economy depends on the student body," Keirans said. "It should have student input."

Keirans said an ideal candidate for mayor should be more accepting of student-led initiatives, while keeping the best interests of the town in mind.

"I think, more than anything, a student mayor would help to promote student ordinances and help to promote student values," he added.

A student candidate, he said, should be "someone who can work well with other organizations and isn't single-minded."

Welch said it is important for students to understand the nature of the job.

"I don't have a budget. I don't tell the chief of police what to do," Welch said.

Welch said the mayor essentially "has no power," except the veto power over council ordinances.

Keirans remains critical of the way the State College Borough Council has treated the student body.

"There's so many initiatives to please everybody but the students," Keirans said. "Mainly, they need to reach out to the student body."

Keirans would like to start next fall by getting people to register to vote in this year's presidential election.

"If we get 10,000 students to register to vote, we would need only one-fourth of the students to vote in the [mayoral] election," he said.

Welch also encouraged students to become more involved in voting.

"I invite students at convocation to register and vote," Welch said.

Rachel Harpham (senior-theatre) said a student mayor would not have a successful term because he or she would only look out for the welfare of students, who are only a part of the State College community.

Emily Orner, a resident of State College, said she would be open to the idea of voting for a student mayor, someone she believes would be able to "touch base with the students."

Mike Fullington, the manager of The Phyrst, 111 1/2 E. Beaver Ave., agreed.

He said he would consider voting for a student as mayor, and jokingly added, "Actually my nickname is the mayor of State College."

Keirans also said another way Borough Council can improve dialogue with the student body is to establish a student subcommittee.

Welch, who has won four consecutive terms as mayor, said the mayor of State College is a position that has no term limit, and he intends to run for re-election in 2009.