In an election where Northwestern students have the chance to fix their gripes with the city by voting for their preferred alderman on Tuesday, many of these short-term Evanston residents have a hard time finding a reason to care.

With students spending only four or five years in Evanston, some say it’s hard to find reasons to be concerned about local politics.

“We kind of see this as a transient place for us,” said James Strong, a Weinberg senior. “We’re only here for four years and then we leave. … Some of the older students don’t feel very affected by (the election) and some of the younger ones don’t really know about Evanston.”

But the First Ward contest between Kellogg Prof. Allan Drebin and incumbent Ald. Arthur Newman has helped spark student interest.

Weinberg sophomore Ian Przybylinski, the outgoing Willard Residential College president, said he thinks Drebin’s link between NU and the city has heightened student awareness.

“We’ve had more interest in the aldermanic election this year than I think in any previous year,” Przybylinski said. “Part of the reason is because Drebin is running and he’s associated with NU.”

If he defeats Newman, Drebin’s influence in council might lead to more improved relations between NU and the city, including progress in the ongoing fair share debate questioning whether and how the university should make financial contributions to Evanston. Newman is currently a member of the the city’s three-person negotiating team seeking financial support from NU.

The majority of students living on campus are in the First and Seventh wards. Students living in the Foster-Walker Complex and on South Campus will choose between Drebin and Newman. Those living on North Campus east of Sheridan Road fall into the Seventh Ward, where issues such as Central Street commercial development and revitalization are at stake.

But “fair share,” “historic district” and even Drebin’s name are foreign to several students’ vocabularies, said Weinberg sophomore Sheila Gogate.

“The general response is, ‘Wait, which one’s Drebin?’ That’s basically what all students say to me,” said Gogate, who organized a debate between Newman and Drebin on March 1.

Gogate said she’s probably more informed about Evanston politics than the average student but said students need to realize the potential they have in this election.

“I think just on a very basic level, if NU doesn’t have a good relationship with the city, which we don’t, it affects the students,” Gogate said. “Just something simple like tuition going up. If we have to pay these head taxes, who’s it going to affect? The students.

“Even as short-term residents,” she said, “we do have a vested interest in the city.”

Many students, like Strong, have made the choice to keep their voter registration in their home town, where they feel like more than just temporary residents.

“When it came down to it, I still care about home issues,” said Strong, who is registered in Boise, Idaho.

ASG President Adam Humann said he helped register between 200 and 300 students in Evanston last quarter in a voter registration drive. The drive did not register as many students as the Fall Quarter drive for the national election, Humann said, but “it was a good supplement to what we did in the fall.”

Though students waiver on the stake their votes may have in Tuesday’s election, Weinberg junior Candace Unnerstall said she sees her vote helping future NU students.

“Students are always going to be here,” said Unnerstall, an ASG senator. “We keep the same views. My vote now is going to help students later on.”