Spring Break
Newest turnover could affect Student Senate
Speaker must appoint 8 senators
Bob Bajek / Student Government Editor
Issue date: 1/12/09 Section: News
As students adapt to a new semester, the Student Senate will have to adapt to the large turnover that happened last month.
Student Senate member Isaac Sandidge, who was the Student Senate speaker in the fall, said the turnover was the biggest one he has seen in the four years he has been on the senate.
Only 17 students ran for 25 open seats. Nine of them were up for re-election.
With eight new senate members elected and eight who will be appointed, Sandidge thinks inexperience will come into play. The former speaker said "rookies" will not speak up as much in the meetings or share their ideas in discussions.
Some of the challenges Sandidge acknowledged for the spring senate will be the continuity in the committees.
"With the big turnover, it's hard to get things done with people leaving the committees," Sandidge said. "The veterans have to step up."
As speaker, Sandidge said one of his goals was to foster teamwork. However, he ran into opposition from the senators on idealogical issues.
One example was the proposed expansion of required office hours from two to four hours a week. The proposed bylaw change failed in a 17-9 vote on Oct. 29.
"I appointed strong-minded people," Sandidge said. "I wanted to build a senate of wolves instead of the sheep that has been there for the last few years, but it is kind of biting me now."
Sandidge said as a senator, he will be more active in committee work and expressing his opinions again since, as speaker, he could not interject his opinion as he led the meeting.
Current Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin knows first hand the test of getting new members. In the spring election, he ran against five others for five seats and lost. Griffin fought for a fall appointment and gained it.
"In my speech (when I was appointed as Student Senate Speaker), I described how all five of the senators are currently not on the senate and how three left before the year started," Griffin said. "I wanted to be appointed and serve the students."
"The problem with students leaving the senate is a time-management issue," he said. "It is something that I will stress to the appointed senators so they understand what they are getting into."
Griffin said there are four at-large appointments, three off-campus and one on-campus appointment left. At-large appointments can be either on- or off-campus.
To fill these positions, Griffin said he will use advertising in The Daily Eastern News and faculty newsletter to spread the word of the eight open seats.
He also said he will e-mail the department chairs to pass the word of the available senate seats for faculty to relay to their classes. The speaker also wants to use the EIU Events e-mail.
Griffin said applications would be sent to interested students. They would have to write a personal statement on why they want to be on the senate and then schedule a one-on-one interview with Griffin.
The last step is approval by the senate on the consent agenda at a student senate meeting.
The speaker hopes to fill in the positions soon but said he will not fill the seats arbitrarily.
"If there are only five (qualified) people, I will go with five," Griffin said.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
Student Senate member Isaac Sandidge, who was the Student Senate speaker in the fall, said the turnover was the biggest one he has seen in the four years he has been on the senate.
Only 17 students ran for 25 open seats. Nine of them were up for re-election.
With eight new senate members elected and eight who will be appointed, Sandidge thinks inexperience will come into play. The former speaker said "rookies" will not speak up as much in the meetings or share their ideas in discussions.
Some of the challenges Sandidge acknowledged for the spring senate will be the continuity in the committees.
"With the big turnover, it's hard to get things done with people leaving the committees," Sandidge said. "The veterans have to step up."
As speaker, Sandidge said one of his goals was to foster teamwork. However, he ran into opposition from the senators on idealogical issues.
One example was the proposed expansion of required office hours from two to four hours a week. The proposed bylaw change failed in a 17-9 vote on Oct. 29.
"I appointed strong-minded people," Sandidge said. "I wanted to build a senate of wolves instead of the sheep that has been there for the last few years, but it is kind of biting me now."
Sandidge said as a senator, he will be more active in committee work and expressing his opinions again since, as speaker, he could not interject his opinion as he led the meeting.
Current Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin knows first hand the test of getting new members. In the spring election, he ran against five others for five seats and lost. Griffin fought for a fall appointment and gained it.
"In my speech (when I was appointed as Student Senate Speaker), I described how all five of the senators are currently not on the senate and how three left before the year started," Griffin said. "I wanted to be appointed and serve the students."
"The problem with students leaving the senate is a time-management issue," he said. "It is something that I will stress to the appointed senators so they understand what they are getting into."
Griffin said there are four at-large appointments, three off-campus and one on-campus appointment left. At-large appointments can be either on- or off-campus.
To fill these positions, Griffin said he will use advertising in The Daily Eastern News and faculty newsletter to spread the word of the eight open seats.
He also said he will e-mail the department chairs to pass the word of the available senate seats for faculty to relay to their classes. The speaker also wants to use the EIU Events e-mail.
Griffin said applications would be sent to interested students. They would have to write a personal statement on why they want to be on the senate and then schedule a one-on-one interview with Griffin.
The last step is approval by the senate on the consent agenda at a student senate meeting.
The speaker hopes to fill in the positions soon but said he will not fill the seats arbitrarily.
"If there are only five (qualified) people, I will go with five," Griffin said.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.
Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.
Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.
If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Dr. Wanda Brandon
posted 1/12/09 @ 6:59 AM CST
Robert, you are off to a great start. Strong first day story. I look forward to the informative and effective stories you will write during this semester and beyond. (Continued…)
wmbrandon
Dr. Wanda Brandon
posted 1/12/09 @ 7:02 AM CST
Robert, you have produced a strong and effective story for your beat. I look forward to reading the great stories to come. Dr. Brandon
wmbrandon
Dr. Wanda Brandon
posted 1/12/09 @ 7:04 AM CST
Sorry for the double post. Forgot to log in the first time.
Post a Comment