By Nicole Arpin | Echo
Last week, heads turned in the DC. Teetering curlicues of ice cream prompted excited chatter as students realized the sorely-missed soft-serve machine was running again. Who can we thank for its reestablishment? The Student Senate.
Haven't heard of it? You're not alone."No one really knows what Student Senate is," said Charlie Richert, sophomore student senator.
Even the Senate President feels the unawareness on campus.
"That's been a struggle for Senate in the past," said Jeffry Neuhouser, senior Student Senate president. "People don't know what Senate is, what our function is. I've always had people say, 'Oh, what are you doing this year?' 'I'm on Student Senate.' 'What's Student Senate?' Every single time you have to explain what we are."
This large but little-known cabinet of TSO meets weekly to represent the student body to administration and faculty. Its 17 members represent every hall on campus and bring issues from their peers to the Senate. When several senators carry the same issues to the meeting, Neuhouser invites the appropriate administrator to come discuss the matter.
At the beginning of the school year, student senators heard many people voice concerns about the new options in the DC. Neuhouser arranged for Matt Riley, the new director of dining services, to come meet with the Senate.
"So he came and talked to all of Senate and we got to know him a little bit, and that was when everyone said, 'We want our ice cream back!' and so he got that fixed," Neuhouser said.
After that initial dialogue, the Senate decided to form a food committee. A group of five senators now meet regularly with Riley to read through every comment card and provide constructive feedback.
In addition to meetings with administration, some faculty also arrange to meet with Student Senate for feedback on their classes. For example, Jeff Cramer, computer science professor, met with the Senate last year to discuss upcoming changes to the Foundations class. Cramer decided to incorporate some of the Senate's suggestions. A student senator was the first to recommend the book "The Sunflower," which is now required reading for the course.
Besides interacting with administrators and faculty, Student Senate also manages club funding. TSO gives the Senate $3,500 to distribute among Taylor's various clubs. After groups apply for club status, they present a potential budget before the Senate and request a certain amount of money. Last Tuesday, the Senate held its budget meeting and allotted appropriate funds to each club.
This is an unprecedented season for Student Senate. There are 20 clubs: a record number. The Senate is also larger than ever before. Its 17 members comprise the largest cabinet in TSO. As the legislative body, Student Senate has historically been filled with upperclassmen political science majors. That trend has also changed this year.
"We actually have a nice diversity of majors this year, and I'm really happy about it. History majors, political science majors, science majors, even some writing majors. That was a goal I didn't know I had until it happened: to have that diversity of voices that aren't just political science," said Neuhouser, who holds a political science minor.
Another of Neuhouser's goals for Student Senate is to spread truth and dispel rumors around campus.
"I hate rumors," Neuhouser said. "I don't want untruths being spread, but spreading what's actually going on and having that clear communication is what I really strive for."
Student Senate's effectiveness lies with the student body at large. Students must bring their concerns to their representatives in order to see those issues resolved.
"The more we can hear from the people that we represent, from your hall, from your friends . . . if you know, 'Hey, I have an issue,' go talk to your representative about it, and they'll bring it up in the meeting," Richert said. "If enough of us are hearing it around campus, then Jeffry will schedule to bring in an administrator. Then we can get our voices heard."
"You can tell anything to any senator. We'll do whatever we can to help," Richert said.
