Being a student who pays a good portion of student fees, I have taken a great deal of interest in the ongoing Student Senate debate on compensation for executive board members, or student vice presidents, as they are commonly known.

It is probably safe to say that a majority of students on campus have no idea what I am talking about. And why should you? Most of the discussion is being conducted over e-mail, outside the public arena.

I am one of the fortunate few that is “in the loop” in terms of this current discussion.

After last week’s senate meeting, where it was decided to conduct the discussion over e-mail, I stopped the speaker of the senate, Adam Weyhaupt, to ask if I could be attached to e-mail list. Permission was granted and, much to my surprise, my inbox has been flooded with messages from senate members responding to the debate.

I’m all for discussion. Better yet, I’m all for open discussion.

With open discussion, like Student Senate meetings, students at least have the option of hearing the debate on how much executive members are being compensated – especially since that money comes partially from their wallets.

Student Senate members are walking a fine line when it comes to violating the Illinois Open Meeting Act. Although the law does not specifically mention e-mail, nevertheless the spirit of the law has been violated.

Since the story broke in the newspaper Tuesday, the e-mails have suddenly stopped. I hope this doesn’t mean that my e-mail address was simply deleted from the senate list and the discussion is continuing without the only source to report on the debate.

The greater concern is that students who are not on the mailing list are not being included or allowed to hear the discussion taking place. Let me tell you from reading every line of every e-mail that has been sent to me, students really are not missing much.

What has evolved is that Senate members are feeding their own agenda. With Student Government elections coming up in a week, many of them are fueling their own platforms.

Student Body president Katie M. Cox sees it, too. In an e-mail to senate members she wrote: “. I feel like this arena (e-mail) is being used for politics due to (The Daily Eastern News) being included on the address list. Watch yourselves. Those of us who have been here as long as others of you, we know how you tend to see certain things and how you would tend to talk – when a person’s entire sense of speaking (or writing) changes after a petition is picked up – it is not flattering to that person in the least, from a credibility standpoint.”

Now, Katie and I do not always see eye to eye on the issues. And I think that is great.

She has her opinion, and I have mine. But on this one we are right on target.

The bottom line is simple. Senate members should not hide behind a “senate-only” mailing list to debate the issues. They should debate the issues, especially concerning student fees, in an open forum. This is where senate members can be held accountable for their opinions and their actions.

It appears that campaign season is upon us. The student body president sees it, the speaker of the senate sees it, and I see it. Now it is time for the students to see it too.