I’ve attended a lot of Student Senate meetings in my four years at Eastern and I must say I’ve never seen a senate fight so hard for something they believe in as they did Wednesday night.

Last Wednesday, senate members fought hard to make sure students got what was in their best interest by not confirming the appointment that was up for Charleston City Council liaison. By watching the senate meeting first-hand I was able to see that senate members did their homework before the meeting in terms of this issue.

Past senates fell behind in this area. It has been my opinion that often times senate members rubber stamp issues that are before them because of a lack of knowledge in the subject they are voting on.

The City Council liaison is the direct link between the student body and the city of Charleston. It was obvious from the depth and number of question being asked that the candidate up for the appointment was less than qualified because he had never met the mayor, had never been to a city council meeting and had never been to a Student Senate meeting before Wednesday.

Senate members were right when they said that the position of city council liaison was not an entry-level position. I would rather have a representative who knows a little about the job representing me.

Senate members saw one important thing Wednesday night? There are a lot of big-ticket issues before the city that will impact Eastern students.

One of the biggest items the city of Charleston and in the community of Eastern are facing is the rental inspection program. Eastern students have a lot at stake with this ordinance because it will hopefully improve the

quality of housing available to them.

Having a representative that is well informed with the governmental systems of Eastern and Charleston along with the needs of Eastern students is a crucial part of this position.

The current senate has set a good precedent, especially this early in the semester, by challenging the issues that come before them. Hopefully when budget time comes around, senate members will apply the same critical thinking skills they did Wednesday night when they approve the budgets of the five fee-funded boards that come before them.

If Wednesday night’s senate meeting was any indication of the type of leadership used in representing students, then students can be confident that proper discussion and thought goes into each issues that appears before the senate.

Chris Sievers is a senior journalism major and a biweekly columnist for The Daily Eastern News. His e-mail address is [email protected]. Columns are the opinion of the author.