Student Government meets for the first time this semester at their regularly scheduled Student Senate meeting.

The organization is comprised of senate members and five executive positions that represent the student body.

Student Senate meets at 7 p.m. Wednesdays in the Arcola/Tuscola Room, located on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Here are some of the plans the executives and the Student Senate speaker have for the year.

Levi Bulgar, Student Body President

Student Body President Levi Bulgar would like to get as many things done as possible this year.

“I would like to have more communication with University Board and the Black Student Union,” Bulgar said.

He would also like to work with former Student Body President Sean Anderson on the Campus Safety Initiative, revamp some old projects and work more with the Student Supreme Court.

“I just want to make sure that if we ever needed them, they would be there,” he said.

Issac Sandidge, Student Senate Speaker

Student Senate Speaker Isaac Sandidge wants to revamp the Senate Mentorship program.

“Basically, this is where students meet with senate members and talk about bylaws, resolutions and acclimate students to senate life,” Sandidge said.

He also said he would like to move forward this year and not dwell in the past.

Eric Wilber, Student

Executive Vice President

Eric Wilber, student executive vice president, said the biggest thing he wants to do this year is get more students registered to vote.

“We got 90 people signed up at First Night and want to work with other (Registered Student Organizations) to have certain events to increase voter registration this year, such as a Rock the Vote event during Constitution Week,” Wilber said.

He also wants to recruit more people for the Student Action Team, which is a group of students that go to Springfield each year and lobby for Eastern.

“We want to have a voice over in Springfield,” Wilber said.

Jackie Alexander, Student Vice President for Academic Affairs

Jackie Alexander, student vice president for academic affairs, plans on working to get more students involved in student interaction programs and having a major fair with academic advising.

“I want to have an academic resource booklet out by the end of the year as well, with student services and tutoring options in it,” Alexander said. “Students can have their resources right at their fingertips this way.”

Ryan Kerch, Student Vice President for Student Affairs

Ryan Kerch, student vice president for student affairs, said he would like to get two things accomplished this year.

“Firstly, I want to push forward ‘One Campus, One Community;’ so students have monthly opportunities to do organized charity work and be more active on campus,” he said.

The second thing he wants to do is make the Student Organization Counsel a more legitimate organization with more goals.

“Right now it is sort of a chance for leaders, executives or representatives of any RSO to meet,” Kerch said. “We want to push for sort of RSO funding, which will go towards the needs of these RSOs.”

Tiffany Turner, Vice President for Business Affairs

Tiffany Turner, student vice president for business affairs, is trying to get a full Apportionment Board.

Apportionment Board is where students and faculty members decide on whether University Board, Student Government and the Student Recreation Center will receive additional funding through the year and approve budgets.

After this is done, she would like the board to go around the resident halls monthly or bi-monthly to explain where different student fees go.

“We will go around informing students of where their fees are going towards,” she said. “Sometimes students spend their money and have no idea where it goes, so this will help them understand the process more.”

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].