Two resolutions were passed at Wednesday’s student government meeting regarding the “Senate on the Road” program and the electronic billboards.

All but one senator voted in favor for the “Senate on the Road” program, with John Poshepny a senior finance major and student senate member, abstaining to vote.

Poshepny said he did not have a problem with the program itself and the problem was with the fact that an amendment was made to the resolution to allow student senate members to wear casual Eastern-wear instead of student government’s standard business attire.

“I do not like the casual idea,” Poshepny said. “I don’t think we should dumb down our wardrobe for students.”

Kaci Abolt, student vice president of student affairs and a junior communication major, co-authored the “Senate on the Road” program resolution with Student Senate Speaker Zach Samples, a sophomore history major.

Abolt said she had heard from students that the student government’s typical dressy wardrobe was off-putting to students, making students less likely to approach student senate members.

Poshepny argued that Springfield or Washington, D.C., senators did not attend meetings in casual clothes and Eastern’s student senate shouldn’t either.

He said he felt that, regardless of the meeting’s location, they should still maintain the typical business attire that senators have during regular meetings.

The resolution in favor of the electronic billboards passed.

The electronic billboard resolution was co-authored by Tommy Nierman, a senior management major, and Blair Jones, a junior accounting major.

Although the vote for the electronic billboards was unanimous, it was met with some discussion.

Poshepny said he was met with mixed reviews regarding the displays.

Roberto Luna, a senior finance major and student senate member, said a student told him there are enough advertisements coming from the internet and television, and the extra advertisements would be unnecessary.

Jones circulated a survey to students asking them what their opinion was about the electronic billboards. She said the survey was delivered electronically through a Facebook group.

Randall Gaffner, an economics graduate student, said he felt that the 121 students who responded to the survey was not an accurate representation of the larger student body.

“It’s like a 1-2 percent population of the school,” Gaffner said, “We can’t represent the student body if we only have 1-2 percent of the student body.”

Jones said she felt that, since the majority of students responded in favor of the electronic billboards, it accurately represented how the student body felt towards the electronic billboards.

Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].