Student Senate prepares for cigarette littering law

Student Senate members planned to educate students on the cigarette littering law at their meeting Wednesday. The law, which considers throwing cigarettes on the ground as littering, will be enacted Jan. 1.

Those who are caught littering will be convicted with a class B misdemeanor with a fine, which will not exceed $1,500. If convicted a second time, it will be considered a class A misdemeanor. 

The third conviction and any other convictions following may result in a class 4 felony, with a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment of no less than one year and no more than three years.

The senate will be putting the smoking designated areas map on the student government website. 

Bianca Tomlin, the University Enhancement committee chairwoman, said they will also be printing and handing out fliers explaining what is happening in January.  

“I am not a smoker, but I would not like my fellow smoking students to get a $1,500 fine for littering their cig buds,” Tomlin said. 

Executive Vice President Mitch Gurick announced four members from Student Senate, as well as himself will be attending the Illinois Board of Higher Education- Student Advisory Committee from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Public Affairs Center Conference Room at the University of Illinois. 

Darnell Tyms, the student vice president for student affairs, said the Student Organization Cabinet also had a bump in participation from registered student organizations across campus. 

Originally, only a couple of RSO’s went to SOC meetings but recently 19 organizations participated. 

The senate also announced they will be hosting an EIU Feud Trivia Bowl from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Pemberton Hall, co-sponsored by the student academic affairs committee, as well as the Association of Honors Students. 

The trivia game will be formatted like Family Feud and teams can only have a maximum of 10 people. 

The senate’s next meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Arcola-Tuscola Room in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.