The Student Senate Wednesday will discuss a bylaw change involving student representation and a bill allocating funds from the Apportionment Board reserve account and the senate budget.

Under the current student representation system, a Recognized Student Organization council was created and RSO tables were set up throughout the campus for the purpose of informing students of senate activities.

Before the current system took effect, senate members picked one RSO and attended their meetings twice a month to tell the members of senate proceedings.

The current system has been undergoing debate for the past two weeks after legislation was introduced proposing a return to the old system.

The new bylaw proposal combines elements of both systems.

“We’re trying to cover more students,” Joe Robbins, speaker of the senate, said Tuesday.

The bylaw change would implement a survey to go with RSO renewal/registration forms in order to gauge the need for senate members attending RSO meetings, Robbins said.

Depending on the number of RSOs that request that representation, the number would be divided among senate members, so members may end up going to two or three RSOs, Robbins said.

The second provision of the proposed new student representation system is to hold three to four informational meetings throughout the semester for students, which is similar to the RSO Council.

Four new bills allocating money for the AB reserve account will also be discussed.

Two of the bills allocate money to the University Board to clear its concert debt from Cirque Eos and the third will go toward student payroll.

A line item transfer will take $12,000 previously allocated for a graduate assistants and transfer it to the concert budget to cover debt. The other bill for the UB will allocate $5,586 from the AB reserve account to clear additional debt.

The third allocation of $2,669 is for student payroll and scholarships.

A fourth allocation will allow a total of $2,100 to pay for expenses for Robbins, Student Body President Hugh O’Hara and Jessica Catto, student vice president for academic affairs, to attend the Conference of Student Government Associations as presenters. The conference is taking place at Texas A&M University Feb. 23 to the 26.

All of the AB bills and both bylaw changes must be tabled and voted on next week.

Two additional senate bills tabled from last week will be voted on.

The first is a bill allocating $2,893 for expenses for three senate members to attend the Conference on Student Government Associations.

In addition, a bill allocating $100 for a university vehicle for those attending the Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Advisory Committee this weekend, will be voted on.

In other business, two resolutions will be presented concerning a presentation of room and board rates and encouraging non-Student Senate members to participate on Student Senate committees.

The 2002-2003 room and board rates were decided on last week by the Bond Revenue Committee, a joint committee of both Student Senate and Residence Hall Association members.

In previous years the rates were voted on by the Residence Hall Association and Student Senate. This year the Bond Revenue Committee was the only student voting body.

The resolution asks that the room and board rate increases be presented to the Student Senate.