Student Senate is in full swing, yet many students at Eastern have no idea what it does.

Political science major Jim Haeywood was unsure of the senate’s role. “It consists of students,” Haeywood said. “I mean, I should know (what student senate is) because I participate in student activities, but I don’t.”

Grad student Megan McNitt was also unsure about its functions or duties.

But not everyone is confused.

“From my understanding, it concerns making sure students’ voices are heard on campus, making sure that students’ interests are represented on campus,” said technology grad student Sonja Foster. “They deal with the different boards: University Board, Student Action Team.”

Her definition agreed with Student Body President Sean Anderson’s.

“I think the role of student government is to see what students concerns are and to see what can be done,” he said.

Anderson realizes that the student body is unaware of Student Senate and is working on ways to fix it.

“We created the [AOL Instant Messenger] screen name, EIU student gov,” Anderson said. “It needs to get on people’s buddy lists, and the profile will be full of what is going on. [Students] can also contact us through it.”

Senators on the Student Relations Committee are also going to be required to provide reports to registered student organizations on a regular basis.

“Each member needs to go to four RSOs that they are not already involved with and give reports on Student Senate to get feedback from students,” Anderson said. “Each senator will also be required to attend Hall Council meetings.”

The Student Government Web site is another way that students can learn about Student Senate, but it has not been updated recently. No one has been appointed to update it yet.

“We are looking for a director of Information Technologies,” said Student Senate Speaker Kent Ohms. “(Interested students) simply need to contact the Internal Affairs chair (Tori Frazier) and the External Relations chair (Katie O’Grady) to set up an interview.”

Student Senate meets once a week and is comprised of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The senate also has a constitution bylaws.

All senators and executives are elected by the Eastern student body.

The senate operates very similar to the US Congress. A piece of legislation is submitted through a committee before it comes before the whole senate. If the legislation passes, then the student body president can sign it or veto it. A veto can be overturned by a two-third vote.