Chris Kromphardt announced during Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting that he is officially ending the Library Hours Initiative for his term as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee.

Kromphardt’s decision was in response to the lack of student participation through the library hours research.

“I won’t push an issue just because I feel strongly about it,” he said. “I’m supposed to be a representative of the students, and the students have spoken, both actively and passively.”

The research the Academic Affairs Committee collected will be held for future senators to use for future reference on the subject.

Also, an emergency legislation was passed unanimously to fund the Student Government Elections on April 6 and 7.

This bill included funding for a tent, sound system, ballots and ballot printing, as well as balloons and stickers to help raise awareness on election day. This will cost $973.

In other business, Executive Vice President Eric Wilber announced the bill for the Renewable Energy Center will be presented this morning to a committee in Springfield.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, will present the bill, and anyone in attendance will be able to speak for or against the bill.

Wilber plans to attend this meeting and voice his opinions on why this is necessary for Eastern.

“If they vote yes on it, it then goes to the State Senate,” Wilber said. “If they vote no, the bill dies in committee.”

During the meeting, the five members presented information they gathered from the Conference on Student Government Association hosted by Texas A&M Feb. 28 through March 3.

These members included Mike Hilty, Isaac Sandidge, Tyson Holder, Jarrod Scherle and Speaker of the Senate Drew Griffin.

Of that information, ideas to improve campus were discussed, including possibilities for improvements of the landscaping, the “beautification” of campus and safety issues that could be addressed in the future.

Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-7942 or at kzyskowski@eiu.edu.