“What are your thoughts on how we spend money?” was a question asked by Speaker of the Senate, Jarrod Scherle, during the Student Senate orientation.

During orientation on Jan. 29, Scherle used an Internet polling website that allowed the senators to text in anonymous answers for questions about student government.

Senators could respond to the money-spending question with two answers.

The first answer, which 85 percent of the senators chose, was, “We should spend the money because students have paid fees, and they expect to get something out of it.”

The second answer, which 15 percent of the senators chose, was, “We should be fiscally conservative because money and budgets are tight right now.”

Mary Lane, the internal affairs committee chair, said she believes that the website is a great system because of its anonymity.

“When planning the orientation, I thought the website would be good to use because then there would be honest, reliable feedback on different issues within student government,” Scherle said.

When using the website, participants can set up a free account, which entitles them to 30 free responses. After the 30 responses are up, there is a mandatory upgrade, which costs money.

“Student government probably won’t use this particular website to gather student feedback, since it costs money after a certain number of responses,” Scherle said.

Ed Hotwagner, chairman of the student affairs committee, said he believes it is an easy way for students to text in ideas and opinions on how the senate could be beneficial.

One question asked through the website was, “How do you feel student government has done this school year?”

Scherle was then able to see honest answers from the senators and could learn what needed improvement.

Erin Riedl can be reached at 581-2812 or edriedl@eiu.edu.