The Student Senate will be having its annual open forum meeting today, with food and drinks provided by Panther Pantry.

The meeting will allow Eastern students to meet Student Senate members at 6:30 p.m. before the regular 7 p.m. meeting, which will take place in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Student Senate Speaker Jarrod Scherle said the meeting will mostly consist of the parking resolution that was tabled at last week’s meeting.

Tabled resolutions are usually voted on the following week, but this resolution was an exception because it is a controversial issue.

JR Patton, Zach Samples and Kaci Abolt were three Student Senate members who wrote the parking resolution.

“We are not trying to punish anyone or make it easier for people to drive from class to class,” said Patton, a junior political science major, during the last meeting.

The resolution proposes the possibility of combining underclassman and upperclassman parking lots instead creating student, staff and visitor parking.

“I am expecting the parking resolution to be voted on at this meeting,” Scherle said.

Scherle said he believes this would be a good thing for students to come and watch.

“I want students to show up and voice their opinions,” he said.

He said if students voice their opinions, they could possibly sway some Student Senate member’s opinions.

If the resolution gets voted on, the students who attend the meeting will get to see the results.

The Student Senate approving the resolution does not guarantee the parking will be combined; it just acts as a recommendation to the administration.

Chief Adam Due of the University Police Department said he is in favor of the resolution and plans on attending the open forum.

At this open forum, there will be an almost identical setup, with the exception of the newly added meet-and-greet.

“We wanted to do a meet-and-greet so the student government executives and Student Senate members who wanted to talk with the audience could,” Scherle said.

Scherle said there is one professor he knows of who is giving his students five extra credit points for attending the open forum.

John Morris, a political science professor, is giving his students in his American Government and Constitution class extra credit.

Scherle said he believes discussing a big student issue is more effective in a big crowd.

“I think that since the parking resolution and open forum are together, it will be a very exciting meeting,” Scherle said.

The Student Senate will also discuss the tabled Student Action Team-Legislative Luncheon.

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