Student Senate held its bi-weekly meeting Wednesday and discussed a proposition

to alter the way the funds from the tuition hike will be distributed as well as the need

for student input.

Senators from the Tuition and Fee’s committee brought up the discussion of a $200 tax that will be added to tuition next year. Elmo Lamm, student body treasurer, said he wanted to see more student input on fighting the fee increase.  

“The number one issue in fighting this is communicating with students,” Lamm said. “If [students] knew the details, they would be outraged.” 

The $200 increase is state mandated, and none of the money will be returned to the University, said Jake Bloodworth, the Tuition and Fee’s Committee chair. “We are not happy about this,” he said. “We want to fight to be able to use part of the money to help better the University.”

The ideal situation would be for the $200 dollars to be split so $100 would go to the state, and $100 would be put back into the budgets of the colleges that took the greatest hits from budget-cuts, Bloodworth said.  Bloodworth said senators are working on the publicity and visibility of the issue.

According to Lamm, Student Government will increase use of “The Howl” e-mail system to get all students on the same page about this issue. 

“The second issue surrounding the increase is how to fight it,” he said. Students are not only encouraged to speak to student senators about their concerns, but to take them directly to state senators as well, he said.

As well as pushing for student involvement on pertinent issues, Student Senate is working to improve the current student experience on campus.  

The University Affairs Committee is using student opinions to address issues including the mandatory, hard-waiver student healthcare policy, dining facility overcrowding, and improvements to transportation, said Stephen Kuba, the chair of the University Affairs Committee.  

The Campus Community Committee is reviewing student ticketing for football games and is making necessary changes, as well as making Student Government more tangible for students, according to Arialle Crabtree, the chair of the committee.  

“We are working on increasing student-senator interactions,” Crabtree said. “It will be a beneficial relationship for both parties involved.” 

The Campus Community Committee is working on putting together a Student Government tailgate for students, getting a team of senate volunteers to be at large events, including the Shack-A-Thon, and attending student group meetings across campus to improve communication between students and government, Crabtree said.  

“In order to be heard, students can always contact senators through e-mail, coming to the office, and attending open committee meetings,” Kuba said. “There is also an online link on the Student Government website where students can submit anonymous comments.”