The last time Student Senate reapportioned its seats was 1997, but Sen. Stephen Kouba has plans to change that within the next year despite the rejection of Government Bill 76 by the Senate Feb. 24. The bill, also called The Great State Compromise, would have reapportioned senate seats, but Kouba said many senators felt it was rushed.

Kouba said he felt students were not adequately represented in the senate due to too few senators representing too many constituents. Kouba also said that the Apportionment Committee will begin work in the fall to put together a more comprehensive bill involving input from more senators, which was something that was difficult for the senators to do in such a short time period.

“It is difficult because we need to lobby to have more student senators. People think we aren’t doing a good job with 64, so they will probably wonder why we would do any better with more people,” Kouba said.

Kouba said his idea for improving apportionment would be to bring the total number of students that each base senator represents within a closer range of each other. 

“The ultimate goal is that we get every senator to represent an average number of students within their college,” Kouba said.

Lack of representation can be felt among students. Many don’t know anything about Student Government and what they do. 

Allison Barnes, a sophomore in English, doesn’t feel she knows how to have her voice heard. 

“I don’t feel well-represented because I feel separated from Student Senate,” Barnes said.

Cambridge Cunningham, a sophomore in communications, said the blame for her lack of representation at senate meetings couldn’t be blamed entirely on senators, alluding to her own lack of interest in the organization.

“I don’t feel well represented but I don’t really know what they do, so I can’t pass judgment,” Cunningham said.

Jason Cooper, an undeclared sophomore, said he doesn’t feel the students within Student Government are diverse enough to represent a diverse student body.

“I would like to see a more diverse group of students in Student Government and that starts with Student Government actually reaching out to everyone to be a candidate for senate,” Cooper said. “They shouldn’t just use the same pool of candidates. N.C. State is a diverse campus so why isn’t our student government reflecting the picture of our school?” 

Senior staff writer Ty Johnson contributed to this story.