“Connecting with constituents,” a phrase frequently used among members of the Government of the Student Body to describe their connections with the students they represent, is now being questioned by some GSB members on whether or not some senators are really connecting with their constituents.

At the March 7 GSB meeting, a new bylaw was presented by senator Austin Ballhagen, senior in journalism and mass communication. The bill looks to deal with senators and cabinet members connecting with constituents. The bill is called “Connecting with Constituents 2.0” and was tabled until the next GSB meeting.

“We motioned to table because a lot of the cosigners were gone and we need two-third majority to pass. Had just five senators voted ‘no,’ the bill would have failed,” Ballhagen said.

The bylaw change would require that senators and cabinet members attend at least one club meeting a month and also would allow senators to be excused from one GSB Wednesday night meeting a month to attend a club meeting. More than 100 clubs on campus meet on Wednesday nights.

The bill also would require GSB members to schedule makeup meetings in advance with clubs they would miss. The bill would not allow members to schedule a makeup for after the original meeting because some members believe that people would wait too long to do a makeup meeting.

Along with these other changes, new senators who are seated during the year would be required to make up the month in which they are seated and every month thereafter.

Some senators are in favor of this new bylaw change, such as newly elected Inter-Residence Hall Association senator Zach Bauer, freshman in political science.

“I think senators need to attend more than one meeting a month. It is very doable — I can do it and I’m a very busy student,” Bauer said.

Bauer also went on to say that he plans to attend one club meeting a week and send out two newsletters a month to constituents he represents, such as IRHA, so that then his constituents would hopefully become more informed about GSB and what it does. They would also become more informed about what senators really do for their constituents.

Another new GSB senator, David Pedersen, sophomore in pre-business, spoke about his past experiences with GSB senators at club meetings.

Pedersen talked about how a senator once showed up to his Political Science Club meeting and never said anything to the group and never asked for input.

“I think senators visiting clubs is an important thing to do,” Pederson said. “I also think that senators should visit them to get to know their constituents and learn how to best represent them.”