It was back to school for the Government of the Student Body Senate on Wednesday night.

Gail Ferlazzo, associate director of the Memorial Union and GSB adviser, made an informative presentation that sought to re-educate senators about their basic responsibilities.

During last week’s regular meeting, Ferlazzo was critical of the Senate’s performance to date. She scolded the senators for squabbling among the separate branches of student government.

“We’re not working together very well as a body,” Ferlazzo said.

She cited the relative lack of legislation produced by the current Senate as being symptomatic of a larger problem.

“A lot of you are new and might be having some problems understanding the structure of GSB,” she said.

This week’s meeting was an attempt by Ferlazzo to address the perceived problems with the Senate. She defined several basic terms, then split the executive and legislative branches into mixed groups to discuss the hierarchical structure of the student government.

GSB’s director of logistics was apparently bored with the exercise. John Franklin, sophomore in marketing, brought some levity to the meeting by launching into a handstand in the middle of the floor. He then proceeded to walk several feet on his hands.

Ferlazzo brought the meeting back to order, and closed her presentation on a positive note.

“You’re a really valuable organization and can work well together,” she said.

The Senate then unanimously approved a resolution in support of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2005. The act, which is now being heard by the U.S. Senate, would revise the IRS tax code to allow tax-free donations to be made to the greek community to pay for housing costs, said Jason Carroll, GSB finance director and graduate student in civil, construction and environmental engineering.

A bill was also read that would grant funding to the Iowa State Space Society to construct a Level 3 rocket.

“A Level 3 rocket can reach speeds above Mach 2, and heights of up to 3,000 feet,” said Jeff Rothblum, senator and senior in aerospace engineering.

The proposed bill will be voted on during next week’s meeting.