The Government of the Student Body held the first meeting of the newly inaugurated senate and executives Wednesday night in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.

GSB President Andy Tofilon said his first order of business as president will be to confront the issue of student binge drinking. Tofilon said he is in favor of initializing the B.R.A.D. – Be Responsible About Drinking – 21 program at Iowa State.

“The program, which is named after Bradley McCue, a 21-year-old who died when he took 24 shots in an hour and a half on his birthday, will send every new 21-year-old at Iowa State a birthday card and information card reminding them of the dangers of binge drinking,” he said. “Michigan State has begun this program, and it has been very successful for them.”

Tofilon said he also is sponsoring a proposal by several senators who are hoping to improve GSB’s friendly image among students. The proposal would change the phrase “Funded by GSB,” which is required on all materials printed by organizations that receive student fee money, to “Funded through GSB.”

“We want the students to know that, though we disburse the money, it is still theirs, not ours,” he said.

Speaker of the Senate Andrew Kothenbeutel, TRA, said he hopes GSB can improve communication among students and their representatives in the upcoming year.

“As speaker, I hope to improve the lines of communication between the rules committee and the senate and the student body and GSB,” he said. “I also hope to aid President Tofilon in his efforts to fight tuition increases and to make GSB more open and welcome as a whole.”

Jennifer Larson, director of safety, traffic and transportation, said she plans to finish up her work on the fare-free CyRide system, which will be phased in beginning next year, and she wants to see the campus lighting systems improved. “For GSB as a whole, I want to see the cabinet and senate working together a lot more and a lot more productively,” Larson said. “I’d also like to keep the lines of communication open between my position and everyone else on GSB.”