After the Government of the Student Body defeated a bill Wednesday night to establish a subsidiary nontraditional student government, another nontraditional student group is taking steps to fill that gap.Members of Older Adults Succeeding in School (OASIS) were present at the GSB senate meeting to voice concerns about the Nontraditional Student Union bill. Several students said OASIS members should have been consulted before the union was developed and a constitution written.Although the bill was defeated, proponents of the Nontraditional Student Union say the issue of representation needs to be discussed.”The nontraditional students still do not have any representation to GSB,” said Rick Cordaro, who co-authored the bill with Greg Tew, vice-speaker of the senate. “That is unfortunate, and I’m glad that they and GSB are aware of the issue.” OASIS is ready to become a government for nontraditional students, said Doug Sick, OASIS treasurer.Sick, junior in electrical engineering, said OASIS was in the process of becoming the nontraditional student organization to support the nontraditional GSB senate seat. He said the group was not aware of many of the restrictions that are required to do that, and they were unaware of the efforts to develop a government other than OASIS.”None of the members of OASIS knew anything about this Nontraditional Student Union idea until we read about it in the Daily this morning,” Sick said. The group members objected primarily to the lack of involvement of nontraditional students in the development of the Nontraditional Student Union, Sick said. University-recognized nontraditional students were not made aware of the union’s development, he said.Tew worked with Cordaro, senior in electrical engineering, in the development of the constitution for the Nontraditional Student Union. Cordaro currently is registered through GSB as a nontraditional student, though he does not fit the university standards for a nontraditional student.OASIS defines nontraditional students as any student who is over 25 years of age, is married, is taking care of a dependent or has returned to school after a break, she said. GSB only requires nontraditional students to be registered through the GSB. Tew said there are no restrictions on who can register to be a nontraditional student. “Mr. Cordaro is registered through GSB, so as far as we are concerned, he is a nontraditional student,” he said.Christopher Wisher, GSB election commissioner, said 10 students are registered as nontraditional students for the upcoming election.”Today, I became the 11th student registered,” Sick told the senate.Paula Lemke, president of OASIS, said she is not registered as a nontraditional student. “I didn’t know you had to register to be a nontraditional student,” said Lemke, senior in community and regional planning.Sick said he is happy with the senate’s decision. “I think two things happened tonight,” he said. “First, nontraditional students were recognized, and second, the senate looked at it as true nontraditional students.”Cordaro said the discussion was productive. “I am very pleased with the debate and discussion that took place in the GSB senate this evening,” he said. “I was proud to have brought this important issue to the forefront, and I hope that our elected student representatives will correct the problem soon.”Sick said the group began to draft a constitution Wednesday, which will be ready for the GSB meeting next week. Lemke said the group has two goals. First, OASIS needs to complete its constitution, and then the group needs to get the nontraditional students to register through GSB.”I would like to thank Rick Cordaro and Greg Tew for lighting the fire under us and letting us know what to do,” Lemke said.Any students interested in helping write the constitution for OASIS may contact Lemke at [email protected], or Sick at [email protected]. OASIS meets Thursdays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Regency Room of the Memorial Union.