To ensure fair representation on the Government of the Student Body, the number of senate seats are reassigned annually.

A bill to approve the apportionment for the 2000-2001 school year will be brought before the senate at its meeting tonight.

Senate seats are set in proportion with the number of students for each of the nine colleges and the various student living arrangements, said Rick Cordaro, UDA, author of the bill.

GSB has no set number of senators; the number may fluctuate from year to year.

All students are represented by their college and residence senators, and they may vote only for those two categories in the elections, Cordaro said.

However, a student can forfeit a vote in one of those two categories in order to vote for a specialty seat, representing nontraditional, international, disabled and ethnic minority students. Any student may vote for special-seat senators, he said.

The GSB election commission each year sets the apportionment based on the university “count day,” which is an official calculation of student representation.

“Count day is when all of the college numbers are reported, which determine the number of senators,” Cordaro said.

Pending the approval of this bill, minor changes in student living arrangement trends will eliminate one senate seat each from Towers Residence Association and Union Drive Association. The shift also opens an additional off-campus senate seat.

Opposition to this bill may rise because the Registrar’s Office has no in-session residence record for 1,157 ISU students, Cordaro said. These students were placed in the off-campus category, based on the assumption that records are kept for on-campus and greek system residences.

The minor shift in the number of students is a normal fluctuation, said Garrett Toay, GSB vice president.

“It really doesn’t change that much,” he said.

If the bill is passed, the seat changes will come into effect with this spring’s GSB elections for the 2000-2001 senate.

The Government of the Student Body will meet tonight at 7 in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union. The following will be discussed:

Seating bills

• A bill to seat Andrew Kothenbeutel as a Towers Residence Association Senator. By Weaver and Cordaro.

Old business

• A bill to refine the position of election commissioner. By Weaver, Wisher and others.

• A bill to set the 2000-2001 GSB funding priorities of the Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team. By Doorenbos, Nimmer and others.

• A bill to adopt the priorities of funding programs and organizations for the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

New Business

• A bill to approve the 2000-2001 GSB senate seat apportionment. By Olson and Cordaro.

• A resolution to adopt the annual report of the Student Body Contracts and Agreements. By Olson, Wisher and others.