By Jamie Johnson

The Student Senate has just gotten back from a weekend full of hard work and fun. During the weekend, we formed the committees that will be working on various goals for the semester and some for the year. A few of the committees to be aware of are the Athletic/School Spirit Committee, Student Affairs, and Public Relations Committee. These are just a few of them. Some other projects that they will be working on are a sand volleyball court on the green, and a campus campout, and Spring Week. The Public Relations Commitee will be working on getting more students involved in the Senate by filling the open positions, letting students know who is on the Senate, and continuing our good communications with the administration. The Senior Class committee has planned many events for the year such as pub nights, ski trips, and the Spring semi-formal.

If any students have any questions, comments, problems, or any concerns with the Physics Department, please contact the Student Senate at Ext. 5639, leave a message in the office (308 Hazell Center), or drop a message in the suggestion box next to the information desk. Anyone having ideas or suggestions that they would like to see, please bring them to the meetings held every Wednesday at 2:45 in room 317 Hazell Center. Students should also be aware that the Senate is the place to report the common hour violations or problems. We are working with the administration on issues involving the Women's Center.

Some Senate funded events and dates to be aware of:

October 4th, 2:30, Hazell Ballroom C, Hispanic Movie Series

October 5th, Pub Night, South of the Border Theme

December 1st –3rd, Killington Ski Trip -SOLD OUT- but a waiting list is available

The Senate hopes to see you at all events.

Senate

What do we do, anyway?

We're glad you asked: The NJIT Student Senate represents our constituency of the undergraduate population of this university. We act as a liaison between the undergraduate students, faculty, and administration. We advocate student rights, and also know our responsibilities as students in an academic setting.

The Senate officers (or “execs”) are devoted to the entire undergraduate population. They recognize clubs and handle the funding for them. They are the ones responsible for organizing several major events during the academic year; examples are the New Student Celebration and Spring Week. They also have some influence over academic concerns at NJIT.

Our college representatives work with their colleges in resolving academic issues, such as new departmental, collegiate, or university policies that may not be in the students’ best interests. Our major representatives work with their respective departments in holding feedback sessions, in which students can voice their concerns.

Our class presidents are all part of the Senior Class Committee. This group organizes the Pub nights, ski trips in December and January, and of course, the Spring Semi-Formal in April.

Our freshman class representatives are very involved. Last year, many of them served on the Café Services Satisfaction Committee, which handles any concerns you may have with the current service, Gourmet Dining. Remember, these freshmen, who will be elected on September 15-16, (Monday-Tuesday) of next week, will be YOUR representatives. If you have any concerns about mostly anything at NJIT, please voice them to you representatives!

If you need to find us, you are always welcome at our meetings from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. in the Hazell Center, room 217 every Wednesday. You can also find us at our office located in 205 Hazell Center. You can leave a note for us in the club area, you can e-mail us at senatecb@megahertz.njit.edu, or you can call us at (973) 596-5639 (5639 on campus).

I wish you all good luck in your first year at NJIT.

Yours truly,

Jamie Johnson

Student Senate President, 1997-98