The newly elected president and vice president of Student Senate Eli Caywood and Cody Camacho officiated over their first meeting April 27, just ten days after being elected. They spent the last few months rigorously campaigning for student’s votes, and admit that the process has been grueling. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t developed a plan for what they want to achieve in their first term.

Photograph by Jodi Krautkramer
From left, 2007-08 Student Senate President Frank Moullet discuses the job with newly elected Vice President Cody Camacho and President Eli Caywood.

Caywood and Camacho have four main issues they want to address: sustainability, information, rental issues and diversity.

Caywood said it is imperative that UW-Platteville modernizes its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.

“Beyond the ethical prerogative, it is a good way to save money,” Caywood said.

Student Senate has a committee on sustainability to address these issues. Caywood said he would like to use that committee to work with other campuses and organizations around the state and find out what the best course of actions would be for UW-P to transition into a more environmentally friendly campus.

“As senators, it is our job to educate students and show them what it will cost in the long run if we do not make these efforts to reduce our emissions and rely on renewable energy,” Caywood said.

The new president would like to take the decisions directly to the student body via campus-wide referendums.

“It may be student fees that pay for a lot of this so don’t think it would be appropriate for a small group of people to make that decision,” Caywood said.

Another area that Caywood and Camacho want to improve upon is Senate’s ability to relay information between their organization and the students they represent.

“We want to see more student involvement in Senate so we can do things more in line with what the students want to see done,” Caywood.

The new administration plans to increase awareness through more involvement and press releases to the media organizations on campus, such as the Exponent, WSUP, and TV-5. They hope that this will push more students to get involved with Senate and voice their opinions at their meetings.

“We are looking at 18 people in Senate who are making decisions for 7,000 students,” Caywood said. “It can be hard to do that without the appropriate input. I would encourage students to watch senate meetings, see what is going on, and become more proactive on what there senate is doing throughout the year.”

Caywood and Camacho also want to help students make the transition from the residence halls to the Platteville community. They hope to do this through greater involvement with the Rental Issues Coordinator on campus.

“Our campus is continuing to grow, and we are bringing the largest freshman class to UW-P that we have ever had,” Caywood said. “We need to continue to work with the community to ensure that when students leave the dorms they have affordable adequate accommodations.”

The main issue Vice President Cody Camacho wants to address is diversity. He said he wants to expand the roles of the diversity and gender issues directors on Senate and see them have more experience with advertising organizations in order to advise the groups on how to properly and effectively promote diversity events.

“It follows this campus’s mission of pushing for greater diversity,” Camacho said.

Caywood said that he will receive the goals the university wants Senate to pursue soon, and will work with those plans, his own and Senate’s to develop a clearer plan for the next year. It has been a busy first week, but Caywood said he is enjoying it.

“It’s been fun,” Caywood said. “Going to continue to be as long as we can keep a good attitude about it. I am honored that I was chosen and I am excited to work with other Senators.”