Outreach remains priority

Senate outreach is normally an activity that typically commences with active campaigning, only to cease immediately following elections. Past presidential races have focused heavily on the issue, and candidates were even known to visit every dorm on campus to listen to students' ideas and questions _ until they were elected.

But despite its usual inattention to student interaction during periods of non-campaigning, the Senate is beginning to fulfill this perennial need. Earlier this semester, the Senate committee on Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs (CECA) became the first to require its members to regularly attend student group meetings.

With a proposal to expand a version of the CECA committee bylaw to include all senators, it is more important than ever for students to let senators how much this kind of communication is needed. The Senate has been criticized in the past for spending too much time on internal issues and pet projects, and not enough on other tasks that would be favored by many students.

As far as the means to an end, attendance at student groups is a more logical suggestion than assigning senators to blocks of students. Group members will tend to have common concerns to address, strengthening their message to senators without leaving them feeling as if they have a billion unique suggestions to follow up on.

A presence at meetings is also more desirable because it creates a personal interaction with the particular senator. Such one-on-one interaction would not have the same effect in e-mail correspondence.

But any way they do it, more Senate outreach is better than none. When the next campaign rolls around, remind your candidates that you expect them to continue to visit after the votes are tallied and the winners announced. After all, you're the reason they're elected in the first place.