After consecutive weeks in which items carried over from one meeting to another, the Illinois Student Senate had a relatively leaner agenda Wednesday night.

Topics drawing much of the discussion were centered on the senate’s own bylaws. Specifically, the senate discussed how much time student senators should have to speak and how members of the senate should phrase statements during certain segments of the meeting.

A portion of the senate’s meetings allows members to introduce recently authored resolutions that could potentially be voted on in future meetings.

While an item is up for information, student senators are typically limited to asking questions about the proposal instead of discussing them more openly. However, one such item encouraging the senate to support the recording of University lectures led to concerns about this limitation.

“Most of the body didn’t think it was a point of emphasis,” said Vikram Chaudhery, vice president-external of the senate. “But everyone says things with the best of intentions.”

The item that initiated the debate was authored by student senator Yousif Al Rawi, who said the resolution was intended to enhance the learning environment at the University through interaction and engagement in classrooms. Despite the debate, the bylaw was not amended.

The only item up for action Wednesday also concerned a senate bylaw and stated that each student senator would have a limit of five minutes to address the body during a designated portion of the meeting. The resolution passed overwhelmingly, and Chaudhery said questions about the guidelines of meetings hardly ever dominate general discussion.

“This stuff rarely comes up,” Chaudhery said. “But when it does, it’s because people genuinely care about the rules and structure.”