Compared with last week’s meeting, this week’s Illinois Student Senate gathering was significantly longer. While there were only a couple items up for information and two appropriations to be discussed, the senate went into considerably more detail on one item specifically.

Members debated the merits of advertising for their March elections in print, on the radio, and via Facebook, and also discussed how much money should be set aside for the endeavor. At certain points, some senate members believed that the ads should be geared toward getting enough candidates to run instead of simply trying to solicit voter turnout.

“If the students don’t have an incentive to vote, the ads won’t give them incentives,” said Yousif Al Rawi, a student senator and senior in LAS. “If it was just me and I had nothing to do with the student senate, I wouldn’t go vote. The only people that will provide incentive to the students are the candidates.”

At one point, some thought the appropriation for advertising for the elections on Facebook should be reduced from $700 to $100. However, Justin Umlah, a senator and graduate student, said he thought the body could afford to spend the extra cash.

“I don’t think we should change it to $100,” he said. “I think this is some of the best usage of our money, so I think $700 is the right value.”

That amendment failed by a tally of 8-12 with one abstention.

Additionally, members of the senate had the chance to ask the dean of students, Ken Ballom, questions about diversity on campus, as well as potential University budget cuts.

“Whatever we do, we have to make sure our students’ needs are met,” Ballom said. “We’re really not trying to cut in any way, but instead, looking at ways to be more creative and more collaborative.”