The Undergraduate Student Senate introduced legislation at its meeting yesterday to offer condolences to Virginia Tech – and help protect Kent State students in the wake of the tragedy.

According to the “Condolences for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University” resolution, “the Undergraduate Student Senate, on behalf of the Kent State student body, offers its deepest and most sincere condolences and support during this trying time.”

Executive Director Katie Hale said, if approved, the resolution would be sent to Virginia Tech with monetary donations, scrapbooks and posters signed by students.

Hale called the “Kent State University and Student Communication by Mobile Campus” resolution a “friendly suggestion” to encourage university administrators to use Mobile Campus to notify students in the event of an emergency on campus.

“It (communication) has always been important but in light of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, it is an issue of widespread concern,” she said.

Hale said although it is nearly impossible to reach all students on campus, Mobile Campus, a text messaging service that connects students and universities, is an effective service because students are more likely to have access to cell phones as opposed to computers for e-mail messages.

“In this day and age, I think it’s really accommodating,” she said.

In addition, Hale and Jonathan Bey, senator for community affairs, introduced a resolution to endorse Michael Pfahl, ward 5 candidate for Kent City Council, in the election May 8.

Bey said ward 5 includes many student residences, such as College Avenue, Lincoln Street and several residence halls near north (Prentice Hall, etc.) and south campus (Johnson Hall, etc.).

Also, to further promote responsible partying, Bey said the Community Task Force along with Kent Mayor John Fender and Kent City Manager Dave Ruller will visit student residences on College Avenue and areas south of Lincoln Street tomorrow afternoon.

USS also appointed John Whetmore, senator for governmental affairs, to serve as the Allocations Committee Vice Chair and Michael Hammond, senator for research and development, to serve on the Recreational Services Search Committee.

USS will vote on the proposed legislation next week at its last meeting of the semester.

Contact student politics reporter Jackie Valley at [email protected].