Poised with a gavel in hand and many ideas for the new year, Student Senate President Darien Moss called the first senate meeting to order last night.

Along with taking care of many housekeeping issues, the Senate made a unanimous decision to change the traditional time and place of the Senate meetings, which usually are held at 7 p.m. Thursdays in The Corner Room. The Senate will decide the specific time and place of the meeting tomorrow at the Senate Orientation at 10 a.m. in Baker Center Alumni Lounge.

The resolved resolution reads, "Meeting location and time for the year shall be established by the Executive Officers with a two-thirds consent of the seated senators. This rule is suspendable by two-thirds consent of the senators."

Many of the senators have class scheduled at the current meeting time, Senate Vice President Shannon Bibbee said.

By having meetings earlier in the week, the Senate hopes to encourage more students to attend who would otherwise be headed home on a Thursday night if they do not have Friday classes, he said.

Also, this year's Senate wants to make the meetings earlier in the evening so the meetings can be broadcast on television to inform Ohio University students of Senate activities if they were unable to attend the meeting, Bibbee said.

Yesterday, members of the Senate held a press conference discussing their summer plans and their preparations for the student body's arrival.

A great deal of what the Senate did this summer was internal, Senate President Darien Moss said during a press conference yesterday.

"We wanted to be prepared and organized so that by day one we were ready to go," Moss said.

Part of this internal organization was centered around establishing a network of contacts throughout the university, Moss said.

"We met with city leaders and university officials, so that during the school year we could spend time with the students," she said.

At the press conference, Moss discussed the Senate's plans for the upcoming year, including continuing minority forums, ensuring anonymous AIDS testing and focusing on the problem of alcohol on campus.

The Senate hopes to achieve this through strong communication with the administration to offer alternatives to the drinking culture, such as weekend activities funded by the Student Activities Commission, Moss said.