On the evening of Sept. 10, the Student Government Association held its second meeting of the year. It began with guest speaker, Southeast President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins, talking to SGA about what they do at Southeast and how they are making a difference.

"Thank you very much for what you are going to do. In the beginning Student Government had no leadership or participation," Dobbins said.

He discussed the building of two new residence halls on campus as well. There will be a residence hall built near the practice football fields that is expected to be finished in fall 2013, and plans for another residence hall to be built near the River Campus.

Before he left, he addressed some of the issues currently occurring on Southeast's campus, such as food services and Internet problems occurring in residence halls such as Dearmont and in Greek Housing.

"This speaker series is the best we have had in the five years we have done it," Dobbins said. "I strongly encourage you all to go see Colin Powell."

Student Government also voted in its new first-year Senators. In the past there were only four first-year Senators, but due to having 46 applicants this year, almost double the normal amount, it voted to allow eight senators this year in order to better represent the large number of incoming freshman.

SGA also held its special elections during the meeting as well. Special elections occur when there are open spaces for senators within colleges at the beginning of the semester. Applicants for these open positions must give a three-minute speech to the current senators about why they believe they would be best for the position and how they would help Southeast. After each applicant finishes their speech, the Senate members uses anonymous ballots to vote for who they believe will best fill the position.

"I think they are all qualified individuals that represent a wide variety of students, and I look forward to seeing how they shape this organization during their time here," SGA chief of staff Benny Dorris said.