A subtle hint from the Student Senate president of Wednesday’s noon deadline for petitions for students running for positions on Senate for the fall semester served as a reminder of the fast-approaching elections.

Four different duos submitted the required 150 signatures before Wednesday’s noon deadline, setting the stage for the next few weeks of campaigning leading up to the election, which is scheduled for March 5 through 8. Debates are scheduled for Feb. 28.

The presidential tickets are: Laura Lambert (presidential candidate) and Andrea Michalski (vice presidential candidate); Chad McCartney and Sean Gavigan; Pat McGuiness and Matthew Klimek; Andrew Oettinger and Kelly Witkowski.

McGuiness, Klimek and Gavigan haven’t had previous Senate experience at UW-Eau Claire, and the other five in the running are members of Senate.

In other business, Senate adopted a resolution Monday in opposition to the proposed change of the date of spring curbside garbage pickup. The resolution makes the change from the third week in May to the last week in April.

Nate Otto said the City Council may vote on the issue very soon, and that it would be ideal for Senate to make a stance on the issue.

“(It’s) important to show that we’re keeping tabs on it,” he told Senate.

The city ordinance designates the third week in May as a time when residents can put more trash than fits into their trash bins on the curbside and have it picked up free of charge. Most student leases run through May, so if the free curbside pickup date was moved to April, it would take place when most students are not preparing to move out yet.

“When college kids move out, there’s a mass move out and there’s an exorbitant amount of trash that’s created,” Hentges said. “The city is trying to find a way to cut trash or coordinate pickup.”

But, Hentges said, moving the free pickup week to April would not solve the problem.