For the third straight year, Student Senate has a shortage of applicants for off-campus senators.

But Student Senate President Sarah Schuh said not to worry.

“It’s not really unusual what’s happening this year,” she said. “Elections will still occur and people will have the option of being write-ins.”

Two senators were elected last year by the write-in method, in which people can add and vote for unlisted names on the ballot.

This year, 15 candidates for on-campus senators likely will have to campaign for the 10 available slots.

Off-campus senators, however, are virtually guaranteed a spot in Senate. From the 20 slots available, only 17 candidates filed petitions to run for office.

Even so, Schuh said there is “more student participation at UW-Eau Claire” than many other schools.

In last year’s election, about 930 students, or 9.5 percent of the Eau Claire campus, voted in Senate elections. In contrast to the 2000 Senate election, more than 1,750 students voted.

The 2000 election had the original Davies Center referendum, in which students agreed to a $38 segregated fee increase per semester. The plan would have helped pay for the planned $8.5 million plan to expand and renovate Davies. A new plan submitted at last Monday’s Chancellor’s Roundtable calls for a new student center building estimated to cost $36.1 million.

Sophomore Sandra Boone, a former senator running for an on-campus seat, said she hopes that the new Davies referendum on the ballot in March’s election will raise the voter turnout.

“I greatly hope it will,” she said. “We’re talking about a great deal of money.”

Student feedback will be critical, Boone said. Senate needs students to “tell us what they think about it.”

Her approach to campaigning for the office will consist of talking to organizations and talking to different people in different dorms.

One of the applicants for off-campus senator is junior Chad Wade. He said a larger problem with Senate and students is awareness of current issues.

“I think a lot of (people) don’t realize how much power Senate can have,” he said.

Students should become more involved and aware, Wade said. He referenced the university’s hiring of Sodexho for its food services. “No one said (anything) until they made the changes,” he said.

With large budget cuts predicted to be coming to the UW System and the new student center proposal in progress, Wade said he hopes student turnout at the polls will be higher than in previous years.

Whether students vote for or against the student center, Wade said feedback through voting is important. He added that he believes turnout will rise, saying, “people care when it hurts their wallet.”