Student Senator Scott Olson said he thought he was going to be in for a quick meeting Monday night in the Tamarack Room of Davies Center.

With one resolution slated for debate, about commending Menomonie businesses for ending drink specials, he said it seemed like he’d be home in half an hour.

Forty-five minutes into the meeting, however, the resolution still was being debated until a 15-6 vote forced the Senate to table it.

“This piece of legislation … won’t come back before the Senate again,” Vice President Meredith Marx said.

The tabling option allows Senate to avoid voting on a piece of legislation by removing it from the Senate floor as though it never existed.

Marx, author of the resolution, said she wrote it after reading an article in the Leader-Telegram about how bar owners came together to end their drink specials before the City Council planned to propose legislation to ban them.

When the resolution opened for debate, nearly every senator in attendance had something to say.

Senator Adam Pettke said he didn’t understand why an issue in Menomonie that already occurred should be discussed by Student Senate.

“This is a decision made by another city and it might pertain to students in that city,” he said. “I don’t see the merit to it.”

Senator Lindsey Nelson saw the resolution in a different light. She said the issue was important because it involved students, and due to the number of alcohol-related deaths across the state, the resolution should pass.

“I think that it’s our responsibility as students to encourage and support safe and responsible drinking,” Nelson said.

Other issues arose during the debate, ranging from the positive effects of removing drink specials to the responsibility of drinking.

“I don’t think it’s Student Senate’s place to create the impression that we’re in favor of binge drinking,” Senator Matt Wisnefske said. “We should create the impression that we’re in favor of personal responsibility.”