Jeff Dunlap remembers gross fumes from passing buses while he walked along Jayhawk Boulevard his first week at KU.

“I had to breathe through my mouth,” said Dunlap, a Kansas University junior from Leawood. “Those buses are running through neighborhoods spitting out black fumes.”

As student body vice president and a member of KU Student Senate, Dunlap has an opportunity to do something about the pollution.

“It’s an avenue for students who care about the university to make sure it’s the best possible,” Dunlap said.

KU Student Senate is negotiating with bus contractors to switch KU on Wheels, KU’s bus system, to a biodiesel fuel made of a soy product.

Wireless Internet on campus, building a campus recycling center, developing a tuition contact and creating a student seat on the Lawrence City Commission are other concerns.

Dunlap said his main role as vice president was to make sure every senator understood the steps in getting their ideas heard.

He said KU’s Student Senate has a long and proud tradition. Senate derives its power from assessing student fees. Every semester students pay $287 in fees, which gives senate a $14 million budget.

With that money they provide funds for student organizations and subsidize such things as the Watkins Health Center and the Student Recreation Fitness Center.

“It’s a way as students to make sure our voices get heard,” Dunlap said.

He encourages all incoming students to take advantage of the hundreds of student organizations available on campus.

“We really are a diverse oasis in the state of Kansas,” Dunlap said. “You really have to get involved to find that out.”

— Kansas University journalism student Amy Potter interned at the Journal-World during the spring semester.