The West Virginia 2002 series at West VirginiaUniversity continues Wednesday, Oct. 23, with a presentation on the role of the state legislature in governance and the duties and responsibilities of a state senator by State Sen. Michael A. Oliverio II (D-13th District). Oliverios presentation, which is free and open to the public, begins at 4 p.m. in the Rhododendron Room of the Mountainlair.

Oliverio, who lives in Westover and works as a Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance agent, was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1992. He was first elected to the West Virginia Senate in 1994 and was re-elected in 1998. His district includes Monongalia and Marion counties.

In the senate, Oliverio is chair of the Small Business Committee and serves on the education, energy, industry and mining, judiciary, military, and transportation committees.

A WVU alumnus, Oliverio, 39, graduated with a bachelors degree in business administration in 1985 and an MBA in 1986. He is a former WVU student body president and Army ROTC member.

The son of Monongalia County Clerk Michael A. Oliverio, the state senator is married to Melissa Kirk Oliverio, and they are raising a son and a daughter.

Sponsored by the Institute for Public Affairs, in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, West Virginia 2002 is a continuing series of discussions about the future of the MountainState, its people, and its governance. The institute is a research and public service unit directed by Robert J. Dilger, professor of political science.