22 October 2019
Annika Schmidt
The Student Government Association (SGA) senate met in Osborne A327, the Daniel’s K-12 room, for a shortened meeting on Oct. 17 where they approved another appointment to the senate and approved seven organization funding requests. The senate also approved a bill.
The meeting opened with an announcement from the chair, presented by Senator of LAS Aidan Meadows, regarding the conduct of the senate.
According to Meadows, there was a recent conduct complaint from club representatives because of senator behavior at the Oct. 10 meeting. The announcement served as a reminder to retain professionalism by refraining from dismissive or disrespectful conduct during meetings.
“We want to make this fun, but we need to do things appropriately,” Meadows said.
Natalie Luther, vice president of the Geography and Environmental Studies Club spoke on the SB-12 senate bill which requested money to reimburse students fora conference in Flagstaff, AZ. The conference presented a learning opportunity and career building mindset as students had the opportunity to interact with professionals. Students were attending this conference at the time of the senate meeting.
Last year, this club had their funding revoked due to misrepresentation by a senator. According to Luther, that funding went towards sending students to an Air Force Academy Football game instead.
“The message that was conveyed to the club as a whole is that fun is more important than academics,” Luther said.
“I don’t think you should put down other clubs just because they’re doing a fun event,” said Kassandra Pontilo, Senator-at-Large. “[The senate is] in no way saying that academics is less important than doing fun things. We want to keep treating clubs equally whether they’re doing something fun or something academic. I agree that this is an important event, but let’s try to be respectful of other clubs and their diversity.”
Former Senator of Sustainability, Brandon Goldstein, appeared before the senate as the final step of the Appointment Advisory Committee (AAC) recommendation process to apply for a Senator-at-Large position.
He stepped down from his former position due to time constraints, but will allocate his time differently in the Senator-at-Large position.
“I wish to embark on a new mission to put the student back in student government,” he said.
The senate reviewed and approved funding in the final stage of seven BAC recommendations —Practical Magic Club requested $30 to fund a tabling fee, a tablecloth, food, and beverages for their tarot fundraising event on Oct. 31.
