The Associated Student Body announced a vote to fill four newly vacant Senate seats next week.
ASB Vice President Michael Howell also announced ASB will hold a vote to fill four newly vacant Senate seats next week. Past candidates are automatically invited to run, and all other students can turn in a petition by Monday to be considered.
Howell said though these senators will only serve five weeks, they will get credit for a full term and be eligible to run for other campus positions.
The Senate also voted to pass a set of regulatory and efficiency-centered bills, when they met for the second time this semester.
Howell led the evening’s meeting, ushering three proposals through the senators’ voting process. The Rules Committee presented two of these regulations to address senators’ attendance and duties, and the Student Life Committee presented a third resolution to promote campus environmentalism.
Senior Rules Committee member Alison Hanby authored a bill that would enforce a strict attendance policy for formal Senate meetings. She argued the bill in front of the Senate Tuesday night.
“I wrote this bill so that all senators could be held accountable,” Hanby said.
The Rules Committee’s second bill sought to define and re-establish senators’ duties to the student body and their office. These two bills both passed with ease.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Chandler Tucker said that as a senior, she sees the value of these regulatory bills.
“They’re important to ensure things operate smoothly and fairly during Senate meetings,” Tucker said.
Anderson Helton, senator and sophomore public policy leadership major, said at this point in the year, a lot of legislation makes it to the Senate floor. The sitting senators’ term only lasts for another five weeks.
“The end of term is kind of like game time,” Helton said. “A lot more legislation is being formed and pushed on.”
This month, Helton said ASB is working to make campus greener. The senate’s Student Life Committee recently proposed a resolution to help reduce the eco-footprint left behind campus events.
“There’s a lot of waste going on on this campus, and where student organizations are involved maybe we can make it cleaner,” he said.
The resolution presented would require the Senate to use sustainable materials during events whenever possible. Members of the Student Life Committee said the presented resolution would not require noticeably higher costs for using more eco-friendly materials than ASB is accustomed to.
“This is kind of meant to be a continuation of what we’re already doing, because we’re not doing too bad with our waste right now,” bill author Elizabeth Romary said.
The ASB Senate will meet again next month to vote on an upcoming rules change with its four new members.
