Author: Leanne Zabala & Lisa Kraege
On April 21, both the General Assembly (GA) and the ASOC Senate held their last meetings of the semester. Both organizations expressed a desire for greater student involvement, and the need for more varied campus life.
“The GA is necessary because it provides a check on the power of the Senate and as well as an outlet for student involvement,” GA co-chair Kristin Beck (sophomore) said.To deal with low attendance, the GA lowered the amount of mandatory meetings. Still, involvement has struggled.
“My sophomore year, GA announcements were everywhere. Last year, advertisement dropped significantly,” Senator Robert Calderon (senior) said. “We went through four co-chairs. This year, advertising has been pretty nonexistent. This shows a lack of concern. The GA should work closer with the Weekly, announce at hall spreads, and re-involve RHA.”
Some feel that students would be less apathetic toward the GA if meetings were held based on need.
“It is too hard for GA co-chairs to find issues for every meeting especially when students don’t find the issues interesting. There should be clear guidelines for what constitutes the need for a meeting,” Senator Alison Dempsey (senior) said.
“I think the GA should go back to its original purpose. Today, co-chairs come to the meeting with topics to discuss. Before, students brought issues for discussion,” Beck said. “The GA needs to be an outlet for student voice again, which would put less pressure on co-chairs who have to scramble for topics to discuss. We plan to re-write part of the constitution so that changes will be in effect by the next school year.”
There will be no more GA meetings held this year.The ASOC Senate expressed similar concerns.
“We want to thank everyone who came out and supported us,” GA co-chair Alexander Nourafshan (sophomore) said, adding, “thank God its over.”
The Senate discussed additions to the campus aimed at improving student life.
The new student run coffee house, the Green Been Café, revealed their approved budget of $400,000 for the 2009-2010 academic year. There is also $95,000 dollars set aside for two concerts next year. “The goal of this is to improve life on campus,” Gregory Benz (sophomore) said.
The Building and Grounds Committee announced that they had approved renovations for Chilcott and Norris Halls, but revealed that Norris will not have kitchens installed, a formerly discussed idea.
The Senate also approved new equipment for all residence halls, including a range of sporting equipment and 14 Wiis, all for the goal of enriching life on campus.When asked why the Residence Halls Association (RHA) was not in charge of this topic, ASOC President Patrick McCredie (senior) said that, “ASOC is a trendsetter. RHA can follow in our footsteps.”
Finally, the Senate approved a proposal to allow ASOC to have an alcohol fund of $6000 for alcohol purchasing. This would mean that while events with alcohol would still be considered type III, ASOC would fund the alcohol rather than individual clubs. The measure was endorsed by Senate still has to pass through the Administration, pending the agreement of the idea with state law.
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