The Student Assembly swore in newly elected representatives and passed two bills related to academics during Tuesday’s senatorial session. It was the first senate meeting for Sens. Ronnie Wang ’11, Michael Douglass ’11, Britney Falon ’11, Ben Brown ’11 and Alex Kyrios ’09.
p. The Pass-Fail Option for Underclassmen Act, the first bill debated by the senate, passed unanimously. The act allows freshmen and sophomores taking more than 15 credit hours to take one class pass-fail. Although the bill was unanimously passed by the senate, it still must be approved by the administration. When asked whether he thought the administration would enforce the bill, its sponsor, Sen. Matt Skibiak ’08 said, “It’s definitely worth a try.”
p. The Reasonable Final Exam Act, also sponsored by Skibiak, was passed 12-0-2. The act moves the earliest possible time for finals from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. After the room applauded him for being the first freshman senator to speak up, Douglass made a motion to postpone the vote until after the registrar’s office could be contacted and possible scheduling conflicts could be evaluated. This motion failed and most senators agreed that pushing all exams back two hours would create minimal conflicts. Like the previous act, The Reasonable Final Exam Act requires administrative approval.
p. The Elections Commission announced that last week’s elections went smoothly and there were no problems with the Student Information Network (SIN). The senate had previously debated paying a third party to hold all student elections; however, it is now a possibility that the elections commission will continue to use the student- run and cost-free SIN.