The Student Assembly passed the Fall 2009 Elections Delay Act Tuesday, delaying the SA freshmen election day back from Sept. 24 to Thursday, Oct. 1.
“We did not have a very high turnout of declarations by the deadline,” Chief of Staff Charles Crimmins ’11 said. “We didn’t have time to sufficiently publicize it.”
Elections Commissions Chair Jasmine Piña ’11 agreed, noting that publicizing the elections was difficult due to the amount of coverage devoted to the swine flu and sorority recruitment.
“[The delay] would make things a lot easier, and it’s calmer for freshmen, too,” Piña said.
The bill passed unanimously.
Vice President Ryan Ruzic J.D. ’11 announced an initiative to assist students in paying for STI testing.
After meeting with Director of the Student Health Center Dr. Virginia Wells, Ruzic learned that approximately 950 individual STI tests are administered on campus each year.
“I think if a student has a real concern, they’re probably going to swallow the cost of the $75 test,” Ruzic
said.
However, he expressed concern that some students may be deterred by the cost.
Sen. Imad Matini ’11 announced the success of the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Act, which increased the number of free flu shots from 100 in 2008 to 300 this year.
“This year there was obviously a stronger demand. They actually ended up giving out 811 shots,” Matini said. “The event went really well.”
The 2009 Omnibus Code Update Act, a measure to reform the SA code, passed last week and is now available on the SA’s website,
www.thestudentassembly.org.
According to Sen. Brittany Fallon ’11, the SA also approved “four productive changes” to the student “Know Your Rights” cards.
The cards will be printed with these changes and then distributed to students.
The cards will be printed with these changes and distributed to students.
A new secretary of the senate, Sen. Betty Jeanne Manning ’12, was elected after Fallon stepped down. Fallon said she felt she could be a more effective senator without the duties of secretary.
“I type fast, and I’m organized,” Manning said in a short and convincing speech delivered before she was voted unanimously into the position.