New legislation before the Student Assembly at their Tuesday meeting focused on ways to better the image of student government, including paying for koozies stamped with the SA logo.
“We’ve been talking about how to better the image of the Student Assembly,” senator Colin Danly ’15 said. “Not that it is a bad image, but that it is pretty much nonexistent.”
The Senate introduced the Better Education Efforts of Responsibility Act, or BEER.
“[The Policy Committee] completely revitalized the medical amnesty policy last year,” Secretary of Student Life and leader of the project Dallen McNerney ’14 said. “We figured why not do something that might be around in possible amnesty situations, so we went with drink koozies that say ‘Know your amnesty rights’ and have the amnesty policy on the back.”
The koozies will include the SA logo and approximately 4,000 koozies will be purchased and distributed to students for free. Senate Chair Kendall Lorenzen ’15 sent the bill to Outreach, Finance and Student Life Committees for further discussion.
The What Can the SA do for You Act, spearheaded by senator Colin Danly ‘15, will fund the creation of stickers reminding and informing students of the efforts of the SA and programs the SA has made possible.
“This bill basically gives money, which has yet to be determined, to the Outreach Department and the Executive to buy a bunch of stickers with the SA logo and one big accomplishment like the Dalai Lama on it,” Danly said.
Lorenzen sent the bill to Outreach, Finance, and Student Life Committees for further discussion.
The New Organization Funding Act will look to establish a method for funding new organizations on campus that were not created in time to apply for funding. Lorenzen sent the bill to the Finance Committee for further discussion.
The Senate also confirmed Appeals Committee and Review Board nominees in their meeting Tuesday. Senators also discussed a number of new and returning initiatives to be considered throughout the coming semesters.
The senate unanimously approved the confirmation of Evan Maraist ’14 to the Student Assembly Review Board.
“I love the judicial branch,” Maraist said. “[It’s] objectively judging everyone on the same scale.”
The senate also unanimously confirmed eight new members of the Appeals Committee, including Chris Connolly ’15, Rachel Fybel ’14, Niall Garrahan ’14, Becky Keitelman ’15, Matt Paganussi ’14, Stephanie Plunett ’14, Alex Rodriguez ’13 and Natalia Stewart ’15. The Senate tabled the confirmation of TJ O’Sullivan and Sean Youn due to their absence at the meeting,
“[The committee is] used when a student has a conduct violation and has to go to the honor council and be reviewed by their system,” Lorenzen said. “If they are given a sanction, they don’t feel is appropriate, they can go to the appeals committee.”
Senators also discussed a number of pieces of old business, many of which are continued initiatives from the spring semester. These include The Economist and Wall Street Journal Act, the HPV Vaccine Subsidization Act, His Holiness at the College Act, SA Presidential Runoff Act, and the Voter Registration Act. The Economist and Wall Street Journal Act works to provide copies of the publications to students for free. According to Senator Jimmy Zhang ’15, the SA Presidential Runoff Act, which would reconfigure voting for the SA Presidential election and was spurred by the spring’s contentious elections, will be reassessed due to finances and logistics.
