Senate Elects New Members

The student senate elected new senators and members to various committees.
The student senate elected new senators and members to various committees.

The 52nd student senate filled several committee and senate positions at their first meeting of the semester on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Two vacant seats on the Academic Senate were filled by the legislative body. Jonathan Espinosa, former senator, ran for vice president of academic affairs and governance in May but missed the deadline to submit paperwork to keep his current senate position. Espinosa was reaffirmed in a vote. Newcomer and transfer student Wendy Cohen was also elected to the legislative body.

The judicial board of Student Association (SA) filled two positions, and it sparked a conversation among the senators over adding language to the constitution. This included possibly having the choice to vote with a “no confidence” option. They debated whether or not a candidate could avoid personal bias as he was also a resident assistant (RA).

Director of Student Activities and Union Services Mike Patterson explained that the RA would not hear cases from students in their own building, thus he would be free from a conflict of interest. One student was confirmed to the position, while Senate Chair Alberto Aquino had to break a tie for the other student in question of no confidence when the legislative body reached a deadlock vote.

Five positions on the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) were also filled. Sens. Samantha Kossin, Rose Faber and Mathew John who had been on BFC previously, worked closely with budgetary issues at BFC weekend last semester and were reaffirmed. Sens. Espinosa and Brenden Kassel were also confirmed.

“Arguing on students behalf, I don’t give up,” said Kossin.

Faber said she would make decisions that would benefit the entire student body even if that meant denying a few proposals for funding.

Meanwhile, the Constitution and Rules Committee (CRC), a committee that aims to write legislation and focus on the (SA) constitution, filled five seats.

The legislative body then heard a suggestion from current VP of Academic Affairs and Governance Ayanna Thomas to nominate three people to be interviewed for a position on the Liberal Arts Ad Hoc Committee. One person was chosen for the interview, while two nominations are still open.

The next senate meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 13 in Student Union 418.