By Elise FoleyThe Daily NorthwesternBy 7:15 p.m. tonight, ASG Speaker of the Senate Jon Webber hopes his job will be done.At tonight’s meeting, the senators will elect a new speaker of the Senate, parliamentarian, clerk of the Senate and treasurer.”We’ll do the voting, and then the winners take over their new positions right away,” said Webber, a SESP junior. Webber said he will not run for speaker of the Senate again.The elections tonight will determine the new speaker, who must be elected from the Senate or the executive board, Webber said. The speaker’s duties include presiding over Senate meetings and running the Associated Student Government office, he said. The parliamentarian serves as the chair of the Rules Committee, which confirms that bills to be discussed are not redundant or in violation of the ASG constitution, Webber said. The clerk, who formerly was called the secretary, serves as the vice chair of the Rules Committee and takes notes at ASG meetings, Webber said. The treasurer, along with the ASG president, manages the ASG budget, Webber said. At a previous meeting, candidates were nominated by senators and asked to give a speech, Webber said. The candidates were then asked a series of questions, such as “What’s the most important role of speaker of the Senate?” and “Why do you want to be treasurer?” Webber said. At the final meeting of Winter Quarter, the senators debated about the candidates. Anyone could say who they planned to vote for and why, Webber said, but senators were discouraged from saying negative things about those running for positions. Campus-wide elections will take place April 10 for executive board positions, including ASG president. Also on the agenda for tonight’s ASG meeting is a vote on the “Supporting a Safer Space on Campus” bill. The bill, which was written by Weinberg sophomore Matt Bogusz, Weinberg freshman Patrick Dawson and Weinberg senior Aaron Goldberg, aims to expand the Safe Space program on campus by making it more available to freshmen, Bogusz said. Safe Space is a university program which identifies and provides support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.”The bill’s goal is to try to make a great program greater by encouraging that it be offered to a wider array of students,” Bogusz said. Bogusz said he had “no doubt” that senators appreciated the Safe Space program and would pass a bill to expand its reach. Reach Elise Foley at [email protected].
ASG to determine elected positions at tonight’s meeting
March 27, 2007
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