The torch was passed at Wednesday’s Associated Student Government meeting as senators voted new members to the ASG executive board.
The order of business included filling the roles of speaker of the Senate, parliamentarian, clerk and treasurer. The election process for each role consisted of four stages: nominations from ASG members, speeches from all nominees, a Q-and-A period between the nominees and the rest of the senators and speeches in support of certain candidates by Senate volunteers. All nominees had to exit the room during the supporting speeches.
Speaker of the Senate and Weinberg junior Tyris Jones will be replaced by this year’s parliamentarian, Weinberg junior Wilson Funkhouser. Funkhouser has participated in ASG for three years, and he says Senate participation definitely needs to be improved.
“I think Senate has become sterile,” he said. “There really isn’t enough discussion or open debate. We have to make senators feel comfortable in Senate.”
Funkhouser immediately assumed the role of speaker once he was sworn in by oath. The elections for parliamentarian, clerk and treasurer followed shortly after. These roles will now be occupied by SESP junior Jill Grewe, SESP freshman Elena Westbrook, and SESP freshman Josephine Lee , respectively.
Some of Grewe’s goals as parliamentarian include getting involved in the recruitment process for new senators, helping with legislation and being an active member of the ASG executive board.
“I would plan to step up and get involved as much as I can,” she said. “(I would get) people who don’t speak so much to get up here and talk.”
In the case of clerk, Westbrook was the only senator to be nominated. Although she said she didn’t expect the nomination, she now sees the role as a chance to help improve the culture of ASG and pursue some of her independent projects. She also wants to learn about ASG from the inside and learn from students who have been involved longer than she has.
Some of Lee’s aspirations as treasurer include serving as the liason between Senate and the executive board. She said her ability to be a good communicator will potentially help her as treasurer.
“The idea of communication is a two-way street,” she said.
According to Lee, both she and her competitor, Weinberg freshman Aaron Zelikovich, had platforms that promised next year’s treasurer position would be different. Although it is exciting to fulfill these expectations, she said, there will also be a lot of work involved.
After the Parliamentary Body elections, the 2011-2012 ASG Operating Budget was announced by the current treasurer, SESP senior Pei Chen. This total budget, which amounts to $43,075, differed in three areas from this year’s. The funding for office supplies decreased from $1,000 to $750, copier costs increased to $4,000 and the Senate project pool funds increased to $7,725. These expenditures are funded by the ASG Student Activity Fee.
The final piece of business for the night was “A Resolution Supporting the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act.” This piece of legislation, which will be presented to Congress, asks for existing tax laws to be changed so that tax-exempt charitable and educational organizations would be allowed to make grants to non-University owned, not-for-profit student housing entities such as fraternities and sororities. These grants would give students an alternative form of housing and help collegiate housing fund safety improvements to their buildings. It was presented to the Senate by SESP sophomore and Sigma Alpha Epsilon delegate Kameron Dodge and was passed by the Senate.
The elections for ASG rules committee will be held next week.
