The SGA Senate convened in an environmentally friendly manner Thursday night as they began this semester’s first paperless meeting. With the minutes and resolutions projected on a television in the Ferguson Center, senators stood and read resolutions off the screen to present new business.
The first order of business involved an amendment to the SGA Code of Laws that would clarify the statement cited by Steven Oliver in his letter last week concerning the expenditures for a trip to Pasadena, Calif. The Code of Laws currently says, “Any allocation of more than $1,000 is subject to approval by the Senate.” In his letter last week, Oliver said, “Senate approval is not mandated for spending over this amount.”
The proposal seeks to change the wording in the Code of Laws from “subject to” to “must be.”
Next, junior Senator Aaron Zucker proposed a resolution to raise awareness of UA’s Spring 2 Classes program, a late-enrollment opportunity that Zucker says will help many students graduate on time, or closer to it.
“I actually found out about this yesterday, when The CW wrote about it,” Zucker said of the Spring 2 program. “I looked into it for myself, and I picked up a history class. It was really simple, I just logged into myBama and registered for another class, and I thought it was a great idea.”
Zucker said he was motivated to raise awareness when the CW reported that less than one hundred students took advantage of the opportunity last semester.
“I would be shocked to know that only 90 people were interested in it,” Zucker said. “If only more people knew about it. I wanted to be sure that I’m doing my part in SGA by getting the word out as much as possible.”
Other business in Thursday night’s meeting included two resolutions of encouragement for students.
The first aimed to promote the sale of UA’s Corolla yearbook, asking students to purchase the University’s oldest publication.
The second encouraged students to join the service organization Students on a Mission, which had its first meeting on Jan. 20. The resolution reported that 50 students attended the meeting and had the opportunity to propose different service projects for the coming year.
The Senate also offered condolences to the family of Danny Brannon, a UA student who died in December in a car accident. The Senate went on to endorse the “I Am Danny Brannon” group, which aims to reduce the prevalence of drunk driving and accidents that accompany it. The rules were momentarily suspended after the introduction of the resolution, and the resolution was unanimously agreed to in an immediate vote.
Toward the close of the meeting, Senator Ian Sams announced the creation of a special committee to review changes to the SGA Code of Laws, many of which were proposed last week. The committee includes Senators Sams, Jimmy Screven, CadeAnn Smith, Emily McLaughlin, Peyton Falkenburg and John Anselmo, and aims to produce a unanimous decision in the Senate on the changes to the bylaws.
Smith spoke about the importance of the committee’s creation.
“I think the convening of this committee is really important to show a united front from the SGA,” she said. “There’s been a lot of distrust going on recently, and we’d like to clear the air and get things finally sorted out.”
