At this week’s meeting, Treasurer Allen Abraham introduced a proposed amendment to the USG constitution that would make it easier for USG senators to approve future constitutional amendments in the future. The proposal marked the first effort to amend the constitution in six years, according to Executive Vice President Aimee Pomeroy. In order for the proposed amendment to go into effect, it would need to be approved by at least two thirds of the senate. On Thursday, the senate voted to amend the constitution, allowing the proposal to be passed along to the Executive Council for a vote on Friday. If approved, the amendment will be used on the ballots for the upcoming fall elections later this month.
Candidate Approvals
Candidate Stephanie Vivecia’s approval to run for Election Board was temporarily delayed as a debate broke out among the senators as to whether or not a candidate should be present before the senate votes on their approval.
Senator Ryan Heslin objected to the vote, saying that the senate should consider Vivecia’s absence from the meeting as a reflection of her devotion to the position. Senator Heslin said that Vivecia’s absence may or may not speak to the nature of her character if she could not attend the meeting, despite Vivecia’s claim that she was in class. Despite her absence, the senate voted to approve Vivecia as the final candidate for the fall elections with a vote of 17 for and three abstentions. Francis Keating was also approved to run for Election Board.
SBU TV Revival in the Works, USG Looking to Book Arena for End of Year Concert.
In her monthly report, President Anna Lubitz announced that she is working
on getting the student run SBU-TV station running again. Lubitz said she felt that it was important for students to have a way to see news relevant to the student body, including USG senate meetings, which could possibly be filmed and posted to YouTube for those unable to attend the meetings. SBU-TV was shut down in early 2011 after a controversial appeal process was denied to the student-run station.
Lubitz also announced that USG is working on getting permission to use the football stadium for this year’s end of semester concert, which is scheduled to take place in spring. Lubitz did not say who the Undergraduate Student Government is considering for this year’s concert. However, VP of Communications Sophia Marsh announced that over 500 students had responded to a recent survey on which artists they would like to see perform for this year’s concert.
Miscellaneous
Juan Pablo Cordon was appointed student liaison for the P.A.S.S. tutoring program.
After a lengthy debate, the Oxfam America SSC budget application was approved, with the club receiving $595 for the academic year, including funding for their Hunger Banquet event this month.
