Elections, presentations top Student Senate agenda

Election results along with two special presentations will be heard by the Student Senate Wednesday.

In addition, discussion and voting will take place on two proposed bylaw changes and four bills tabled from last week.

Official results from Tuesday and Wednesday’s elections will be ready sometime during the meeting, Student Body President Hugh O’Hara said Tuesday.

A special presentation on proposed room and board rates will be given by Mark Hudson, director of University Housing and Dining, and Alison Mormino, Bond Revenue Committee chair. The other presentation will be given by Gary Kelly, who will give an update on the Unified Development Code, O’Hara said.

The senate will also discuss six pieces of legislation tabled from last week.

Three bills allocate money to the UB for student payroll and to clear debt from last semester’s Cirque Eos.

The UB’s production coordinator receives a tuition waiver which was only budgeted for one semester. In addition, money budgeted for a year of productions was used up in one semester. One allocation for $2,669.90 will cover this amount.

Two other allocations from the AB would clear the UB’s debt from Cirque Eos, which lost $17,586.64. One allocation will transfer $12,000 from the graduate assistant line item to UB concerts. The second allocation is a gift from AB for $5,586.64 to clear the remaining debt.

The third allocation from AB is $2,100 for three senate members attending the Conference on Student Government Associations Feb. 23 through 26 at Texas A & M University.

Two bylaw changes regarding student representation are on the agenda as well.

A proposed bylaw change regarding student representation combines elements of the current system and the old system.

Under the old system, senate members chose one Recognized Student Organization to attend and give senate reports. The new system would implement a survey to assess the need for representation of all RSOs and assign senate members accordingly. The other part of the proposed system will involve an informational meeting held three to four times per semester on a set topic for all students to attend. It would be similar to the current RSO Council.

The other bylaw change removes a bylaw stating that the student relations chairperson will assign off-campus and at-large senate members to be liaisons to RSOs and work with the speaker of the senate to coordinate forums on campus issues. This bylaw is not applicable under the current student representation system and would not be applicable under the proposed new system if passed.