After the tragic events of last Tuesday, SGA cancelled its Sept. 11 meeting. Business resumed Tuesday, albeit with an air of reverent humor.
In his opening remarks, President Chad Reed commented on how well the student body was handling the tragic events that occurred a week earlier.
Referring to the vigil held on the Wednesday following the attack, Reed said, “I (would like to) compliment everyone on coming together.”
After the remarks, the Senate went about matters of business. The principle topic on the agenda was the confirmation of Vice President Jennifer Berry’s nominees for Senate committee chairpersons. Among those appointed were Legislative Chair James Heck, Senate Review Chair David Lane, and Selections Chair Tiffany Porter.
Also appointed were the chairs of public relations; parking, traffic, and security; and food services.
The suggestions and grievances nominee was absent, and as such voting on the position was tabled until the next meeting.
Another major appointment was that of the Secretary of Interior Elizabeth Johnston. At the last Senate meeting Johnston was approved for the position of associate justice.
However, since the position of interior remained open and Johnston was a valid candidate, needs were such that she was able to resign her previous position in order to take up the responsibilities of the secretary of interior.
At the previous SGA meeting, the dates for the election were set; however, the inauguration date had yet to be decided, hence SGA set the date for April 9, 2001.
Other business included the first reading of a bill introduced by Sen. David Lane which would eliminate the position of senate clerk and delegate the responsibilities to the secretary-treasurer. Also having its first reading was the bill introduced by Sen. Chris Ziegler to restructure the SGA bylaws concerning 606.
In an interview following the meeting, Ziegler, who chairs the 606 Committee, emphasized that the bill was a group effort. He also highlighted the primary reason for the proposed changes to the 606 process.
“The problem we were (encountering) was that there were so many steps in the bureaucracy that we could not properly inform the students (of the requirements(,” Ziegler said.
He later went on to comment, “We tried to restructure (the law) so that fewer things are repeated.”
Ziegler hopes that by requiring an organization’s representatives to attend both the 606 committee and Student Senate meetings, communication will be improved.
He discussed SGA’s plan to distribute packets to each organization receiving 606 funds.
These packets would be distributed at the Senate meetings involving 606 and will hopefully provide organizations with a clear description of the post-application process.
Ziegler also discussed other aspects of the bill, which included requiring all 606 applicants to be updated and in good standing with the Center for Student Life and Leadership by Sept. 30, pursuant to university policy.
If not, then unlike last year, organizations will have to wait until the next semester before they can file a 606 application.
Other changes include simplification of paper work and a contextual redefining of the position of the secretary of appropriations.
Beyond the bill, Ziegler also hopes that the committee will be willing and able to “judge the merit of each proposal.”
This would change the past unwritten SGA standard for allocating 33 percent funding for all off-campus events and 100 percent funding for all on campus events, leaving the decision up to the Senate as to the validity of any project.

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