Nov. 27 marked the last Student Government Associ-ation Senate meeting of the fall semester. SGA marked its final meeting with the first reading of a bill to rewrite Title II of the SGA Code of Laws.
The bill, introduced by Sen. David Lane, will affect the structure of the Senate committees and the means by which bylaws, constitutional amendments and resolutions may be passed.
“The bill will shorten the length of Title II and simplify the law by which things are done,” Lane said in an interview after the meeting. “It is another important step towards making SGA student friendly.”
In other business, two new senators, Lisa Mullins and Jason Coffee, were brought through the selections process. Both were approved by the Senate. Selections Committee Chair-woman Tiffany Porter told the Senate that both candidates where excited about joining SGA, and that they had lots of new ideas.
Also, returning Sen. Priya Ponnupula was chosen by the Senate to serve on the Senate Review Committee.
The committee, which handles disciplinary actions in SGA, requires each member to have served at least a semester in the Senate before they may join.
After the appointment of Ponnupula, the session concluded, with no other business coming to the floor of the Senate.
With the Senate adjourning for the semester, President Chad Reed, in an interview following the meeting, commented about the SGA’s performance. Citing Sept. 11 as a principle factor, he said the semester had “moved slowly.”
“The Senate was a young Senate and they have picked it up really quickly, (however), at the beginning of the year we didn’t have enough senators to fill the committees,” said Vice President Jennifer Berry on the development of the Senate.
“I think we’re going to see the committees getting stronger next semester.”
“I think (the Senate) went well this semester, and I am eager to come back for next (semester) and my personal goal is to accomplish more then we did last semester,” she said.
Dr. Sally Lee, the SGA advisor, also mentioned the shortage of senators at the beginning of the semester.
“I think things went fine, but as usual we struggled to get a full Senate,” she said. “As a result the committee structure didn’t work as well as it should.”
She also highlighted that the changes in the 606 process had improved.
“It is just great being (SGA’s) advisor,” she said. “They’re a great group of people.”
Senior Sen. Chris Ziegler, also reflecting on the SGA’s work for the semester, remarked, “we had a little bit of trouble in communication, but other than that SGA went well.” He went on to talk about the new 606 process, citing that it was going well and he expected it to continue to do so next semester.
“I think it is a continual process of improvement and change,” Zeigler said. “So far everything seems to be running smoothly.
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