By Valerie Gauman Lucas
The University’s Student Government Association (SGA) meeting last Tuesday saw the passage of two resolutions, but a third failed.
The failed proposal, written by Rules Committee Chairman Jared S. Berry, a sophomore, has failed in previous weeks due to differences over the wording and content.
The failed resolution, which was endorsed by Student Affairs Vice President Sandra Johnson, aimed to create councils for each class. According to the resolution, the class council’s goals included “creating a new variety of events on campus” as well as developing “a sense of unity” in the community.
The resolution also said that “the positions for the senior class will be held for a lifetime” which would give students another connection to alumni related activities.
However, a failed resolution can be voted on again, provided there are significant changes and no one argues that it is the same resolution on the floor.
“I think this is a very important resolution. There are many students that are expressing that they feel very underrepresented after their freshman year,” Berry said. “I feel that it will improve the power of the student voice and the equality.”
Berry intends to significantly change the resolution and bring it back this coming week with the hope that it will finally pass. Appropriations Chair Carlos Cruz, a junior currently running as Peter F. DiSilvio’s vice president for the 2008-2009 SGA elections, supported Berry’s resolution. Berry and Cruz called for fellow SGA senators to bring forth their issues on the resolution so that change could take place, instead of just voting against it.
The redistribution of power within SGA officially took place Tuesday with the passing of the “Re-Apportionment Proposal.” The resolution expanded the number of seats in the SGA senate from 51 to 62. The number of senators is proportional to the number of students at the University. Previously, the ratio of senate members to students was one to 150, and the resolution changed that ratio to one senator for every 125 students.
At the end of the meeting, SGA Vice President Kate Legnetti, a junior political science major running for president in the upcoming elections with current SGA President Brent Weitzberg as her running mate, reminded senators to keep personal conflicts out of SGA meetings.