Senate Beat Is In The Void

Senate Public on Wednesday began in darkness: the SU lights had been left on dimmers and nobody could figure out how to turn them off. After five minutes of various senators experimentally flipping switches and heated debate over whether Senate really needs light anyway, Vice President Margot Becker (‘24) pronounced that she kind of liked the ambiance and Senate proceeded as normal.

In committee reports, Senator Jefferson Ratliff (‘25) shared that applications for J-Board and Honor Council members are now live on Handshake, and encouraged all to apply. On behalf of the Appointments Committee, Senator Ratliff also nominated Eden Kalaj-Rice to the position of Pool Hall Assistant Manager. Senate unanimously approved the nomination, and all congratulated Jefferson on their first appointment in a Senate Public session — previous appointments having been delayed in Publics when too few senators were present to form a quorum. 

Senator Nina Baca (‘25) reported for International Student Services that the Experiential Learning Info Session is now available online, and stated their hope that the session will help clear up any grey areas and uncertainties that students have about the program. Meanwhile, Senator Lennox Reeder (‘25) announced that the Computing Policy Committee (CPC) has renamed itself again to the Information and Computing Policy Committee (ICPC), reasoning that the word computing “doesn’t adequately reflect what IT professionals see themselves as doing in the 21st century.” 

Reporting for Finance Committee, Student Body Head Treasurer Sean Brown (‘24) put forward requests for $875 from K-Pop Club, $141 from Caffeine Club, and $369 from Elvira’s Disciples. Senate voted on the requests and approved all three unanimously. Meanwhile, Student Body President Safi Zenger (‘24) announced that Senate now plans to hold a regular election instead of a special election, saying that they had planned a special election but “just aren’t going to have time.” President Zenger expressed that “it’s going to be weird to get a lot of new people all at once,” but that it couldn’t be helped.

Reporting for the Student Committee on Academic Planning, Vice President Becker explained the committee’s discussions on sabbatical replacement overloads and shared that the “FTE Pool” has been renamed the “FTE Stream,” saying that “there’s a lot changing in the faculty” and expressing her belief that “it’s important for students to take an active role.” Becker also stated that she has been working with Megan at CP to set up spaces for Spring/Fall balls and appoint spring Renn Fayre czars in order to “get the ball rolling as quickly as possible.”