Senate Beat is Allergic to Dust

By Henry Kendrick

Student Body President Safi Zenger insisted on keeping things quick on Monday 10/9’s Senate Public before opening Senate’s job fair. Zenger and Vice President Sean Brown were shown a draft of Senate’s upcoming website from Reed’s webmaster and mulled whether the president can call appointment confirmations without Senate’s Appointment Committee (APPCOM) chair, Senator Jefferson Ratliff, who was absent from the meeting while prepping for the job fair.

Finance Committee (FINCOM) allocations were then announced by Head Treasurer Nina Gopaldas. Squareball requested $971.97, all of which was approved; Kvntball (pronounced “Kant ball”) requested $125.91, of which $80.16 was approved due to a $15 printing cap; and 1989 Taylor Swift ball requested $830.75, of which $452.90 was approved by Treasury. Senate voted unanimously to approve all FINCOM allocations.

Senators’ committee reports were mostly quite brief. Assistant Treasurer Lucy Knight-King introduced herself to the bookstore staff, as she has been appointed to the bookstore board, and also attended a meeting of the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (SCAPP).

Senator Xixi Dukes is continuing work related to Disability and Accessibility Resources (DAR), and Vice President Brown is going to work with the Health and Counseling Center (HCC) to purchase fentanyl testing strips, which Senator Bella Moore confirmed can indeed be legally distributed by the college. Senator Andee Gude will also be taking over as student space liaison from Brown. 

According to Senator Lily Garvey, SCAPP will have an October 24 meeting in Commons in order to ask students for comment and input on the college’s AI policy. Senator Garvey also attended a meeting of the faculty Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (CAPP), during which sabbatical requests were discussed.

A new Commons allergen survey has been released on SB Info, courtesy of Senators Meera Balan and Caroline Spiggle, who both urged any students with legitimate food allergy concerns related to Commons dining to fill out the survey promptly. Finally, President Zenger announced that the next Senate Public, to be held on October 23, will specifically address Senator Balan’s lighting petition, and welcome any community members to attend if they wish to provide input and/or feedback or express their concerns with the proposal.