Senate Beat: Oct 29, 2021
Senate Gets Spooky
This week’s Public Senate meeting was largely uneventful, as only committee reports and some questions occured. Student Body President Alondra Loza began and updated us on the progress she made over the fall break. Loza, Student Body Vice President Orion Pendragon, Director of the Office of Student Engagement (OSE) Janice Yang, and Operations Coordinator for OSE Megan Simon all met during the first Student Space Task Force meeting. In the meeting, they discussed the structure of a survey for the student body, as well as how to engage students and make sure the most students take the survey as possible. Loza also met with Dean of Students Tawana Parks and brought up larger issues she sees in the use of student body fees. At their core, student body fees try to give events and support to students. Some of the fees, according to Loza, are not supporting students, but the entire Reed community, including faculty and staff. Loza wants Parks to help reexamine the Appointments Committee (AppComm) and larger Senate tasks to ensure that student body fees are going to students only.
Senator Margot Becker gave updates about the Bylaws Committee, who has been restructuring and reviewing Senate bylaws since the beginning of the summer. Becker said that there are a few more groups to speak to about it, and then there will be a final review. They also expressed excitement about the big additions to the accountability portion of it. As the Student Union (SU) Assistant Manager, Becker was excited to announce that the SU is now completely student run! From maintenance to decorations, everything is done by students, which Becker is proud of. If you have any questions about the SU or scheduling an event in the SU, please email Becker or schedule it on IRIS!
Senator Safi Zenger gave updates about AppComm. AppComm has hired wage review members, which means Treasury can begin a review of all wages AppComm hires. OSE is also now in charge of hiring czars for Paideia, which Zenger says will lighten the load AppComm has. This is the first change made to help AppComm become more sustainable, an issue Zenger has been working on solving since the beginning of the year.
Senator Beq Yonaka spoke next. Yonaka spoke with Jess Gibson, the Assistant Director of the Disability & Accessibility Resources (DAR) division of Student Life. Yonaka and Gibson talked about the faults of the DAR website and possibilities for reform.
Senator Arley Sakai talked about the Sexual Health, Advocacy, and Relationship Education (SHARE) meeting he attended with Senator MJ Quintana-Rodriguez and SHARE advocates. The October 5 email from Vice President for Student Life Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black was discussed; more specifically, the group discussed how to support survivors through the rhetoric of people in power. Sakai is also going to be trained by the Restorative Justice Coalition in the near future with Yonaka, which both are excited about.
A student in the audience asked about the upcoming elections, where several spots are opening up. AppComm is in the process of hiring an election czar, a position vital to carrying out the elections. The wage for the election czar has recently been raised due to the time sensitive workload the czars are in charge of. The czar will also decide if the election will be held in-person or remotely. Elections will happen at the end of the term, so keep an eye out for any information if you are interested in running for a position!