The ASUO Senate voted Wednesday to more than double the amount of money available to allocate to student programs.
The vote decided the fate of as much as $166,721, earned from the sale of energy tax credits the state government awards to the ASUO for its contract with Lane Transit District. The money will be added to the ASUO’s Senate surplus account of more than $160,000, which is distributed to programs that approach the Senate in need of extra funds.
The Senate voted during an unofficial meeting in December to spend $20,000 of the first $76,000 from the credits to extend the hours of the 79x bus route until 2 a.m. for University students.
ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz pushed the Senate at that meeting to split the remainder of the money between his discretionary fund and a fund that purchases equipment for the EMU, both of which he controls. He promised to seek the Senate’s advice on spending the money, but the Senate denied his request, citing problems of trust.
On Wednesday, some senators advocated putting some of the money in the EMU equipment reserve. Sen. Derek Nix also encouraged the Senate to put some of the money in its own budget to guard against the possibility of a shortfall in senators’ pay.
Dotters-Katz supports giving part of the tax credit to the Campus Recycling program. Campus Recycling was granted a $104,272 increase in its budget by the Department Finance Committee on Tuesday to fund its compost program next year and compensate for increased employment costs. Program directors, however, say they still need $8,425 to fund their program fully.
In other business, Nix was elected Senate Ombudsman. He was the only candidate in a race voted upon by his Senate colleagues in a secret ballot. Nix’s duties will include overseeing senators’ office hours and facilitating outreach and communication between senators and their constituents.
The meeting was the first since the Senate dwindled to 16 members, with the resignation of Sen. Jordan Schenck Friday.
Schenck sat on the Programs Finance Committee, which required her to attend 15 hours of hearings a week in addition to her office hours and Senate meetings. She said she didn’t have the time to balance those commitments with her classes and added she was looking for a job.
Schenck was brought to tears during the Jan. 14 Senate meeting after Athan Papailiou’s appointment to a vacant Senate seat was denied. Schenck said Papailiou is a personal friend, but that she had been planning to resign before his appointment.
“I’m a crier,” Schenck said. “I cry during ‘The Lion King.’ Seeing people upset tends to get me upset.”
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ASUO Senate vastly increases student funds
Daily Emerald
January 22, 2009
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