The Meeting
ASUO senators amended a resolution of action on the University’s proposed Riverfront development, heard from University Senate President Nathan Tublitz about increasing cooperation and voted for its new officers for the 2010-11 school year.
The Decisions
ASUO Environmental Advocate Nathan Howard presented a resolution about the proposed development of the Riverfront to the Senate with two members of Connecting Eugene, a group opposed to development. A Connecting Eugene member, Allen Hancock, said the reason for the resolution was to hold off development until the community was able to voice concerns.
“In the last year, we discovered the Oregon Board of Higher Education specified a process for review to ensure there would be review,” Hancock said. “That part of the contract has been breached.”
Since this was the first meeting many senators had a chance to see the resolution, much of the meeting was spent amending the wording. “We all have a general sense of what we want in this resolution,” Senator Zachary Stark-MacMillan said.
The resolution’s amendments were unanimously approved and sent to the Rules Committee.
The officers were elected by secret ballot with all senators voting. Stark-MacMillan was elected Senate chair. Max Barkley was approved to be Senate Vice President, Brianna Woodside-Gomez to be Senate Treasurer, Evan Thomas to be Academic Chair and Ian Fielding to be Ombudsperson.
The Tension
Some senators were upset when they realized part of the Riverfront resolution works to not only stave off development until further conversation, but to halt development. Senator Thomas referenced a part of the resolution which called for this cessation.
“I don’t know that I’m comfortable with saying, ‘Yeah, we should bridge the gap between communication and here’s what we should say,’” Thomas said.
Eugene member and University grad student Paul Cziko also presented with Howard and said the call to stop development only meant until communication resumed.
There were continuing issues related to Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary Procedure.
During the amendment session for the Riverfront resolution, Senator Brian Powell asked to suspend the rules in order for the Senate to come to a faster conclusion.
Next Week
The Senate Rules Committee is still working on new operating procedures. Rules Committee will also be looking over the revised version of the Riverfront resolution. Senate will revisit the resolution next week after final amendments.
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