New Student Senate members’ terms begin
Wednesday night’s Student Senate meeting proved to be an emotional one as old senators stepped down from their seats and new senators began their terms. The majority of the Senate is made up of new members — four of the 18 senators will return for the upcoming year. Before the old senators handed over the reins, they offered some advice.
“You’ve got a voice and use it. By not saying anything, you are letting students down and the whole system,” former Sen. Jesse Harding said.
Former ASUO Vice President Eddy Morales reminded ASUO Vice President Mena Ravassipour to be aware of how the Senate affects all funding bodies.
“All the budgets affect the pockets of students,” Morales said.
For the first vote of its term, the Senate unanimously granted ASUO a special request to allocate surplus funds to post a calendar of student-group events in the EMU. Clarissa Chan, former ASUO programs administrator, said the calendar will promote attendance to student-group events and in turn strengthen the University. The calendar will cost $5,248 and have a Web site to complement it.
In a second special request, Club Sports Director Sandy Vaughn asked for ASUO to use incidental fees to cover the cost of van damage. The Senate voted 14-2 to postpone the discussion of the request until the fall.
The Senate voted 15-1 to approve a $100 food request from the Pre-Dental Club for a spring reception and passed a $29 food request by the Pre-Health Society for a spring reception.
The Energy Team presented the Campus Wind Campaign — a plan advocating wind-powered electricity in the EMU — which will be shown to the EMU Board in the fall.
The Senate took nominations for summer president and vice president positions; elections will be held at next week’s meeting.

— Emily LoVerde