The ASUO Student Senate gave $2,377 in student money on Wednesday night to send three members of a student group to a Washington, D.C., conference.
The move came after the student government Executive branch vetoed last week’s Senate decision to give the Latino/a Law Student Association more than $3,000 to send four to the conference, citing a lack of fund raising on the group’s part.
The Senate also allocated $2,000 to fund an anti-Columbus Day event that starts Monday, $235 for a Chinese Student Association dinner and $300 to reimburse the House of Film for the production of its full-length feature film “Proctor.”
The Senate also voted in president, vice president, treasurer and ombudsman positions.
Second-year Senator Stephanie Erickson changed seats with Senate Summer Committee President Reinier Heyden after running uncontested.
Sara Hamilton won the vice president position over Senator Amy Dufour, and Jared Axelrod was elected ombudsman after he said he sleeps with the ASUO rules guide under his pillow.
Athletic Department Finance Committee member Spencer Crum was elected as Senate treasurer after a tie and re-vote. He ran uncontested. Crum left immediately after the Senate elected him to the position.
Erickson, in her first meeting as Senate president, announced that Senators need to attend the workshops being held on campus to educate themselves on the budgeting process. So far, she said, attendance has not been acceptable. She also slammed the gavel three times after outbursts of laughter and off-topic discussion from Senators.
Finally, Senate approved two ASUO Executive proposals. One was to remove the reserves account from the EMU benchmark process and create a new EMU building account. The proposal sets the reserves at 3.5 percent of total incidental fees collected instead of letting the funding fluctuate from year to year.
– Nicholas Wilbur