Senate allocates surplus funds
By a vote of 11-6, the ASUO Student Senate approved a special request Wednesday night for $3,000 from surplus funds to pay airfare expenses for seven University students attending a conference in Chicago next week.
ASUO Women’s Center Diversity Coordinator Darlene Espinoza Dadras is organizing the group attending the conference, which focuses on ending violence against women of color.
Senate President Peter Watts spoke against the transfer because he said the Senate had already set a precedent of not paying conference travel expenses for non-ASUO recognized groups, even if they are sponsored by an ASUO program.
In other special requests, the Senate voted to give $3,000 of surplus money to MEChA to cover expenses for the group’s upcoming event. The Senate approved a transfer of $300 of surplus funds to Students of the Indian Subcontinent to help pay programming costs for the group’s culture night.
In old business, the Senate recalled the EMU budget because of a miscalculation in the amount of money needed to keep the EMU building reserves funded at the level mandated by state law. Senators passed the amendment to the budget by a vote of 9-6.
In new business, the Senate voted 12-2 to pass a resolution recognizing American Sign Language as a foreign language that should fulfill the University second language requirement.
Before adjournment, Sen. Katie Howard recited a poem announcing her resignation at the end of this term.

— Kara Cogswell