This week’s ASUO meeting had a busy agenda ahead of a short Thanksgiving holiday week.
4 new appointments to various positions started the ASUO meeting.
Myles Vigoda was appointed to the Program Finance Committee unanimously by the senate. Vigoda, an economics major, has had prior experience with ASUO and with budgeting which made him a stand out to the senate.
Mathieu Wilson was appointed to a position on the EMU Board of Executives unanimously by senate. Wilson has experience with other student organizations at other academic institutions he has attended and he wants to use his experience as a transfer student to get involved and share his experience.
“As a new student to the University of Oregon,” Wilson stated on his application, “I am interested in this role as a way to get involved and to be able to share my perspectives as a transfer student.”
Lucas Eschelbach was appointed to Senate Seat 4 unanimously. Eschelbach is a current EMU employee and feels his experience sets him apart from others when it comes to managing funds.
“My interest in this role is derived, first and foremost, by a desire to represent and serve my fellow University of Oregon students,” Eschelbach stated on his application.
Montserrat Mendez Higuera was appointed to the position of First Year Representative unanimously by senate. She hopes to learn more about how the ASUO functions and to how she can benefit UO. This position is not a voting position but does give her influence with the senate.
Financial business was next and many groups were requesting funds.
SELF was requesting $20,800 from ASUO for a large conference the group is planning early 2017. The students advocating for the event hope to sell out tickets to the conference which would be held in Straub 156.  The funds from ticket sales would hopefully allow for a smaller funding request in the future from the ASUO.
Max Burns requested to table the funding request due to how large the amount requested was and because he, and other senators, did not feel adequately informed about the event.
“I think that we need more time to think about it,” Burns said. The request was tabled until the next ASUO meeting in 2 weeks.
The Muslim Student Association was requesting $1,201 of their allocated funds be moved to other designated areas for upcoming events they will be holding throughout the year. The request was approved unanimously.
VFSA, after a contentious discussion, was granted their revised request of $9,634. The student veterans requested the funds for an upcoming conference that 13 members of the group will be participating in. The discussion to reduce the cost of the funds allocated came up due to the original funding request of $10,709.
Stand Up Society was requesting $1,700 from surplus for a workshop that will be taught by Alex Falcone, a Portland comedian. The money will be used for the workshop to teach upcoming comedians how to do stand-up. The request was approved
U R Awesome was requesting $50 to be transferred from Food for Midterms Kisses to Food for Finals Kisses. The student group hands out chocolates to students around campus and provides words of support during finals. The request was approved.
The Murdock Trust Resolution interrupted the Financial Business as it was scheduled earlier on the Agenda.
Murdock Trust requests the ASUO pass a resolution to defund the Murdock Trust because of its support of anti-lgbtq groups and groups that actively seek to undermine worker rights.
“Resolution to condemn the Murdock Trust for funding Organizations in the Pacific Northwest that harm the University of Oregon Community”
A member of the Freedom foundation showed up at the meeting to voice the reason why ASUO should not approve this resolution.
Working groups were next on the agenda.
Senator Pablo Alvarez proposed a resolution to put more pressure on faculty and students who commit acts of racism. The resolution is still in its developmental phase and Alvarez gave an update on its progress.
OSPIRG Save the Bees resolution was approved by the senate. The resolution would call on UO administration and Congress to put a moratorium on neonicotinoid pesticides responsible for the death of bee populations.
The senate concluded the evening with Benchmarks which included The EMU Board being granted an increase of 4.15% to their budget for the 2016-17 cycle. Other benchmark allocations for the 2016-17 cycle can be found here. Benchmarks are not binding, but projections for the future.
The senate also changed the language in certain bylaws.
The full agenda for the meeting can be found here.