Most students get it. Why should MUSG be any different?
Only 20 of 30 senators were in attendance at last Thursday’s meeting, and the lack of senators led to a delay in the passage of the budget for next year. Although there were enough senators present to pass the budget according to senate rules, the vote was post-ponned for the sake of increased particpation
The senate had better get their act together by this Thursday’s meeting, the year’s last, or the fall semester will begin without a budget.
Legislative Vice President Jason Rae cleaned out his office before what was supposed to be his final meeting. Turns out he’ll be around for at least one more.
A new LVP was supposed to be elected at tonight’s meeting, but due to a short-handed Senate neither candidate could muster enough votes. Two absences and three unfilled senate seats prevented prevented both Business Senator John Giel and Off-campus Senator Abe Matthew from receiving the requisite 14 vote majority. The Senate will vote again next week, after the unfilled slots have been appointed.
Along with his MUSG duties, Rae serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee and as a superdelegate in this year’s Democratic primary—the youngest ever elected. Tuesday, Rae was lampooned by Jason Jones of The Daily Show.
The Senate also approved $11,789 in allocations for 20 student organizations for the final period of Student Organization Allocations of the academic year.
A recommendation calling for the increased availability of textbook information passed the MUSG Senate unanimously at tonight’s meeting. According to the recommendation, Marquette is contractually forbidden from sharing “key identifying information,” such as ISBN numbers, with anyone other other than Follett, the university’s textbook provider. The bill calls for the university to push to make information on textbooks available in future contract negotiations with Follett.
The ISBN number is “helpful in finding the correct edition of a required text book from other sources,” according to the recommendation.
The Senate also passed a resolution honoring Vice President for Student Affairs Andy Thon, who recently announced he will be stepping down at the end of the academic year.
And then there were two.
A proposal to increase the funds available for student organizations along with a resolution on public safety passed at volatile MUSG Senate meeting Thursday night.
The recommendations of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Funding Student Activities, chaired by presidential candidate and Arts & Sciences Senator Giuseppe Pappalardo, successfully passed a two-thirds senate vote. Among the five dissenting votes was another presidential candidate, Ray Redlingshafer an off-campus senator. Pappalardo was visibly angered when Redlingshafer cast his nay vote.
Among the recommendations of the Ad-Hoc committee were incrementally increasing the Student Activity Fee, using a portion of the Reserve Fund and increasing the amount of funds available for Student Organizations from 33 percent from 35 percent.
Later in the meeting, Pappalardo and other senators questioned the wording of a resolution authored by Redlingshafer and three other senators concerning the recent robberies of Marquette students. The original resolution stated MUSG “wishes to voice the concerns of the students on the issue of safety at Marquette University.” The resolution was amended to say MUSG and the student body “will not stand for violence perpetrated against any member of the community or community surrounding.”
During the period of the meeting reserved for event announcements, Schroeder Senator Billy Doerrer, Pappalardo’s running mate, chastised the authors of the resolution for not consulting with members of the Department of Public Safety.
While he was speaking, Jimmy Schott, financial vice president, shouted, “That’s not an announcement!” After the meeting, he was warned by Legislative Vice President Jason Rae to “never do that again.”
After the incident, Executive Vice President Sara Soriano condemned the political tone of the meeting.
“The office is a no-campaign zone, and this meeting should be a no-campaign zone,” Soriano said.
As the MUSG election season is officially underway, it might be interesting to take a look at election regulations. Here’s a look at some of the rules, via the MUSG constitution:
Let’s all make sure the candidates stick to the rules.
The Ad-Hoc Committee on the Funding of Student Activities recommended an increase in the Student Activity Fee as well as allocating a portion of the Reserve Fund to supplement allocations to student groups. The committee, led by Giuseppe Pappalardo, is seeking a $14 per year increase in the SAF as well as a $42,000 allocation from the Reserve Fund over the next three years. In its report, the committee cited recent increases in the amount of student organizations as well as Marquette’s comparatively low fee among other Jesuit institutions. The recommendations will be brought before the Senate at next Thursday’s meeting.
The Senate unanimously passed a bill allocating $5,000 from the Reserve Fund to the Electric LIMO project. The money will be used for start up costs for a project aimed at converting a decomissioned LIMO into an all electric vehicle. The allocation will be met by a $5,000 donation from the university, according to MUSG President Brock Banks.
The Student Organization Allocations for the sixth period of funding also unanimously passed the senate. $20,957 was allocated to 16 organizations and six club sports teams.
Today marked the first official day of the 2008 campaign for MUSG President and Executive Vice President. Here are your candidates:
President—Ray Redlingshafer: Junior, College of Business Administration, Off-Campus Senator
Executive Vice President—Kathleen Blaney: Senior, College of Nursing, Senior Week Commissioner, Program Board Assistant
President—Giuseppe Pappalardo: Sophomore, College of Arts & Sciences Senator
Executive Vice President—Billy Doerrer: Sophomore, College of Arts & Sciences, Schroeder Hall Senator
President—David Franklin: Senior, College of Arts & Sciences
Executive Vice President—Abby Ross, College of Business Administration
Looks like we have two MUSG insider tickets along with one outsider campaign. I’m definitely looking forward to hearing everyone’s ideas.
Dean of Residence Life Jim McMahon discussed a tenant shortage for Marquette’s university-owned apartments at tonight’s Marquette Student Government Senate meeting. McMahon said one-bedroom efficiencies in Humphrey Hall and Campus Town are booked for next year, but many of the two and three bedroom apartments remain unsigned. Senators highlighted cost and independence as the main reason students are seeking lodging elsewhere.
“A lot of students I’ve talked to feel like [university owned] apartments are like an extension of residence halls and may have some of the same rules and regulations, which might not be completely accurate,” said Ray Redlingshafer, an off-campus senator and College of Arts & Sciences junior.
McMahon said one reason the apartments are not filling might be that spots in the university-owned apartments were held until later in the year to avoid a housing panic. McMahon said next year, leases will be available earlier.
“Students are going to sign leases early,” he said. “We’ve basically given up on that.”
John Sweeney, Director of Recreational Sports, was also at the meeting to discuss issues such as club sports practice space and Rec Center renovations. According to Sweeney, club sports teams at Marquette have one of the highest rate of growth in the nation over the past 10 years. Some club sports teams are forced to practice at 12:30 a.m., he said. Sweeney also said a steering committee has been created to look into a new rec center or major renovations to the current Rec Center.
Sweeney noted the Rec Center is in constant need of repair.
“The Rec Center wasn’t built to be around as long as it has,” Sweeney said.
A group of engineering students were present at the meeting to discuss the “E-Limo” project, a plan to convert a decomissioned limo into a fully electric vehicle. Look for more on that in Tuesday’s Tribune.
An amendment requiring all votes to be taken in roll call form and posted on the MUSG Web site failed at Thursday’s Senate meeting. The vote was 12-11, falling short of the 18 votes required to pass the amendment, per MUSG bylaws. The ammendment would have required senators to vote either “yea” or “nay” on all votes taken in the senate. Senators Billy Doerrer, Abraham Matthew, Giuseppe Pappalardo and former Senator Henry Thomas authored the bill.
Yikes. The tension at the meeting was palpable throughout this debate. Some senators were visably angered. Although the amendment failed, I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ve heard on the subject.
Personally, I feel like this amendment was a good idea. As several senators stated, senators would take their votes more seriously if their names are next to every vote they take. Also, constituants can easily access the voting record of their senators. Yes, many votes are unanimous, and yes, meeting time will be extended (don’t forget I have to sit through all these), but I think senators giving a “yea” or “nay” instead of just all raising their hands will end up being better for everyone.
Other notes:
A resolution commending Alderman Bob Bauman and the Department of Public Works for their work on improving safety on Wells Street passed unanimously. A story on the proposed changes to Wells Street will appear in next Thursday’s Tribune.
MUSG as a new Web site. Check it out at musg.mu.edu.
Opinions expressed on this blog are that of the individual blogger and may not represent the views and opinions of the Marquette Tribune.
