Student Senate allocates total of $18,384.11 at Monday’s meeting

Senate allocated $13,494.11 for The Big Event. The vote was unanimous with two senators abstaining. Vice President of Finance Nathaniel Jones brought up concerns about the budget where The Big Event pays for advertising in The Eagle. He said this is a separate issue and may be considering it for the future.

Senate allocated no more than $3,000 to RLA for a diversity and sexual assault speaker, Jamie Utt, to speak on campus next semester. The vote was 18 – 1 with Senator Syerra Wycoff-Bagshaw voting no.

“My only caviot is we just had a sexual assault awareness conference, and we just brought in four speakers in the last two weeks that talk about the same subject matter,” Wycoff-Bagshaw said. “And whenever I go to any of these sessions, even last year I always noticed it’s the same people that always go; it’s never reaching out to any other new people.”

She suggested bringing other speakers, like comedians, to campus so students don’t feel like they are being lectured.

“Sexual assault does get hit on a lot. We are bringing Brian Banks in about it, but I think it is something that we need to keep doing because it is a major thing that is affecting every single campus across the United States,” Student Senate President Katrina Hurley said.

Analise Garland, an RA in Brooks, said that RLA wants to bring Utt to campus mainly for his diversity presentation; Utt offered to do a second presentation over either sexual awareness or leadership.

“The reason the sexual assault thing is so big, and this is kind of interesting, it’s kind of scary to think about, is at the national level it is really getting to the point where parents are actually afraid to even send their students to college because of the risk of some kind of physical harm. It’s that serious of an issue,” Faculty Adviser Mathew Brust said.

Senate allocated $900 to CAB to co-sponsor the Party at the Pavilion with the Ag Club. This allocation is for food, drinks, and the DJ.

No more than $990 was allocated for the dinners that senators will have with the Leadership Summit speakers and the hor d’oeuvres for the Senate meet and greet. The meet and greet is at 6 p.m., tonight in the Scottsbluff room.

Student Senate had $93,744.61 in unallocated funds at the beginning of Monday’s meeting.

Senate needs a new Vice President of Finance due to Nathaniel Jones’s resignation, effective after the Nov. 30 meeting.

“I have been given an opportunity to start my career that I can’t pass up,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, with my work schedule, I can’t do both.”

Chief Justice Coy Clark reminded senators that they need 12 credit hours to be a senator if they are working toward their undergraduate degree. Senators working toward their graduate degree need nine credit hours to sit as a senator. He also reminded senators that they are only allowed two unexcused absences. Any senator who did not attend the General Assembly received an unexcused absence.

Clark mentioned that Jensen has two unexcused absences. He also noted that he missed one more meeting after the petition was filed. Clark said the Constitutional Court is leaving the decision to keep or remove Jensen to Senate. One of the absences was for a required work dinner; he did notify Senate of the absence, but because that excuse was not in the constitution it is considered unexcused.

On the vote to keep Jensen it failed with a vote of 8-10 with Jensen abstaining and one senator absent.

The second motion to remove Jensen failed with a vote of 10-8 with Jensen abstaining. It failed because it needed two-thirds, or 12, to pass.

He will remain a senator but Clark said the absences will not disappear from Jensen’s record.

Hurley reminded senators to contact her if they want to help revive a second animal shelter in Chadron.

Kent Hall Senator Samantha Merrill said that her constituents have had complaints about the ping-pong paddles in Kent Hall.

Senator Mauro Ovando did research in response to the Senate Workshop last Saturday on getting vending machines on campus.  Ovando contacted Rapid City Vending about vending machines on campus. The person he contacted said that if CSC’s contract with Pepsi is not exclusive, he would be able to put machines on campus for 90 days at no cost. After those 90 days, the cost of the machines is 15 percent of what the machines make and the rest would be returned to campus as a fund.  Jensen said that if the vending machines are in the Student Center, they have to go through CSC Dining Services. Ovando said that CSC Dining Services might be able to provide items vended in the machines. Jones was concerned about vending machines on campus impacting the revenue the coffee shop in the library.  High Rise Senator Dusty Runner said that the times that the vending machine vends food could be controlled. Runner said that they are trying to get vending mainly in Eagle Ridge and Edna so students living there don’t have to walk to the C-Store for food. Ovando also did research regarding condom machines for bathrooms. He said that maintenance might have condom dispensing machines in storage.