SMU Student Senate passed two resolutions during its Tuesday meeting.
Dedman I Senator Alex Ehmke authored the first resolution. His bill requests that students should be able to use laptops in all classes.
“Just passing legislation isn’t enough, now they have to implement it,” Ehmke said.
The second resolution sought to establish a 4-year scholarship program by using student fees. Student Body President Jake Torres, African-American Senator Catherine Essig and Hispanic-American Senator Alejandra Aguirre authored the bill.
The bill asks that $11 of the next increase in student fees be applied to a scholarship program which would fund at least four Dallas-Fort Worth students for four years.
If implemented, the program would fund one incoming freshman each year for all four years of that freshman’s college career. The scholarship recipients would be required to maintain a 3.0 GPA and be willing to perform community service throughout their enrollment at SMU.
Aguirre said this scholarship would help attract DFW students to SMU. Aguirre went to public school in Dallas and said many students “didn’t want to apply to SMU just because they thought it was too expensive.”
Essig said the program would set a bar for the chosen students and promote those chosen to do great things.
Bill authors don’t have many of the specifics worked out, such as housing costs. They say the University has been waiting to see if Senate would pass the bill before beginning discussions of whether this program is possible.
Torres said this bill is good because it tells the University how students want to spend their student fees.
Senate already funds several one-time scholarships for SMU students, but this program would only be available to incoming freshmen and would last for four years.
Student senate also introduced three pieces of legislation.
The first, authored by Parliamentarian Joseph Esau, First-Year Senator Katherine Ladner, Dedman I Senator Aden Abiye, International Senator Jieun Pyun, First-Year Senator Ramon Trespalacious and Student Concerns Chair Mamadou Diallo, seeks to add weekend service to the Mustang Express.
Bill authors note that ridership has “increased by more than 93 percent from 2004 to 2008.” They also note that Park ‘N Pony transit passes have also increased.
They argue that providing weekend service will benefit all members of the SMU community, not just students.
The second piece of legislation, authored by Student Body Vice President Austin Prentice, asks that Game Day parking attendants wear red or blue instead of orange shirts.
Prentice described the current orange shirt color as “hideous,” and said changing the colors to red or blue would promote school spirit. When asked about any hazardous, hard-to-see possibilities, Prentice said he’d consider a reflective armband.
The third bill, also authored by Prentice, seeks to have Park ‘N Pony stop ticketing at 4 p.m. on Mondays in selected locations. Prentice says this will accommodate Greek upperclassmen who don’t purchase parking permits.
Prentice is asking that Park ‘N Pony not ticket in parking lots and metered spaces in front of Sorority and Fraternity Rows, Airline Garage, Moody Garage, and the parking lot behind the Lambda Chi and SAE Houses.
Senate will vote on those three bills next week.
