Student Senate is gearing up for a new campaign – but this time, it’s all about its constituents.
During the Senate meeting Tuesday, Vice President Katherine Tullos discussed plans for a “meet and greet” program.
“It’s something we’ve started this year,” she said. According to Tullos, each senator will have a forum to interact with their constituents. It will be up to each senator to negotiate the advertising and details for the different schools, but events must occur within prescribed times.
First-year senators will have programming between Oct. 8 -14, Engineering senators between Oct. 15 – 21, and Dedman I and II senators between Oct. 28 and Nov. 5.
Senate also started using a digital projector to display the text of bills in dispute.
The projection system got good use during the meeting when senators debated and approved amendments to the Senate Policies and Procedures.
According to Senate Chief of Staff Katie White, the amended portions clarify the steps senators need to take to appeal negative recommendations from the finance committee.
“Last semester we changed the whole finance process,” she explained. Before, a senate sponsor would have to fill out an additional form for organizations who wanted to protest finance recommendations.
But a few weeks ago, unclear wording in the procedures caused problems during a meeting.
According to procedure, “The chairs of the finance committee present the complaint, but … whoever authors it is the first person who has debate, so they get special privileges,” said White.
Dedman II Sen. Ben Hatch led the presentation.
Jennifer Jones, assistant dean of student life, addressed the Senate earlier in the meeting.
“All of you are passionate,” said Jones. But senators can spend “a lot of time being redundant – student issues are the most important things here.”
After that, students got down to business. Communications Chair Taylor Armstead gave an update on the advertising campaign for the scholarships available this fall.
The finance committee then gave its recommendations and the Senate approved $2,630 for a Bhakti Yoga lecture and $1,690 for Community Service Day. It rejected a funding request from Delta Delta Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha for a philanthropy event.
At the end of the meeting, senators opened debate on Giddy-Up and the possible adoption of a new “Good Samaritan” rule.
Tullos and Russ said they’d talked with SMUPD about improving the program’s accessibility, but the program was short-staffed.
“I’m frustrated that they’re not willing to listen to us,” said Russ. “If this program is for students and by students, let students have a say in how it’s run.”
Parliamentarian Jaclyn Durr said Senate “Definitely needed to pressure the Police Department and administration to get it working how it should be.”
Dedman I Sen. Jonathan Lane brought up the idea of a “Good Samaritan” rule that wouldn’t penalize students who had been drinking for turning in friends who need medical help.
Hatch and Durr objected to the plan, as did Russ, who said that “legal affairs wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.”
But Law Sen. Charles Chestnutt said SMUPD could incorporate a rule allowing officers to turn a blind eye to alcohol consumption by minors as long as it was strictly defined.
He said U.S. tort law had Good Samaritan clauses and that SMU could make it “as broad or as narrow as necessity dictates.”
