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Low attendance delays start of SA Senate meeting
For the third week in a row, attendance was an issue at the Student Association Senate meeting on Sunday night.
The senate met in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center instead of the usual Sky Room, and the meeting did not come to order until 6:13 p.m., when enough senators had entered the room and the quorum of 18 was met. Senate meetings are supposed to start at 6 p.m.
At one point, Speaker Robert Batey asked the present senators if they could call any other senators to get them to come to the meeting. Eventually, 22 senators were there at roll call, with three senators coming in late.
Once quorum was met, the senate was able to conduct business. The senate voted down a proposal to increase the time potential candidates had to petition to get on the spring ballot. Currently, potential candidates are required to get 400 student signatures within a week. The proposal would have increased that to two weeks.
Sen. Aaron Funfsinn, the author of the proposal, said that increased time would only help candidates in the campaign process.
“It would encourage candidates to go out and disseminate information to students,” Funfsinn said.
Sen. Sam Fuqua, however, disagreed and argued that the time crunch tested the candidates’ skills.
“If they can’t do it in a week, then they probably shouldn’t be running,” Fuqua said.
Batey also voiced some concerns regarding the bill. The time changes in the bill could put a strain on Testing Services, which prints and calculates the ballots.
Initial voting for the bill came to a tie, requiring Batey to cast the tie vote. After a five-minute recess, Batey voted down the proposal.
“Considering how conflicting it is to the senate and that there is no overwhelming majority, I will vote nay,” Batey said.
However, Batey encouraged Funfsinn and his supporters to re-submit the bill before the end of the year.
The second piece of business concerned a bylaw amendment that was first debated on March 31. The amendment initially prevented any student from serving a paid position in an organization if they were serving academic or criminal probation, according to NIU Judicial Policy.
SA President Jarvis Purnell vetoed the bill, stating that it was vague in regards to enforcement. The veto was not overridden so that it could be rewritten.
The new version of the bill was essentially the same as the old with one exception: Students found violating the policy were able to appeal to the senate. A majority of the senate would be able to waive the restriction of the student in question.
Funfsinn criticized the bill for the appeal clause, stating that a majority isn’t enough and that it was never mentioned in Purnell’s arguments.
“The number of changes he addressed weren’t even in the bill,” Funfsinn said.
The bill was amended twice. Now, students who violate this policy need two-thirds of the senate to approve. Furthermore, the SA vice president will be in charge of enforcing this policy
Sen. Jason Looney said he supports the bill because it is another way for students who have had academic or criminal misconduct on their records to serve.
“It gives them three opportunities to prove themselves of worth,” Sen. Jason Looney said.
The other two ways were appealing to Judicial Affairs or serving their terms.
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