Confirmation of eight student representatives could triple number of senators

At the Downtown Senate meeting Friday afternoon, the Senate could confirm as many as eight new student representatives, tripling the number of senators currently representing students.

Only the College of Public Programs has had full representation so far this year, with the College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the Walter Cronkite School having one senator apiece.

Prior to the beginning of school, members of the Executive Board talked to students about joining Downtown student government at orientations and beginning-of-school events.

“Our Executive Board and senators have been working tirelessly and attending as many campus events as possible to recruit students to fill vacant seats,” said Director of Public Relations Danielle Chavez in an email.

Eneida Shqalsi, kinesiology freshman, is one of the students nominated to represent the School of Nutrition and Health Promotion.

If confirmed by the Senate, an idea she would try to implement is the creation of a student garden near the campus.

This will give students the opportunity to learn about eating nutritiously while giving students a nearby, organic food option, Shqalsi said.

Another idea she has is to create a nutritional food club on campus.

Shqalsi said she has never been in student government but is excited about the opportunity.

Another freshman who will go before the Senate this afternoon is journalism student Katy Graves.

Graves was nominated to be one of the new Barrett senators and knew coming into ASU that she wanted to be part of the Downtown government.

Graves was in her high school student government all four years, a senator for three of those years and treasurer her senior year.

Downtown student government “seems a lot more professional than high school government,” Graves said.

While she said she doesn’t have any specific ideas for student government right now, Graves said she is very excited about pep rallies and game day programs.

She is also looking forward to meet-and-greets with constituents, a responsibility some senators in the past have either shirked or dreaded.

Shqalsi and Graves said they found information on how to become a senator from beginning-of-school events, such as Sparky’s Carnival and TaylorFest.

In the past, senators and other members of the Downtown campus have criticized the advertising of open senate positions, saying it hasn’t been visible enough.

There are still four empty senate seats, two from both University College and the School of Letters and Sciences.

“We will continue to pinpoint University College and Letters of Arts and Sciences students until we fill all of our senate seats,” Chavez said in an email.

Resignations have plagued the Downtown Senate in past years. Over the summer, both Barrett senators resigned along with one senator from the Cronkite School and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation.

Last year, four senators resigned within two months – two at the end of the fall 2010 semester, one in late January 2011 and one in early February.

The Downtown campus has never had a full senate body.

“This (having a complete senate) is one of our top priorities this year,” Chavez said.

Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu