The USGD Senate appointed a new Health Solutions Senator and Supreme Court Justice, passed a bill hoping to give students 24-hour access to the University Center library and approved eight of nine funding requests Friday.
Exercise and wellness sophomore Sevance Rusley was unanimously approved to fill the recently vacated Health Solutions seat.
Fellow Health Solutions Sen. Dean Thap described Rusley as overqualified. Both senators are also involved in Greek life.
“He’s been around all of the events, even USGD events he never had to go to,” Public Programs Sen. Cy Porras said. “He really helps out.”
USG as a whole implemented a Supreme Court system this year, and the USGD Senate approved freshman Erik Turtle to serve as a justice for the Downtown campus.
The USG Supreme Court will be responsible for settling issues that arise internally, such as impeachments. In the new USGD bylaws, the president is obligated to appoint a downtown representative to the Supreme Court by Oct. 1.
During questioning before the Senate vote for approval, Turtle said he is good in “sink or swim” situations and is excited to take on the new role.
The Senate then approved Senate Bill 03, which seeks to make the University Center Information Commons a 24-hour space for students to use, similar to libraries on the Tempe campus.
University College Sen. Frank Smith and Barrett, The Honors College Sens. Joshua Burton and Travis Arbon introduced the bill after collecting 524 student signatures for support.
“Along with ‘One University, Four Campuses’ and spirit, pride and tradition, it’s in the best interest of the students and the interest of the university to provide equal access to services for students on all campuses,” Sen. Arbon said. “That’s what we want to accomplish.”
Sen. Burton said student support of the initiative was obvious when petitioning for signatures.
“This isn’t something that we just noted, or we gathered from just a few personal stories,” Sen. Burton said. “Students are excited about this. This is something they do want.”
The director of the library is scheduled to meet with USGD representatives Tuesday afternoon to discuss the initiative.
The Travel and Tourism Student Association’s funding request of $417.82 for T-shirts, food and beverages for a social was rejected in a 2-9 vote with Rusley abstaining as a new senator.
This marks the second time this year the organization has seen their funding request shot down by the Senate. In November, TTSA did not receive their requested $316.94 because they did not attend the USGD Budget Allocations Committee meeting — a strong recommendation for any club looking to get their requests approved. The BAC meetings are a time for organizations to state their case for why they need the money and how it will help the Downtown campus.
However, before the vote was taken, Finance Director Sam Tongue admitted he had forgotten to include the TTSA president in his email to those requesting money. He said he realized this mistake on the day of the vote and contacted the president of TTSA, who said no one could attend the Senate meeting to speak on such short notice.
While the Senate has seen requests from TTSA before with no correspondence, Tongue said the club is now working under a new set of executive officers and urged the Senate to keep that in mind when voting.
“Know that the reason they’re not here isn’t their fault, it’s more my fault,” Tongue told the senators immediately before the dissenting vote.
The other eight funding requests were unanimously approved.
The Well Devil Council was approved $1,850 dollars of their $2,200 request for their Body Pride Week, beginning Feb. 5. The amount was amended down because the Senate didn’t feel that “Static Cling positive messages,” listed on the funding request, necessarily needed to be purchased with USGD funding.
Bethel Campus Fellowship received $1,350 of their $1,434.30 request to send three members to a February conference in North Carolina. The amount was amended down to meet the BAC guideline stating the maximum amount to be allocated for trips is $450 per person.
Meeting Professionals International received $773.68 to host the Career Catwalk in February, a fashion show to display proper workforce attire.
The Future Leaders of Student Affairs received $450 to send one student to a conference in Florida, while Arise Ministry, a new organization on campus, received the same amount for their opening night event.
The Exercise and Wellness Organization received $300, half of their $600 request. The amount was amended down because half of the request was for Spartan Race T-shirts. The Senate already approved funding for the same T-shirts earlier this year.
The Fashion Journalism Club received $86 for business cards. The Senate added a stipulation to the allocation, mandating the club would not add members’ names to the cards so extras can be used in the future.
The Associated Press Television and Radio Association received $51.81 for reimbursement for a meeting they held with a guest speaker and food.
Contact the reporter at kevin.p.fallon@asu.edu
