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Senate
approves feminist club; debates passing
controversial amendment
By
Gerry Wachovsky
Online Forty-Niner
Diversions Editor
The
Associate Students Senate met for the first
time this semester on Wednesday, and discussed
issues ranging from the working rules of
the Senate to the approval of a new campus
club.
Feminist
Organization Reclaiming Consciousness and
Equality, or F.O.R.C.E., is now the newest
club on campus, after it was swiftly approved
by the Senate. According to its constitution,
the club was formed "to raise feminist
consciousness and take action on campus
issues as well as national, state and local
issues." It also seeks to "mobilize
the feminist community on campus" through""raising
awareness of issues of equality, tolerance,
and acceptance among students."
In
addition, F.O.R.C.E. intends to inform students
about the Women's Resource Center, a valuable
campus resource that offers counseling,
advice, and anything in between. F.O.R.C.E.
will accept any interested students and
one does not have to be a woman to seek
membership.
In
other news, the Senate deliberated over
passing a bylaw amendment that was created
last semester that seeks to appoint an Inspector
General to the Associated Senate. The position
would entail assisting the treasurer with
the approval of funds for student organizations,
working under the treasurer's supervision.
The Inspector General would also "appoint,
supervise, and coordinate a sufficient number
of Assistant Inspectors," to help with
office duties.
The
amendment was met with controversy by the
Senate last semester due to the language
of the proposal, and while some of the problems
were ironed out, the Senate still feels
it needs revision. Senator Morgan Wheeler
said that he found the proposed amendment
to be "somewhat invasive" and
was unsure of the consequences, should a
student organization fail to meet the criteria
for funding approval, as assessed by the
Inspector General.
Senator
Uduak-Joe Ntuk said that he believed the
proposal to be extraneous legislation placed
on top of existing legislation and asked
whether the treasurer was "incapable
of doing her job" to require approval
of such a position. Senator Daniel Rukhman,
on the other hand, said that adding a new
position is a "big deal" and noted
that the Inspector General would collect
post-event reports from the officers or
advisors from the student organization that
sponsored the event. The reports would serve
as evaluations on the success or failure
of the event, and would be used in assessing
whether or not the group would receive funding
for future occasions.
In
the end, the treasurer would still retain
the ultimate power of deciding whether a
group will receive funding. The Senate voted
to postpone ruling on the proposed amendment
until the next meeting.
The
Senate also discussed and approved its own
working rules that dictate the procedures
and regulations to follow while in session.
Various suggestions were made to improve
the coherence of the document, including
several minor corrections.
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