Here’s a look at some Student Senate words and phrases that may appear on spring election ballots.
As Ohio University Student Senate candidates prepare for the election this month, The Post is here to explain terms commonly used by OU’s student government.
Students will be able to vote for candidates for Student Senate in the election on March 29 and 30.
Some terms and phrases used frequently in senate’s weekly general body meetings may be unfamiliar to students who are not involved in student government. Words like “referendum” and “ticket” will appear on the senate election ballot.
A ticket, similar to a political party, is a group of students who campaign for the election together and appear under the same name on the ballot. Senate’s current president, vice president and treasurer all ran on the SOS ticket last spring.
“It’s just a collective of students who are generally similar in their ideologies,” Jared Ohnsman, senate vice president, said. “They run on a similar platform and they advocate for a certain set of ideals in a group.”
Referendums are another issue on this year’s ballot. Senate passed a resolution at its Feb. 10 meeting in favor of holding campus-wide referendums, or polls, to gauge student opinion on certain issues.
“It’s a way to get student input on issues on campus that the senate believes would be too big of an issue for them to solely address,” Landen Lama, senate’s lead parliamentarian and director of university relations, said. “The students are directly having a role in what happens and it holds their elected representatives responsible for them.”
Because holding referendums would require a change to senate’s constitution, the Board of Trustees and the student body must also vote in favor. This item will appear on the senate election ballot.
Senate’s constitution, the document that guides the body’s operation, was described by Lama as senate’s “skeleton.”
“It’s what our senators abide by, and it’s one of the only documents on campus that students get to directly affect,” he said of the way students can propose and vote on changes to the constitution.
Lama also explained how the constitution can directly affect students.
“If you’re in a student org and you get money from the Senate Appropriations Commission, that is specifically stated in the constitution that there is a commission set up for money to be appropriated,” he said.
Another way student organizations can receive money is through a separate pool called uFUND.
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“The stipulation of uFUND is that (the activity being funded) needs to be something that can be an alternative to high risk behavior, or is educating students about high risk behaviors like drinking or drugs,” Hannah Clouser, senate treasurer, said.
In past elections, students have voted for five Senate Appropriations Commission senators. This year, four additional spots for SAC senators who specifically review uFUND applications will appear on the ballot, Clouser said.
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