Ohio University Student Senate passed five resolutions at its Wednesday night meeting in Walter Hall.
Two of the resolutions appointed new senators, two of the resolutions involved the budget committee and the other resolution required senators to attend workshops, referred to as inservices, twice each semester.
A new Women’s Affairs Commission senator, Robyn Heard, was appointed by a resolution that passed unanimously.
“I think she is going to be perfect for the commission,” Nicole Schneider, Student Senate vice president, said.
Schneider included an amendment to correct the spelling of "Vice President" on the bill so that it would no longer say "Vice Presidnet."
The new Russ College of Engineering senator, Caleb Saunders, was appointed to join the Academic Affairs Commission in the last resolution.
“I got to know him pretty well last year; he was a resident in my hall," Connor Attrell, Academic Affairs commissioner and primary sponsor of the resolution, said. “(He is) very charismatic, very driven. He is also a fifth-generation bobcat.”
The budget committee resolutions appointed Student Senate Treasurer Zachary Woods as interim chair to the committee as well as seven members to the budgeting committee.
The senate suspended the rules so they could edit the budget committee resolution to remove previous information from the resolution. The budget committee resolution passed with six abstentions who were the members that were being appointed to the committee who were in attendance.
Appointment of Woods was abnormal because the inferred purpose of the chair is to check the treasurer, and Woods is treasurer. Woods was the only member who is qualified for the position, though.
“The main role of the budget committee chair is to chair the budget committee which just oversees the internal budgets coming through,” Woods said.
That resolution to appoint a chair to the budget committee passed with only one abstention, Woods said.
The inservice resolution, passed with one vote against, will require members of senate to attend two workshops, referred to as inservices, each semester. The timing of those workshops is still to be determined.
Toward the beginning of the meeting, Zach Reizes, International Studies senator, participated in a student speak-out by talking about the new "Freedom of Expression" interim policy.
“This was written in response, I assume, to the arrest of the Baker 70 this past spring,” Reizes said. “My concern is not about the policy’s words itself, my concern is about the premise on which this policy was written.”
The "Freedom of Expression" policy will be discussed at next week’s senate meeting.
