Senate Briefs

By Lori DesRochers

FIRE RESPONSE
ASPC President Ari Greenberg opened the meeting with a discussion of student involvement in the community’s response to the wildfires. Students had been asking Greenberg for direction as to how their efforts could best be utilized, and one possibility for involvement was a Red Cross drive started by Ryley Share.

SENATE RETREAT
The meeting then turned to a discussion of the recent Senate retreat. Greenberg presented the goals of the Senate in three pillars: Transition, Senate as a Facilitating Body, and Diversity.

PILLAR ONE
In regards to Transition, senators will be expected to aid the transition for incoming senators by documenting their activities and the logistics of those ideas into a Senate Scrap-Book that will be passed down to future generations of senators.

PILLAR TWO
The second pillar, Senate as a Facilitating Body, referred to the idea of Senate promoting student involvement and awareness of the College’s resources. This will be done through more effective promoting of the ASPC website--which contains information about clubs and organizations, agendas for upcoming meetings, and a calendar of events--as well as through Town Hall Forums on relevant issues. These issues included ITS, Campus Safety, Course Load, DDP, General Education Requirements, Smith Campus Center, Student Use of Facilities, non-alcoholic events, and co-ed housing. Senators discussed the prioritizing of these issues, and planned the dates for upcoming forums, as some issues were more time-sensitive than others.

PILLAR THREE
The last pillar, Diversity, appeared to be the most controversial. The goal of this pillar was defined as making Senate more accessible to students of color, but even this definition proved difficult. There was a desire for Senators to get involved with PDAC and the other minority groups on campus, such as AAMP, PASA, CLSA, and OBSA, but Senators wondered if this would be an unnecessary burden on these token groups to “teach Senators” or otherwise trivialize the matter. Greenberg stressed the unprecedented nature of the Senate involving themselves with such issues, and that he meant for the pillar to promote something meaningful.

Senators finally agreed that the idea was not for Senators to be trained by minority groups, but for Senate to find the best means possible to support the groups, whether that meant attending events, holding discussion sessions with leaders of the groups, or opening up the discussion to an even wider group of students.

IN THE END
Other business at the meeting included discussion of Homecoming, Club Sports, and Internships.