SGA bill demands senator involvement

The Student Government Association Senate passed the first bill of President Erik Emdur's ('09) administration. Sixteen senators voted in favor of the SGA student engagement bill, while one senator objected to its passing. The bill will serve as an amendment to the SGA bylaws, extending the duties of the senators, president and vice president.

"We want senators going out there to programs, events and meetings-instead of being in their rooms during office hours," SGA Treasurer Sergio Paredes ('08), who is the bill's coauthor, said.

According to the bill, all elected officials would be required to attend five programs, events or meetings per semester from each of the five categories-athletic, belief, cultural, service and academic-as defined by the Extra Curricular Activities Board. Organizations recognized by the Office of Student Activities also count. Paredes, who has worked on the bill for over a year, said, "It could act as a replacement for office hours. You can do one office hour in the beginning of the month, and then attend an event. This attendance would count as an office hour."

Currently, residence hall senators and the commuter senator are not obligated to hold an office hour, according to bylaws Article 1, Section B, Paragraph 3. "That entire section will be completely rewritten," Paredes said. "We are now working on office hours for [residence hall senators and the commuter senator]. It's all tentative though." Paredes and the coauthors of the bill plan to introduce the exact wording of the amendment at the next meeting for the senators to approve.

Tolley Senator Matt Fingerman ('11) was the lone senator who voted against the bill. "I was under the impression it was going to be optional," Fingerman said. "It seems very forceful-not what it was originally intended to do."

He said senators would be rushing to get the events out of the way while spending time making sure the programs fit the criteria. "It's not natural," Fingerman said. "Once you force it, it takes away from the meaning." He added that it is unfair to assign new responsibilities to senators after having been elected. "The biggest flaw is setting up this formula of how to go about representing your constituents," Fingerman said.

President Pro-Tempore Dawud Ingram ('08) said the bill will get the SGA noticed more. "[The SGA] gets put in a bad light a lot of the time. By doing this, people will realize what we're doing," Ingram, who coauthored the bill, said.

Fingerman criticized the monitoring method of the bill, which requires senators to e-mail the club leader before attending the event, and forward that e-mail to the SGA account. He said it makes the senators look obnoxious and impersonal. "We're going to be perceived as the untouchables sitting on our high horses at these events wearing a name tag," Fingerman said. Ingram disagreed with Fingerman.

"Senators are elected to represent the students and how can they if they don't speak to the people?" Ingram said.

Brown Senator John McHale ('11) also supports the bill. "In a way it's a good thing to get out there and be a part of different things you normally wouldn't," he said.

Junior Class Senator Maria Gonzalez ('09) favors the goal of the bill. As a way to monitor senators, Gonzalez suggested creating charts that show how many events the senators attended.

Regarding the notion of picking and choosing events-which was rejected by the authors-Gonzalez said senators need to have an open mind. "What good is it to attend the same event or group and see the same people each time," Gonzalez said. "By being open-minded, you're being understanding. It doesn't mean you have to agree with the group."

University Senator Brad Mendelson ('10) said the bill is a great idea because the purpose of the senators is to get out and talk to their constituents. "The more senators that go to these different events, the more effective the SGA will be," he said.

Emdur urged the senators to vote on the bill. He said it's important for senators to get involved in all five categories. "If I was a senator again," Emdur said, "I would definitely like this bill."