Will DeWitt
Reporter
Student Senate voted on several issues that included funding for Relay for Life to increasing the number of printers in the Baylor Sciences Building.
The senate meeting began with presentations from the Conference of Student Government Associations attendees, where student government associations from around the nation come together to discuss the intricacies of governing student bodies. The Big 12 on the Hill group, which traveled with other Big 12 schools to lobby in Washington, also gave a presentation over their spring break trip.
The actual legislation began with senate voting on whether they should override the vetoes of Student Body President Michael Wright over two bills. Wright vetoed one bill, concerning the Electoral Fair Hearing Act, due to its poor wording.
“As I read the code it contradicts itself when you delete that statement from 5.3.2,” said Wright.
Louisburg, Kan. senior senator Katie Jo Baumgardner, the original sponsor for the bill, defended the bill stating it was approved unanimously by the senate before and the electoral commissioner himself had been involved in the writing of the bill. The senate did not reach a clear conclusion on the matter, though, forcing the bill to be tabled permanently due to constitutional rules.
The second was not an outright veto by Wright but rather an amendment of a bill that concerned CARE Week, a bill that would allocate funds for Kappa Phi Gamma’s efforts to raise funds for cancer research. Wright vetoed the bill due to it giving funds for the creation of T-shirts, which student government policy strictly did not endorse.
Student senator Bill Fuller, who sponsored the bill, argued that the funds from the T-shirt sells would comprise a large contribution to the groups overall fundraising efforts and without them they would not be as successful.
“We are here to support every single student group, not just the big groups but the multi-cultural groups with just five individuals,” said Beaumont senior Fuller.
Senate, looking to avoid tabling the bill permanently like they did for the Fair Hearing Act, voted to strike down Wright’s veto and ensure funds for the event.
Senate then began voting on bills in second reading, passing bills that funded Relay for Life, supporting Lady Bears basketball in their achievements throughout the season and in their efforts in the NCAAW Basketball Tournament and adding more printers and a maintenance program to the Baylor Science Building.
“Everyone has at some point experienced bad printing in the Baylor Science Building,” Plano junior Jake Lane said.
Senate also went into executive session to rule on a bill concerning Baylor’s sustainability efforts in destroying parking spots for beautification efforts. Many senators felt the wording of the bill could be construed as antagonistic to the administration and worked on amending the bill to remove anything that could be read as belligerent.
“I voted for the bill because the bill was changed to remove language that accused the university, instead expresses student opinion on parking,” Corsicana junior Randall Hollomon said.
Senate also began discussion on ways to collect donations for the Japan relief effort in the coming weeks.
