October 22nd
The Undergraduate Student Senate held their 3rd General Assembly of the semester. It was a busy day with many items on the table.
Vice Chancellor Patrick Day came to the meeting to address the senate on the impact of the financial squeeze on the students. They were assured fees were set for the year and student trust funds would not be impacted.
The Mass Media is pleased to inform the student body of the Senate’s decision, through a resolution, to put their energy against ballot question 1. We are sure this is great to know 2 weeks after the elections.
The Clark Athletic Center came before the senate seeking funding for their annual Beacon Dash, a charity fundraiser. They were given $2400 from the student trust funds.
The English Department was next up before the funding deities of UMB. Their request for $2500 towards bringing Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz to UMass in the spring was thoroughly discussed and eventually satisfied.
A motion was brought before the senate to encourage clubs to get involved in the senate. The motion in question involved cutting funding from clubs who didn’t present reports to the student senate. After much debate, the motion was initially denied in general assembly, but after an absentee ballot blew in on the wind, the motion passed.
Senator Marie Hedrick was elected by senate vote to the be new Faculty Council Representative.
November 5th
The Senate’s 4th General Assembly was held in the Point Lounge, with a bloated agenda ahead of them.
Student Trustee Alex Kulenovic was on hand to congratulate everyone of their success on the “No on Question 1 Campaign,” and to announce the PHENOM Summit coming to UMass Boston on the 14th and 15th. The Mass Media is once again proud to supply this information right on time.
Chancellor Keith Motley spoke out about the financial crisis and its impact on the campus. He is welcoming any ideas students may have to help, given they don’t want to receive any credit.
Tara DeSisto stepped down as the chair of the Budget and Finance committee. The replacement would be found at the next general assembly.
A motion was put through to distribute $5000 to clubs that have requested supplemental funding.
A group of students and their Africana-Studies professor approached the University ATM to seek $5000 in funding to go to the state of the Black World Conference. Senator quote of the session: “I thought the world was blue?”
$1500 in funding was approved towards the PHENOM Summit held at UMass Boston. The dinner on Friday showed it was put to good use
The University’s Alternative Winter Break trip to help rebuild New Orleans requested $10,000 to bring 40 students down for the initiative. The writer of this column, still in a state of depression about being rejected for the trip, refuses to comment.
The final motion of the busy day was approved, and would allow for the creation of apprentice positions for the student trustee. Those interested in the future office of Sith Lord, this is your chance.
November 19th
In the Senate’s 5th General Assembly of the semester, all present were pleased to see a light agenda laid before them. Drinking regular agendas just had too high a calorie count.
Tim Connor was elected by senate vote to be the new Budget and Finance chair, to replace Tara DeSisto. Senate President Terral Ainooson’s request for “more testosterone” on the executive board seems to be working itself out.
A senate resolution was passed to start the initiative to use less electricity on campus. Sharpshooters are positioned at all major outlets.