Spring Break
Student Senate amends bylaws to clarify appointed positions, votes
Greg Gentile
Issue date: 3/12/09 Section: News
03/12/09 - Last night the University of Rhode Island Student Senate amended senate bylaws to prevent potential voting inconsistencies and to clarify the job obligations of appointed positions.
Officers will now require a majority vote from the senate in order to be elected into a position. Previously, officers were required to have one-third of the senate vote.
With the previous bill, the majority of the senate could also vote against a senator being an appointed officer, yet the officer can still win.
Last February, the Cigar published an article about the "iffy" work of the then director of communications, which is among the appointed positions on senate.
"Since September, DOC Sara Addis has been paid more than $1,000 to produce six press releases, attend one meeting at Rhode Island College to discuss the governor's proposed higher education budget cuts and field an unknown amount of phone calls," the article stated.
To pay an elected official for a job they do not complete up to senate standards, Chairman of the Finance Committee Allen Petit explained, "Is kind of a waste of student tax money."
"We've seen over the last few years there have been issues with appointed positions not doing their job effectively," Petit said.
According to Petit, the majority vote was the rule until roughly five years ago when a former student senate president decided a one-third vote would better suffice.
The senate agreed the new amendment to the bylaws makes sure the group's opinions as a whole will count, as opposed to just the president's.
The second part of the proposed bill that was amended saw more opposition from senators.
The bill stated the DOC is obligated to complete a minimum of one newsletter per semester. Current DOC Juelia Simon started the newsletter this year, publishing one per month.
"I thought it would be a good idea to communicate what the senate is doing to the students," Simon said.
Officers will now require a majority vote from the senate in order to be elected into a position. Previously, officers were required to have one-third of the senate vote.
With the previous bill, the majority of the senate could also vote against a senator being an appointed officer, yet the officer can still win.
Last February, the Cigar published an article about the "iffy" work of the then director of communications, which is among the appointed positions on senate.
"Since September, DOC Sara Addis has been paid more than $1,000 to produce six press releases, attend one meeting at Rhode Island College to discuss the governor's proposed higher education budget cuts and field an unknown amount of phone calls," the article stated.
To pay an elected official for a job they do not complete up to senate standards, Chairman of the Finance Committee Allen Petit explained, "Is kind of a waste of student tax money."
"We've seen over the last few years there have been issues with appointed positions not doing their job effectively," Petit said.
According to Petit, the majority vote was the rule until roughly five years ago when a former student senate president decided a one-third vote would better suffice.
The senate agreed the new amendment to the bylaws makes sure the group's opinions as a whole will count, as opposed to just the president's.
The second part of the proposed bill that was amended saw more opposition from senators.
The bill stated the DOC is obligated to complete a minimum of one newsletter per semester. Current DOC Juelia Simon started the newsletter this year, publishing one per month.
"I thought it would be a good idea to communicate what the senate is doing to the students," Simon said.
