Senate, complete with new members, starts year

Student Senate elections are finally over and Senators already are dealing with pressing issues.

Complete with its newly elected members, Senate convened Sunday evening to discuss such ongoing issues as chartering, as well as to appoint students to faculty committees.

Seniors Sarah Fineberg and Sarah Stein-Greenberg were present to discuss the progress being made in the ongoing process of gaining student autonomy in the chartering process.

Stein Greenberg indicated that the latest attempts to gain control of the chartering process have been met with favorable responses.

"Since the General Faculty meeting we've incorporated a lot of the ideas that we've received from faculty, administrators, and students, and now that our proposal reflects a broader set of campus concerns. Many more people are willing to support it. We hope that the proposal will be voted on and passed at the next GF meeting, which will occur right after fall break," said Stein Greenberg.

Another item on the agenda was the appointment of students to various committees. All students that were proposed to the slate were approved to serve.

The new Senators got acclimated to their new roles by briefly introducing themselves and offering their impressions of the senate. The new senators are sophomore Chris Anton, first-year John Byrne, first-year David Jessop, first-year Nikhil Majumdar, first-year Miesha McClure, sophomore Daniel Morganstein, junior Katherine E. Roberts, sophomore Tyrone Rogers, junior Micah Thorner and junior Danielle (Tonie) Tyler.

Senator Nikhil Majumdar said, "I'd like to see that all the students are represented and get the most out of their time here."

Four returning senators, as well as one new senator, were elected to serve in different leadership positions.

Junior Aaron Leavy is the liaison officer, whose duties include coordinating the legislative work of the senate and the advisory councils, and sending the senate's legislation to the appropriate committees. Organizational Committee officer, junior Erika Hansen, serves as Senate's principal liaison to all student organizations and ensures that organizations are informed of the work of student government bodies. Returning senator junior Jane Glynn is serving as the membership coordinator. The membership coordinator schedules appointment interviews and recommends appointments and removals to Senate. Anton will be serving as the Communications Coordinator. The position entails advertising and taking nominations for Senate elections and is in charge of forums, the bulletin board, all correspondence and a Senate newsletter. The position of Education Coordinator will be served by sophomore Kate Davoli, who ensures that senators, student committee members and the College community are informed about campus governance. The Internal Secretary for the year will be Thorner, whose duties will include managing the senate office, coordinating elections, keeping the agenda and taking minutes for Senate meetings.

Jessop spoke in reference to the diverse makeup of this year's Senate. "The dynamic of Senate is an interesting one. Many of us have varying ideas and issues on which we hope to place our energies. It seems to me that in order to be most efficient, we will need to collaborate as a unified Senate, rather than work as 15 fragmented individuals."