Spring Break
Senate expansion bill held
$3,000 grant passed to fund speakers during 10th annual Woman's Leadership Conference
DJ Slater
Issue date: 9/29/05 Section: Campus News
It seemed apparent at first glance Student Senate experienced a new degree of growth, or at least better attendance than last year's average of about 15, as 29 out of 30 total senators attended Monday night's meeting.
Despite the turnout and recent growth, a bill that would add 10 more senator positions, if passed through a referendum was pushed to Senate's next meeting.
Another bill, granting $3,000 from the special reserve to fund speakers during the 10th Annual Woman's Leadership Conference, passed 22-6-2.
An hour debate could not help the senate gain a majority on either side of whether or not to pass the senate expansion bill, which eventually led to the postponement.
By passing the bill, students would have had the option in the Student Senate elections to vote for the addition of 10 seats.
If this decision passed, the Senate would also have to amend its constitution to allow 40 senator seats, not 30.
"This is the first time we've looked at changing the student body constitution," Student Senate President Aaron Olson said. "Some people just weren't ready to vote on it this week.
"It's a very important matter because if we have 10,000 people to vote on an issue, we better have our story straight."
The issue came to the Senate when Olson and Vice President De Anna Breault analyzed the student-to-representative ratio at UW-Eau Claire.
Through their findings, they discovered that the ratio is 351 to 1, which means there are 10,540 students to 30 senators. By adding 10 more positions, that ratio would be reduced to 263 to 1.
But opposition quickly arose from the senators, such as seniors Kathryn Wineke and Justin Greif, who where concerned that possible vacancies senate has experienced in the past could surface again in the future.
Despite the turnout and recent growth, a bill that would add 10 more senator positions, if passed through a referendum was pushed to Senate's next meeting.
| "This is the first time we've looked at changing the student body constitution." -Aaron Olson Student Senate President |
Another bill, granting $3,000 from the special reserve to fund speakers during the 10th Annual Woman's Leadership Conference, passed 22-6-2.
An hour debate could not help the senate gain a majority on either side of whether or not to pass the senate expansion bill, which eventually led to the postponement.
By passing the bill, students would have had the option in the Student Senate elections to vote for the addition of 10 seats.
If this decision passed, the Senate would also have to amend its constitution to allow 40 senator seats, not 30.
"This is the first time we've looked at changing the student body constitution," Student Senate President Aaron Olson said. "Some people just weren't ready to vote on it this week.
"It's a very important matter because if we have 10,000 people to vote on an issue, we better have our story straight."
The issue came to the Senate when Olson and Vice President De Anna Breault analyzed the student-to-representative ratio at UW-Eau Claire.
Through their findings, they discovered that the ratio is 351 to 1, which means there are 10,540 students to 30 senators. By adding 10 more positions, that ratio would be reduced to 263 to 1.
But opposition quickly arose from the senators, such as seniors Kathryn Wineke and Justin Greif, who where concerned that possible vacancies senate has experienced in the past could surface again in the future.