The Senate of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN) appointed Miriam Dayton as the new senator for the College of Liberal Arts, and passed four pieces of largely administrative legislation at their meeting on Oct. 8.
During the senate officer reports, Speaker Leaf Acklin said that he had a meeting with University President Brian Sandoval and ASUN President Carmina Aglubat where they discussed the UndocuPack program and other pressing issues for students. He informed the senate that the NSHE chancellor would be visiting the senate at next week’s meeting, and emphasized how rare this occasion was.
Legislation
“S.B. 93 – An Act to Establish ASUN Standard Meeting Protocols and Procedures” standardizes and clarifies the procedures that should be followed when ASUN conducts public meetings.
The bill was tabled in the previous meeting after a number of small language amendments were made and the senate ran out of time to review the changes before voting. It passed unanimously after it was read.
“S.B. 93 – An Act to Use Capital Funds for Technology Replacement” spends $12,445.11 of ASUN’s capital fund to replace aging technology in Pack Place and the Frankie Sue Del Papa Presidents Conference Room in the Center for Student Engagement.
The capital account collects revenue from the Wolf Shop, and cannot be spent on regular ASUN budget items such as concerts or events. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Logan Miceli of the College of Engineering, said that the goal of the capital fund is to “think big picture,” and mentioned that the account currently has about $570,000 in it right now.
The bill says that the old technology in Pack Place is a security risk and the technology in the conference room has always worked poorly, causing issues with recording official ASUN meetings that are legally required to be recorded and provided to the public.
Several senators spoke in support of the bill, with Speaker Pro Tempore Dillon Moss of the College of Education and Human Development adding, “these technological investments are super important, and yes, we should be using the capital fund for bigger investments, but right now we need to make sure that our own offices are equipped to serve the students that we represent.”
The bill was passed unanimously.
“S.B. 93 – A Bill to Establish the State of the Association Address” mandates that the president of ASUN give a public address to the student body once a semester discussing what the administration has been doing and what its goals are for the remainder of its term.
Speaker Pro Tempore Moss clarified that President Aglubat fully supports the bill, and described it as an attempt to reach out to students rather than expecting students to come to ASUN.
The bill was passed unanimously.
“S.B. 93 – An Act to Rename the Director of Executive Affairs” changes the title of the Director of Executive Affairs, a position in ASUN’s executive branch, back to its original title of Chief of Staff. The bill says that the original title more accurately reflects the responsibilities of the position and aligns it with Chief of Staff titles in government offices across the United States.
After a debate over the necessity of this name change, the bill was passed with a majority vote.
Miriam Dayton appointed as COLA senator
The senate heard presentations from six candidates for the open College of Liberal Arts seat this meeting. Candidates included Iain Fregoso, Connor Penny, Rose Barber, Miriam Dayton, Michael Keyes, and Ashton Nancarrow.
During discussion, senators agreed that all of the candidates had strong presentations, but Dayton’s visible passion and role as a transfer student would bring an underrepresented perspective to the senate. The senators also appreciated the fact that Dayton is a Spanish major, when the majority of College of Liberal Arts senators have historically been and currently are political science majors.
Dayton won the majority of votes and was sworn in as the fourth senator for the College of Liberal Arts.
Three vacant seats remain open for appointment this session: one for the College of Engineering, one for the College of Business and one for the School of Journalism.
Riley Overstreet can be reached via email at roverstreet@unr.edu.
