MSA holds first senate meeting Wednesday night
The first Missouri Student Association meeting of the school year was held last night at 6 p.m. in Stotler Lounge.
There were 30 at-large senator positions to be filled, five of which are reserved for freshman. The pre-existing senators took a vote and were strongly encouraged to vote for only those candidates they knew and could remember the characteristics of.
There were two voting rounds, one for the five freshman positions, and another for the remaining 25 seats. After the freshman seats were filled, there were two more candidates than there were senator positions. All 30 seats were filled successfully.
A new Board of Elections Commissioner and four new members to the Student Court were also voted into their offices tonight after briefly introducing themselves, followed by a short period of questioning by the senate.
There was also a short debriefing on the activities of the MSA subcommittees.
The Academic Affairs Committee is working on proposals of students with disabilities wishing to count nine hours of coursework as a full course load for insurance issues.
The Budget Subcommittee is reviewing all departments to better monitor any changes in student fees.
Operations Chairman Josh Travis spoke about the Operation Committee approving the new changes to the Board of Elections Commissioner's Presidential Handbook at the Tuesday night meeting.
Student Affairs Chairman Paul Whiteside spoke of his committee’s desire to change printer and copy quotas for schools and to continue working toward the installment of a new staircase outside the Physics building.
MSA President Jordan Paul responded to student concerns about the Reactor Field issue. The student petition against closing the field to student fans has over 1,000 signatures, Paul said. They are still focusing on an idea for a bridge across College Avenue. Campus authorities have started conducting foot traffic studies.
MSA Vice President Colleen Hoffman debriefed three transfers of allotted funds for the fiscal year. They worked with KCOU to transfer $1500 to another bank account so it would not rollover; $2500 was given to the craft studio to buy a new kiln and $1300 was used to buy a television for MSA for a student life space.
Director of Student Communication Tim Noce said they are working on the iMizzou iPhone application and getting information on how to use the media more efficiently.
MSU is sponsoring an Eric Hutchinson concert on Sept. 24th that is free for students. A concert featuring The Cool Kids and Kid Sister is scheduled for Nov. 6th.
Senate Speaker Amanda Shelton introduced the new bills for voting. One of the bills aims to promote awareness of HPV and the free HPV vaccinations that are available to MU students. The bill passed unopposed in the student senate. Another bill, which aims to promote community service and honor those lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, was also passed unopposed. A bill correcting discrepancies between the MSA bylaws and BEC Presidential Handbook was also passed. The final piece of legislation established a mandatory training session for new senators, which took place after the meeting.
