Condom funding passes Senate
May 2, 2008
Missouri Students Association Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays leads the Senate through discussion Wednesday outside Plaza 900. The Senate passed a bill to fund six condom dispensers in residence halls.
The Missouri Students Association Senate took its show outside Wednesday, holding its meeting in the amphitheater near Plaza 900 instead of its normal space of Stotler Lounge.
Senators passed a bill to approve funding for six condom dispensers in residence halls. MSA will use $8,900 from its contingency and reserve fund, which will be added to $4,900 committed by various student groups, including the Residence Halls Association, Legion of Black Collegians and a few hall councils. The money will support the $1,800 cost of each machine and the estimated $500 per year per machine to stock condoms.
Six condom dispensers will be placed at select residence halls in the fall as part of a pilot program to offer free condoms to students.
The Senate bill that supported funding also included a clause that groups and student governments, including RHA, should try to provide future funding “if the pilot program is successful,” according to the bill.
The bill passed, with one abstention from senator and RHA President-elect Bobby Wood. Wood said he abstained because he was unsure of RHA’s stance on the clause asking RHA to provide future funding and couldn’t vote in it “in good faith” without knowing whether RHA supported it.
Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays said the provision was included in the bill because the condom initiative is primarily a residence hall issue, and organizations that deal more directly with issues relating to campus housing should be responsible for the program’s continued implementation.
“Because it was necessary for MSA to help get the initiative off the ground, we were willing to put in the majority of the money to get it started,” he said. “We’re also trying to help with the planning so it won’t surprise anyone when there are more costs associated with the program. That’s going to take a bigger commitment from RHA, (the Department of Residential Life) and anyone who deals with residential housing on campus.”
Senate also passed a resolution to support “consumer information Web site evaluation question changes,” according to the bill. The bill is a joint resolution between MSA, LBC and RHA and asks for revisions to a new Web site that will be created on which professor ratings will be listed. Academic Affairs committee chairwoman and bill sponsor Phyllis Williams said MU’s Faculty Council approved questions for evaluations that would be placed on the Web site, and MSA’s resolution would use the same wording for one of the questions and split it into four questions. The suggestion separates evaluations of lectures, the syllabus, grading standards and student responsibilities.
“I felt the first question was too condensed,” Williams said. “A student could think the syllabus was great but have problems with how the student responsibilities were presented.”
The resolution still needs to be approved by LBC and RHA before it is sent to Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Jim Spain for consideration.
Senate also approved a resolution designating the fourth Tuesday in September as “MU International Day.” Mays said Campus Dining Services agreed to sponsor a global food tour during which dining halls would feature food from different regions in each hall and MSA would sponsor the annual International Bazaar that day. The resolution was co-sponsored by the Missouri International Student Council.
Thanks to another contingency and reserve request, MUTV/Channel 23 will receive $12,000 to purchase equipment including two computers and a new camera. Mays said the money that was moved had been saved to pay for new equipment for the new student center that is projected to open in 2011, so the bill approved funding that likely would have been spent on new cameras at a later date.
BEC appointments delayed
Senate voted to table the appointments of two nominees for next year’s Board of Elections Commissioners. Student Affairs committee senator Ryan Senciboy couldn’t attend the meeting. He will seek approval next week during the final Senate meeting of the year. Student Affairs Chairwoman Erin Moran also was nominated, but Senate voted to table her appointment until next week after senators expressed concern over the way she presented herself.
Moran and outgoing BEC Vice Chairman Ian Krause engaged in a verbal spat when Krause asked her how she would be able to handle the 20-hours-per-week time commitment required by the BEC. Moran said she wouldn’t work 20 hours because she can do the job effectively in less time.
“I thought the BEC did a horrible job this year,” she said. “And I’m very good at organizing shit.”
The full Senate would still consider her nomination, Mays said, because the Operations Committee has already approved her.
Moran said she still hopes to serve on the BEC next year, but “it’s up to the students to decide now.”
More May 2, 2008 News Stories
- MSA releases safety report — Most immediate concerns were related to Campus Facilities.
- Condom funding passes Senate — The Missouri Students Association Senate took its show outside Wednesday, holding its meeting in the amphitheater near Plaza 900 instead ...
- Greektown safety inspected on walk — Greek students and MSA members walked through Greektown and Frat Row on Tuesday night for the first Missouri Students Association ...
- JSO remembers Holocaust — In observance of National Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is April 27, the Jewish Student Organization held several events and observation ...
- Legislature approves MOHELA expansion — The Missouri House and Senate have both approved a plan to allow the state’s student loan agency to originate federally ...
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