Ava C. Green and Jon Dusza, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor
It was a sad turnout for the senate of the Undergraduate Student Association which had eight attendees missing and almost didn’t achieve a quorum at their March 15 meeting.
With no student concerns, the senate moved right into executive reports. President Jahare Hudson started with the bittersweet fact that he only had three more senate meetings left as president. Still busy as ever, Hudson brought up meetings with VP Fields and President Stoute about the one-to-one laptop initiatives and the state of student NFTA Metro passes, respectively. He reported that both programs are still being developed and that there were no major updates.
Jason Francey’s advisor report was brief but important, as he informed the senate about the upcoming club spending deadline on April 22, and that appeals of $2000 or more have to be submitted by April 11. Special exceptions can be made by appealing to Francey past the deadline, but he and the Finance Board have been emphasizing the importance of timely appeals as the semester comes to a close.
Vice President of Business and Finance Anthony Trippi presented appeals from the Afro-American Society, which he and the Finance Board cut substantially, echoing Francey’s messages about the difficulties of operating with an end-of-year budget. The Finance Board brought the AAS fashion show appeal down to about a third of what they originally asked for by cutting lighting and photography expenses, going from $10,872.80 to $3,996.20. The reduced $3,996.20 appeal was approved, although not unanimously.
During liaison reports, Public Safety Liaison Alexandra Hackett had a few updates about the work being done by Canisius’s new Chief of Public Safety Clayton Staton. Hackett reported that Staton plans to update the emergency response plans and security cameras around campus. She also said that he has talked about a “Kia only” lot that Public Safety officers can better patrol.
The issues of cameras came up again during open discussion as one senator spoke about having their belongings stolen from the commuter lounge. They said nothing has been done about it due to insufficient video evidence. The concern was acknowledged by the senate, and when a more definitive answer to the concern is available, this paper will report it.
The next meeting of the Undergraduate Student Association senate will be held on Friday, March 22 at 2:30 p.m. in Regis.