Vacancies

Senate is currently accepting applications for vacant Senate seats in the following caucuses. Interested students are highly encouraged to apply using the application available below.

College of Science, College of Geosciences

College of General Studies, College of Vet Med

College of Business, College of Engineering

College of Education, College of Architecture

Off-Campus Residency Area, and Freshman

Click HERE for vacancy applications!

Rules and Regs meeting notes

All legislation passed through committee and will be eligible to be voted on next meeting.

The Alternative Revenue Committee got pretty good reviews, although a few wanted it to be in the by-laws. The Fee Task Force Bill got pretty much the same response. Hunter is planning on changing a few small things to make it a bit clearer and a bit more manageable. Both of these bills are exactly what the Senate and SGA should be working hard on to better serve the students as far as fees go.

Officer Reform and Equity in Debate both passed through with a few questions. Equity in debate got very positive feedback and is looking like it should have a great impact on the Senate as a whole. Officer Reform had a lot of hard questions that will most likely take more than two weeks to iron out. I will most likely be tabling this bill once my question and answer session is up next meeting. It simply needs more work.

Sorry about this being a non-comprehensive analysis of the meeting but I have a Fee Task force to get to here in a few minutes. Also I am tired from all the standing votes.

Just a spoonful of sugar...

This legislation and the surrounding fight was a perfect example of how important it is for senators to not simply kowtow every time the words "discrimination" or "diversity" are uttered. This bill, at its very core, was dedicated to putting A&M on the map for being on the cutting edge of accepting alternate lifestyles. Under the guise of eliminating discrimination on all fronts, this bill tried to get the Student Body of Texas A&M to legitimize terms which have received no legal precedent in the courts, and even asked us to go against the laws of the State of Texas by recognizing the validity of same-sex marriages.

Our discrimination policy should be proactive, but should also function within the structure of current state and federal laws. By trying to use the Student Senate of Texas A&M as a springboard to make headlines, the forces behind this bill risked sacrificing the unity and goodwill of our Aggie Family by making A&M a battleground. We would not be on the cutting edge- we would be on the front line.

The issue of accepting alternate lifestyles is a matter much larger than Student Senate or A&M. It is an issue which we must decide on as a nation. When such a time comes, I look forward to standing up for the rights of all Americans to enjoy the blessings of freedom. I refuse, however, to use the voice of the Student Body to trumpet opinions which they doubtfully hold themselves.

Last night showed that we are farther along on this struggle than we think. Votes were not divided along racial or ethnic lines; those in opponency were not bigots, those in favor were not martyrs. People spoke up from deeply divided hearts, and the result was in my opinion a fair representation of the Student Body.

This was, however, a resounding victory for reason. Instead of our old habits of swallowing the most bitter medicine with a spoonful of "diversity" vocabulary, we gave this legislation the consideration it deserved, and when our minds were made up, each of us voted in accordance with his or her own conscience.

The backlash to come will be bitter, as we've seen from SBP Prochaska's letter to the Senate. It must not, however, deter us from continuing to serve our constituents in the manner for which we were elected.

Anti-Discrimination Bill Continued

Anti Discrimination Bills- Failed- These bills simply would not have accomplished the goals they set out to accomplish. While the concept of this issue is very important and should still be addressed these bills were not the way in which to do so. These bills went through an amazing four month process in which they were scrutinized and analyzed to assess if they were beneficial to the student body. As outlined in the constitution the democratically elected and appropriately appointed Senate then took a vote on whether these bills were comprehensive enough to become official Texas A&M University Student Government Association policy. That vote, as you all know, came up as a pretty strong no vote.

However this did not seem to be enough for SBP Prochaska. Prochaska, instead of saying this to the Senate’s face, sent out an email that insinuated that those Aggies who voted against these bills were bad Aggies and intolerant. The Aggies who voted against these bills did as they were elected to do and that is to analyze the legislation and determine whether they felt their constituents’ best interests were best served by the legislation. This is very true with the Aggies who voted for the legislation as well. However they did not get a snide email from the Student Body President calling them bad Aggies.

Legislation from last night...

Student Input Amendment- Passed- Overwhelmingly passed after an amazing amendment from Cody Vasut.

Alcohol and AggieBucks- Read- Seemed like favorable opinions.

iTunes Bill- Read- Seemed like very favorable opinions.

Officer Reform Bill- Read- Had mostly favorable opinions however this is not ready yet. We need to talk about it in committee and iron out a lot of kinks.

Anti Discrimination Bills- Failed- More on this later.

Help A Firefighter: Eat Chili & Donate Blood

Howdy!

I will be asking the Senate to consider a piece of legislation to be added to the agenda that will be a resolution thanking a Bryan firefighter for his years of dedication. Firefighter Steve Scrivener is a veteran of 28 years to the Bryan Fire Department. He has recently been diagnosed with Non-Hodgins Lymphoma and is having troubles with his medical bills. Besides thanking him for his service, I encourage everyone to take their own steps and help him out at a fundraiser that will happen this Friday at the Bryan Fire Department.

Eat Heartily! From 11:30a-1:30p, the famous chili of Firefighters David Turek and Wesley Gideon will be available to the public for just $5/bowl. To go orders will be available at Bryan’s Central Fire Station on 300 W. William Joel Bryan Avenue. Email your order ahead of time at agonzale@bryantx.gov or just stop by Friday and pick some up to go!

It should be one of the goals of our Senate to better the community relationships in order to maintain a harmony with the local governments. Doing activities and showing up to their events will show them that students are a part of the community too and will help the twin cities be even better.

Gig Em
Landon P. Proctor
Off Campus

Legislation for tomorrow...

In addition to Dr. Murano joining us tomorrow and being welcomed by SGA as President of the University we have a few pieces of legislation. I authored most of the legislation so you probably know how I feel on the subject matter.

Student Input Amendment (4th Reading)- Require one half of one percent of the student body to have some sort of input on any and all fee legislation. This should add a bit more of a conservative approach to getting fees passed through Senate.

Alcohol and AggieBucks (1st Reading)- Pretty simple really, I believe that if you are of the legal drinking age you should be allowed to use AggieBucks to purchase alcohol. The school needs not try to govern the morals of the student body. We are plenty smart enough to make our own decisions about drinking alcohol.

iTunes Bill (1st Reading)- This would have the Senate publish an iTunes podcast after each Senate meeting. While I like the idea I think that the authors should just do it instead of authoring legislation about it. This is what happened with this blog.

Officer Reform Bill (1st Reading)- This bill would do two main things.
1. Make it required that you are currently serving in Senate to be eligible for an officer position.
2. Make the Senate officers responsible to their constituency while serving as an officer. Currently the officers have the ability to author and vote on legislation although they are only responsible to the Senate and not any constituency. The people who run for officer positions are more than capable of doing both jobs. I am currently amending this bill to provide an exclusion for the position of Speaker.

Discrimination Bills (Eleventy Billionth Reading)- These bills have been read so many times I am really getting tired of them. It is obvious that not many in Senate are comfortable with the bills yet are scared to vote no on an anti-discrimination bill. This is a horrible mindset but very understandable. I swear if we table this thing again my head may explode.

Tomorrow should be short and sweet.