The AS Board poses on Friday, Sept. 27. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Stella Harvey
At the Associated Students Executive Board meeting on March 6, President Lani Defiesta and VP for Diversity Yesugen Battsengel were absent.
Spring Election Code
The board passed changes to the spring elections code with a vote of 5-0-0. Nora Harren, representation and engagement programs director, and Ina LaGrandeur, representation and engagement programs elections coordinator, went over the changes to the code. Revisions include allowing current AS employees and elected officials to endorse candidates or ballot measures in their student capacity, as long as they do not identify their endorsement with their position within the AS.
LaGrandeur explained that if an AS employee chooses to endorse a candidate on social media, they must explicitly state that they are not acting in association to the AS or their professional position. The code defines an individual as “a person acting in their student capacity without any attachment to the AS or an AS position title.” According to the code, AS employees should not wear buttons, stickers or other campaign materials while working in their official capacity as AS employees or elected officials.
Housing Rate Proposal
The board reviewed the Housing Rate Proposal, a document that recommends how much to increase the fee of housing and dining for Western students based on factors like inflation, projected enrollment and the cost of renovations to housing and dining facilities. Associate Director of Business Services and Information Systems Kurt Willis presented the Housing Rate Proposal and answered the board’s questions. According to the proposal, the current room and board rate increase is 4%, or $53/month and $481 for the academic year for students in a double room who have a 125 Meal Plan. For Birnam Wood residents, the increase would be $18/month or $162 for the academic year.
The board will discuss the Housing Rate Proposal at their final meeting of the quarter on March 13.