AS Student Senate update graphic PJ Heusted // AS Review
By PJ Heusted
The Associated Students Student Senate met on Thursday, Jan. 7 for their third meeting of the 2020-21 academic year.
Black Student Organizations Demand Updates
Senator for the College of Fine and Performing Arts Aidyn Stevens shared hopes to create a plan to include art from Black, Indigenous and People of Color in the new interdisciplinary science building being constructed on campus.
Senator for the College of the Environment Laura Wagner shared an update regarding an opinion piece she is writing with the AS Review about Thomas Huxley and the movement to change the name of the College of the Environment. Wagner and Francis Neff, senator for the College of the Environment, plan to hold future meetings to further develop their plans to support the name change.
Senate Pro-tempore Sargun Handa shared that the Committee on Undergraduate Education wants to reach out to students within BSO groups on campus to review the language in the materials for curriculum changes involved in the transition from the Comparative, Gender and Multicultural Studies, or ACGM and BCGM requirements, to a Power, Liberation, Equity and Justice requirement.
Handa brought this to the senate given the tension between asking Black students to do unpaid labor in reviewing materials and the recognition of a need for their input in the changes in curriculum.
Senators supported including Black students in the review process but suggested that CUE provide specific questions and notes to consider when reviewing instead of CUE sending them the documents with no guidance.
Handa additionally shared that in the referendum included in fall elections that 88% of voting students voted to hold senate elections in the spring instead of the fall.
Western Lobby Day Agenda
VP for Governmental Affairs Nicole Ballard presented the finalized agenda for Western Lobby Day to be approved by the senators.
The final adjustments to the agenda included removing the ask regarding the Native American Tuition Assistance program, adding support for HB 1028 that would remove the EdTPA exam requirement to receive a teaching certification, adding support for a tax exemption program for electric cars, rewriting the funding needs for the health and wellness programs on campus due to a misunderstanding in the original ask, adding support for HB 1009 to expand the types of medical programs offered to students, including more language for support for survivors of interpersonal violence, adding language that reflects the work that the Native American Student Union [NASU] does, adding specific mention of funding for an ethnic studies program, increasing the funding to go towards scholarships for BIPOC, adding support for the Washington Application for State Financial Aid [WASFA] to include COVID-19 relief funds, adding support for HB 1893 that extends Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs [SNAP] to include state universities, adding support for SB 5027 to mandate closed captions on public televisions, adding support for SB 5012 to increase funding for affordable housing, adding support for a tax on state lottery winnings, adding support for a tax on capital gains and adding support for the removal of some of the tax exemptions on real estate excise tax.
Ballard shared that the Legislative Affairs Council approved the agenda with a friendly amendment that allows Ballard to continue to edit the document to correct grammar and add further clarification before Western Lobby Day.
The agenda was approved with 16 votes in favor, zero against and zero abstaining.
Resignation of a Senator for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Yessica Perez resigned from the role of senator for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences leaving a vacant position in the senate. A decision needs to be made on whether the senators would like to appoint a new senator or hold a special election to fill the vacancy.
Handa supported an appointment out of consideration for employees within the Office of Civic Engagement and AS Elections Coordinator Mario Alem who will be managing a special election for VP of sustainability and two spring elections.
The senate plans to reach out to previous applicants for the position to gauge interest in reapplication.