March 26, 2010

Dearest Beloved Constituents,

I hope your week leading up to Spring Break hasn’t been too terribly difficult.  I would first and foremost like to thank you for reelecting me to serve you faithfully for another year.  I look forward to the continued opportunity to represent you in the Undergraduate Student Government Senate.  As usual, I’d like to take this opportunity to report back to you on how I’ve served you over the past month.

The March 2^nd meeting began with the old business that had carried over from the last meeting in February.  The 2010 Checks and Balances Act, the handiwork of my distinguished colleague Alex Dimitriyadi, ensures that presidential appointees are qualified, that there is a distinct separation of the different branches of government, and thus prevents an official from serving in two separate branches of the government.  I voted to allocate money to the Juggling Club, the Photography Club, and the SB Independent, my rationale for voting such has not changed since my last report.  I agreed with Senator Cushing that CIAO should receive the full $1500 so that its members could go to both Ellis Island and to see Tina and Tony’s Wedding.  Additionally, I presented the preliminary report for my ad-hoc committee.  We had spent a week reading through PHEEIA and deciphering it, so that the undergraduate student body would understand what it was about.  Later that evening, the Rules Committee took a stab at the Special Services Council Bylaws; big picture discussions were held, and the entire revisions were postponed.  The reason these bylaws are being reformed is to make it easier for new clubs to get funding.

The meeting of March 9^th was pleasantly short, sweet and to the point.  We allocated money to a few clubs; both in the form of budget and in the form of grant.  It was a very interesting meeting to see how people acted, as a political coup, which I’m sure you’re now all aware of, was underfoot.  Later that week, the Law Revision Council met for the first time.  All members received their assignments of recently-enacted laws that needed to be incorporated into the Code.

The next week proved to be quite entertaining.  On Sunday, March 14, 2010 the Ad-hoc Committee to Examine Potential Tuition Changes decided that Microsoft SharePoint was too much of a hassle, and that we were going to take advantage of Google Documents’ Survey Forms.  My Vice-Chair, Senator Craig McCarthy, was good enough to begin advertising our survey on Facebook and got the survey onto the Student Life Listserv.  I was named to the Commission on Constitutional Reform.  Prior to the Senate meeting on Tuesday, the Legislative Review Committee edited and approved the 2010 Establishment of Identity and the 2010 Clarity of Legislation Acts.  These two acts, which both were approved by the Senate, create a standardized and unified image for the USG so that it can better serve the students (through recognition) and required the legislation amending prior Acts had the to-be-amended Act attached, so that the Senate would clearly know what it was potentially changing, respectively.  My esteemed colleague, from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Senator Cushing’s resolution, jokingly referred to as “The Puddle Resolution” came up for a vote and was passed unanimously, hopefully there will be no more electronics drowned by the gigantic puddle behind the Engineering Quad.

The final week before Spring Break started off with a bang.  After my ad-hoc committee’s survey closed at 11:55pm on Saturday March 20^th, I drafted the final report, detailing the students’ responses.  On Sunday, the Committee went through said draft and finalized it.  It, in addition to some very pretty graphs and charts (which were created with much assistance from Senator McCarthy) were submitted and presented to the Senate on Tuesday.  Additionally, the USG Budget came up for a vote this past Tuesday.  It passed unanimously, after all the work and incredible hours clocked by the Budget Committee and Treasurer Khan.  Treasurer Khan took the liberty of drafting, and Senator Cushing the liberty of presenting, a resolution condemning the lack of internet on Tabler Quad last weekend, which thankfully passed unanimously, as we all acknowledge how difficult it is to go an entire weekend without access to the internet.  After the Senate meeting adjourned, the Rules Committee began looking over the Elections Board Bylaws, and discussing possible changes of such to improve the elections’ process for years to come.  The first meeting of the Commission on Constitutional Reform occurred this past Wednesday, and curiously enough, I was unanimously elected Vice-Chair.

I believe that covers my actions throughout the month of March.  I hope you all enjoy your vacations and that you come back ready to finish the semester off wonderfully!

Warmest Regards,

Deborah Machalow

USG Senator