New Senators and Officer Appointments
Garrett Casburn was sworn in as a new senator.
Club Presentations
Maine Community Energy Advocates was granted preliminary recognition as an organization on campus. The group currently has 15 members, and focuses on educating people about their energy consumption. They also work on renewable energy projects in the greater Bangor area.
Fast Pitch Softball thanked the Senate for funding their fall season. They played 18 games and finished 9-9. The team has high hopes for their next season.
Executive Reports
Samuel Borer gave a presentation on the renewal of the student conduct code, reminding senators that all students are held accountable. The updated code has an emphasis on consent, which has three requirements: it must be informed, freely given and clear. Students can be immediately suspended if they have sexually assaulted another student.
The presentation also highlighted the fact that students cannot graduate if they are involved in a pending case, and students can potentially be held responsible by the university even if an incident occurs off-campus or during breaks.
President Mary-Celeste Floreani reminded senators that their terms end in December. Interviews for the Fair Elections Committee were held Wednesday, Nov. 7, and a chair will likely be chosen by next week’s meeting.
Vice President Logan Aromando apologized for the length of the meeting, which was two meetings combined into one due to last week’s power outage.
Vice President for Financial Affairs Song Ping “Ryan” Wong reported $284,487.36 in unallocated funds.
Vice President for Student Organizations Jacob Wood reported that the Black Student Union has been returned to active status.
Vice President for Student Entertainment Jared Dumas attended the National Association for Campus Activities Conference this past weekend, where he “got a lot of different ideas for our campus.” Dumas announced that UMaine will not be sponsoring a bus for the Fenway Gridiron Series UMaine versus UMass football game on Saturday, Nov. 11 due to lack of communication and complications from the power outage.
UMaine partnered with Bates College to help promote their fall concert, which was Lil Yachty this year. The concert was held on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Periodic Reports
Legal Services Representative Maria Maffucci reported that Attorney O’Mara is making an effort to advise students about their constitutional rights, as well as how to interact with police officers.
ROTC Representative Michael Davis said that 40 cadets met with veterans on Friday, Nov. 10 in honor of Veterans Day.
Director of Communications Miranda Roberts has been promoting student groups on social media, promoted Bates’ fall concert and designed a logo for the Student Organization Committee.
Reports of Standing Committees
Marketing Chair Miranda Roberts reminded organizations to table and reminded senators of the upcoming work day on Nov. 16.
Membership Chair Melody Cropley took apart the binders of former senators so that new senators will have their own binders in the coming weeks.
Services Chair Bentley Simpson reported that the UMaine Package and Postal Center, formerly known as the Cubby, is working on making its emails more efficient, and is considering getting lockers with a single-use code for students to pick up packages any time the Union is open.
An elective has been created for students to work in the greenhouse to supply organic food to the dining halls. Dining halls also have take-out swipes, which are counted as guest swipes.
Simpson also reported that they are working on putting free feminine hygiene products alongside the free condoms at RA stations in residence halls.
Representative Board Reports
The Commuter and Non-Traditional Students Board held Multicultural Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 9 in the North Pod.
The Honors College is starting a mentorship program in order to help younger students within the Honors College with questions or study help.
The Interfraternity Council changed the title of Vice President of Judicial Affairs to Vice President of Philanthropy and Service.
Community Association Reports
Student Heritage Alliance Council (SHAC) representative Mohammad “Fazeel” Hashmi promoted Multicultural Thanksgiving, and reported that the organization made $430 selling mango milkshakes at Culturefest last Saturday.
SHAC will be hosting a Hunger Banquet in Estabrooke Hall on Dec. 8.
The Feminist Collective is held “Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign” on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. in Minsky Hall. Auditions for the Vagina Monologues will be held on Nov. 28 and 29. They are also starting the process of electing a new co-chair, because current co-chair Lori Loftin is graduating this semester.
Wilde Stein is making preparations for Gay Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 16 in the North Pod, as well as securing drag queens for the Pride Week Drag Show next semester.
Allocations
The Senate struck a proposed $600 allocation to the South Asian Association of Maine because they are not currently an active organization.
Unfinished Business
$8,000 was granted to the UMaine men and women’s wrestling teams.
New Business
Nursing International was granted $3,300 for airfare for an upcoming service trip to Belize, where they will provide healthcare to impoverished communities.
Men’s club ice hockey was granted $8,000, and women’s club ice hockey was granted $7,000. The women’s team is currently second place in the Independent Women’s Collegiate Hockey League.
The American Marketing Association was granted $1,200 to attend the NOLA SHRM, Affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management Conference, which is a high honor for a collegiate marketing student.
The International Affairs Association was granted $1,125 for Model UN registration fees.
Engineers Without Borders was granted $1,200 to fund a humanitarian aid project in Ecuador, working toward improving the water supply of a small community of 35 households.
The Black Student Union was granted $1,261 for lodging and van rentals to attend a Unity March for Puerto Rico in Washington, D.C. They hope to give students of color an opportunity to experience real-life activism, and give them a sense of solidarity they are unable to get from the majority-white UMaine population. The group recently attended the Black Women’s March for Reproductive Rights in D.C., where they gained knowledge and experience about organizing, activism and effective ways to make change.
Best Buddies was granted $450 for their winter formal. The group pairs volunteers with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They host formal dances in order to give their “buddies” the prom experience they did not get to have in high school.
Special Orders and Announcements
Simpson is arranging a Light Up the Night event, where students and facilities members walk around campus to identify areas of campus that are too dark.
Floreani discouraged the use of gendered language to refer to groups of people, such as “you guys,” and recommended more gender-neutral terms.
