New Senators and Officer Appointments
New Senators Emmeline Willey and Kaitlyn Beckwith were sworn in this week.
Club Maintenance
The University of Maine branch of the Chinese Students and Scholar Association was granted preliminary recognition. The national organization assists Chinese students with studying and traveling safely in the United States, along with outreach, suicide prevention and other forms of support. The club has been inactive on campus for over a decade, and this group is “fresh and new.”
Blue Takes Peru was granted final recognition, and officially changed their name to the Blue Crew. Last year, 16 students traveled to Peru to help local schools and libraries. They have since decided to turn this one-time event into an annual trip to a new country each time.
This year, two groups will perform volunteer work in a five-day trip to Ghana.
The Coral Club, an education-based organization dedicated to teaching coral studies, was granted final recognition.
Club Presentations
The Women’s Ice Hockey Club Team thanked the Student Government for funding their fall and spring season, now that the final game of the season is over.
The UMaine Navigators thanked Student Government for providing funding for the registration costs of the group’s trip to the Navigators Winter Conference in Massachusetts.
Executive Reports
President Mary Celeste-Floreani welcomed the observing senators, while preemptively apologizing for the number of constitutional amendments on the agenda. Next year’s Board of
Trustees policies are being discussed, as well as nominations for student trustee.
Vice President Logan Aromando announced a tentative, unnamed event on March 25.
Executive elections are underway, and nomination forms are due Friday.
Vice President for Financial Affairs Song Ping ‘Ryan’ Wang reported $312,929.40 in unallocated funds.
Vice President for Student Organizations Jacob Wood thanked the senators who took part in the Black Student Union Dodgeball fundraiser tournament, under the banner of Average Joe’s Gym.
Vice President for Student Entertainment Jared Dumas responded to on-campus rumors regarding the Maine Day concert, namely that no artist has been officially booked for any concert or event yet. No announcements will be made without a completed contract.
Representatives from UMSG, Inc. are the only ones allowed to make such announcements. The committee has been completely dissolved to limit rumors or leaks. “It is unfortunate to see these things happen, since they have the chance to ruin or cancel events. Please direct questions to me or President Floreani only.”
A 10-minute recess was called from 6:49 – 6:59.
Periodic Reports
The Fair Election Practices Commission reported that paperwork for executive elections is now available. A collaboration with The Maine Campus and WMEB is underway. They are preparing for the Student Heritage Alliance Council elections.
Legal Services Attorney Sean O’Mara has resolved another landlord case for two students.
Liaison Maria Maffucci reminded new senators to schedule meetings with O’Mara soon.
The Army ROTC is preparing to host “Nets for Pets for Vets,” a 3-on-3 basketball tournament to raise funds to provide veterans with PTSD service animals.
Director of Communications Miranda Roberts passed out the brand new UMSG, Inc. window stickers, and announced more keychains and an update to the bulletin board. A UMSG, Inc. St. Patrick’s Day event is in the works.
Reports of Standing Committees
Marketing Committee is looking for students to table in the Memorial Union.
The Policy and Procedure Committee’s new meeting time is Thursdays at 4 p.m.
Political Activism has heard back from senators who may be interested in being involved in their Committee.
Reports of Special Committees
Early work for Maine Day is complete, leaving Vice President of Student Entertainment Dumas and President Floreani to discuss concrete plans soon. Meeting time is Wednesdays at 9 a.m.
Representative Board Reports
The Honors College Student Advisory Board thanked UMSG, Inc. for funding their event in Estabrooke Hall. Honors Open House will be held March 23. Maine Day meal pack planning is still underway. Next Thursday, they will be hosting a movie trivia night in the Bear’s Den.
Community Association Reports
The Student Heritage Alliance Council will be holding its Multicultural Mosaic in the Memorial Union on March 30.
The Feminist Collective’s events for Women’s History Month are underway, with a feminist book discussion to follow next Monday. To cap off the festivities, a final Women’s History Month celebration will be held March 20.
The Wilde Stein Queer Straight Alliance has completed its contracts for the upcoming drag show. Pride Week planning is underway.
New Business
Interfraternity Council and Alpha Omicron Pi requested $1,700 for their Mr. Fraternity contest. The request was granted.
Student Heritage Alliance Council requested $1,180 to purchase flags of diversity and cover labor costs to hang them on the bridge between the UMaine campus and downtown Orono, as part of their new Diversity Week events. They hope to make the flag hanging a tradition, and as such, they will attempt to speak with town officials to reduce the cost of labor in the future. The request was granted.
Amendments were made to Rule III of the Standing Rules, Section 5, subsection (c), and Rule IV of the Standing Rules, Section 1, subsection (ix), to allow a liaison for the Center of Undergraduate Research (CUGR) to attend the General Student Senate. An amendment was made to Rule II of the Standing Rules, Section 2, subsection (b), paragraph (i), to specify that the 2.0 GPA requirement for senators refers to their cumulative GPA. An amendment was also made to Section 2, subsection (h) to reflect an amendment made earlier to lower the cumulative GPA requirement from 2.5 to 2.0, for the sake of consistency. An amendment was made to Rule V of the Standing Rules, Section 3, to have Executive Evaluations conducted on “the second to last regular meeting of the senate before the end of each academic semester,” as opposed to “the last regular meeting.” This will make it easier to divide responsibilities among senators. Amendments were made to Section 2 of Articles VI and VII of the Constitution, changing the lists of entities in each list to reflect current groups on campus. The act to amend Article VII, Section 2 was further amended to reflect the Student Heritage Alliance Council’s actual name (“Council,” not “Center”). Amendments were made to Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution. In subsection 1, the senate membership seats number was lowered from “no less than thirty-five (35) and no more than fifty-five (55)” to “no less than “twenty-five (25) and no more than thirty-five (35).” Added to Section 3 was a significant change in the structure of Senate elections. “Senate seats shall be determined on a college-based system, where each respective Undergraduate Academic College (Maine Business School, College of Education and Human Development, College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture) shall be represented in the GSS,” with the number representing each College determined “based on the respective population of that College.” It is believed that this change will improve the currently limited and stagnant election pool. Amendments were made to Rule II of the Standing Rules to match the amendments made to Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution.
Senator O’Donaghue was elected University of Maine Security Representative.
