Most amendments to concern elections
Student Government’s election codes have been stripped to “bare bones” in their newly proposed form, Student Body Vice President Ryan Bailey said.
Amendments to the bill will revise the codes and will be proposed in the coming weeks. The new codes were introduced at Wednesday night’s senate meeting.
Most amendments are expected to concern elections violations, elections fraud and apportionment, the process which determines how many senators are chosen from each school.
All amendments will be accepted as “hostile,” Bailey said, which means they will automatically go to a period of debate before senators vote by roll call whether or not to accept them.
“We can discuss it as a senate and vote as a senate to decide what goes in here,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Stuart Wilkerson, the bill’s primary sponsor.
The codes should be passed by Nov. 20 in order to be put into effect for the coming election cycle, Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson also introduced a bill to amend the finance codes that passed unanimously last week. The amendments focus largely on the language in the codes, he said.
“They are sound in the intent, but the wording was not quite there,” Wilkerson said.
Senate filling again
Sen. Dennzon Winley was sworn into student senate Wednesday night, filling an empty seat in the College of Education’s delegation. Empty seats remain in the delegations from the Darla Moore School of Business, College of Engineering and Computing and the Arnold School of Public Health.All three seats are expected to be filled by next week.
Bailey and Senate Powers and Responsibilities Committee Chair Emmalee Smith are in the process of interviewing candidates for senate finance committee chair and business school senator, respectively, after the resignation of Sen. Ashley Farr, a third-year finance student. There is a “huge backlog” of applications submitted by business school students, but interviews for the seat should conclude soon, Bailey said.
Improving homecoming
Student Body President Chase Mizzell asked senators to give feedback on USC’s Homecoming, saying there was much room for growth.
Mizzell asked university leaders, including President Harris Pastides and Athletics Director Ray Tanner, to “watch Homecoming with a very observant and constructive eye” about a week before the annual festivities and look for potential improvements.