The Story
This Semester in the Student Assembly
Despite getting off to a somewhat rocky start, the Student Assembly made the most out of the Fall 2008 semester, passing a good deal of legislation and hosting various activities, designed to benefit the student population.
From assisting students on election day to helping fund a Veteran’s Day paintball tournament to trying to reach out to the student body, the governing body has contributed vastly to student life over the past three months.
“I think that the main accomplishment of the Student Assembly has been its outreach efforts,” said Senator Caroline Mullis (‘09), financial committee member. “In addition, I think we have had a lot of bills that have also really been working to make the campus a better place - I am specifically thinking of the AED act, post office hours bill, as well as the bill to purchase recycling bins.”
“I have been disappointed with a couple of the bills that have passed this year that are still not being followed up on and that have yet to be acted on,” Mullis added.
“There are so many large initiatives going on right now,” agreed Senator Brittany Fallon (‘11). “From public affairs’ work reforming city rules to the policy committee’s numerous reforms to the joint efforts between the outreach and student life committees to gauge student opinions, I feel as though each branch of the Senate is working very hard to represent students both on campus and within the wider Williamsburg community.”
There are a few new student officers working for the SA this semester, including Sravya Yeleswarapu (‘10), undersecretary to the College board of visitors; David Witkowsky, secretary of public affairs; and Antonio M. Elias (‘09), undersecretary to Richmond.
The Student Assembly also voted on new students to fill open offices: Katie Dixon (‘09) is now secretary of the department of health and safety; Braum Katz (‘10) is secretary of student rights; and Adeela Tajdar (‘09) is secretary of diversity initiatives.
The year did not start off well - Former Vice President Zach Pilchen (‘09) resigned from his office due to misuse of Student Assembly funds for personal expenses. Pilchen confessed to using the SA’s bank card for a series of purchases last spring, including movie tickets and unidentified items from Wawa. Many students and SA members alike worried about student confidence in the SA, and the long-term effect this would have.
However, within a month Kristin Slawter (‘09) was unanimously elected by the SA as its next vice president and activities quickly returned to normal.
“As to composition, the group is actually about as similar as I’ve seen in two consecutive years throughout the Student Assembly,” said SA Senator Matt Beato (’09). “There wasn’t very much turnover and a lot of institutional knowledge is still the same. This is a very good thing and helps continue projects from year to year.”
The first SA meeting of the year was held on Sept. 9. Topics included the Amethyst Act, a bill encouraging President Reveley to sign and support the Amethyst Initiative, a statement calling for new debate on the national drinking age, signed by college and university presidents nationwide. The act was passed unanimously. Also passed was the Student Choice Mascot Committee Act, a bill looking to create a new school mascot.
While it was not passed at the previous meeting, at the Sept. 16 meeting the AED Act was passed, which looks to add 15 new Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to campus. AEDs are portable devices used to restore a normal heart rate to people suffering from cardiac arrest, devices which are known to save many thousands of lives every year. Although there was some argument at the first meeting about the placement of the AEDs, it was quickly resolved.
At the Sept. 23 meeting, the Presidential Search Act was passed despite great debate among the senators. The act stated that, although the Senate approves of President Reveley, they disapprove of the Board of Visitor’s lack of student input before removing President Reveley’s interim status rather than conducting a nationwide search.
Also, the SA voted to increase funds given to Impact! Humanity, which is a student group dedicated to raising awareness of poverty.
At the Sept. 30 meeting several changes were made in the SA leadership. In particular the election of freshman officers Kobie Gordon as president of the class of 2012, Jackie Stykes as vice president of advocacy, Nicole Skarpness as vice president for social affairs, Stephanie McGuire as secretary and Xiaoyu Guo as treasurer. The four elected freshmen senators were Ben Battaglia, Tom Flaherty, Betty Jeanne Manning and Stefanie Felitto. Bryan Alphin (‘10) and Matt Schofield (‘12) were also elected as undersecretaries to Richmond while Jill Olszewski was elected as undersecretary to Williamsburg.
At the meeting the motion to give $800 to the Muslim Student Association (MSA) for their celebration of Eid, the Muslim celebration of the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting observed by followers of Islam, was approved by unanimous consent. The MSA had previous problems funding the event due to their decision that the $4 entrance fee would be given to charity; with the SA’s funding, the event was able to happen.
The Onion Pilot Program Act, a bill to purchase an eight-week trial period of the satirical periodical The Onion for student use, was also passed unanimously, as was the Post Office Opening Later Act, which almost immediately changed the Saturday campus post office hours from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. to 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. in order to make the post office more accessible to the student population.
Although it proved to be a controversial topic in the Senate, at the Oct. 7 meeting the SA granted permission to fund a large paintball tournament as a celebration for Veteran’s Day. While some argued that simulated combat might not be the best way to honor those who have suffered and died in real combat, others disagreed and commented that such an event would allow students to gain insight into what actual combat is like and understand a little bit more about what America’s veterans went through in serving their nation. The event also included movies, informational booths from multicultural groups on campus and an all-day series of paintball tournaments in the Sunken Gardens.
At the Oct. 7 meeting, the Police-Students Relations Improvement Act, formerly The William and Mary Police Behavior Act, was amended and passed by unanimous consent. The act includes various plans to improve understanding between police officers and students, as well as to foster accountability in the William and Mary police force.
At the Oct. 21 meeting, the student run magazine Lips: Expressions of Female Sexuality was granted $800 in order to aid publication. The magazine is popular, yet ran into financial problems due to difficulties in funding it has experienced since last year. The money granted by the SA ensured that the magazine would be able to be published this semester.
This meeting also brought about changes to the SA’s financial code. The reforms were written to prevent abuses of power among SA members related to monetary funds. The bill creates a new SunTrust bank account for the SA and limits access to the funds to the president of the Senate and the secretary of finance.
Although it was not passed at the previous meeting, a bill to allocate $5,500 from Student Activities Consolidated Reserve Account to the Student Health Center for flu shots to be given to students was passed. The SA funds allow free shots for the first 100 people who show up and provided $10 off each shot for the next 300 people. This took place Nov. 12.
The Oct. 28 meeting marked the passage of the Presidential Election Day Outreach Act, which authorized the use of $312 for hot apple cider and up to $1,000 for stickers to be given to voters at the polls on Nov. 4. The hot apple cider was given to students, faculty and Williamsburg residents as they stood in line to vote, starting just after 6 a.m. The stickers reading, “Hark Upon the Ballot Box,” were also distributed.
Earlier in the year, the SA ran a voter registration drive, a program which helped students register in Williamsburg. These efforts proved to be a great success, as the number of freshmen who registered in Williamsburg was significantly larger this fall than last fall. Out of over 100 localities in Virginia, the City of Williamsburg had the highest percentage of new voters in 2008.
Also passed at the Oct. 28 meeting was the Election Day Act, which “strongly encouraged” professors at the College to cancel classes on Nov. 4 in order to make it easier for students to vote on election day.
The Room Reservation Deposit Online Act, which suggested the bursar’s office, office of residence life and information technology department to make it possible for students to pay their room reservation deposits online - as opposed to in person - also passed unanimously.
At the Nov. 11 meeting, the Club Connection Act was created to build a bridge between the SA, students and student organizations. This act charges the outreach committee with contacting all student organizations via e-mail at the start of each semester and once during the budgeting period. It also suggests that the committee send a Senator to attend a meeting of any organization that requests one. The Outdoor Recycling Containers Act also passed, which will place 13 new recycling receptacles on campus in order to promote environmental awareness and conservation.
Students can expect to see more dedication and commitment from the Student Assembly as the same group takes their desire to aid students into the Spring 2009 semester.
This piece originally appeared in the December 2008 issue issue of The DoG Street Journal.