Key Legislation, Discussion and Debates
BY RYAN COONEY, STUDENT GOVERNMENT BEAT WRITER
Mason’s Student government met Jan. 26 for its weekly meeting in Merten Hall 1201. Key legislation of the day included discussion on Resolution 29, in support of bettering the relationship between student government and the Fairfax City Council and discussion on Bill 16, which served to amend the code of student government.
Resolution 29, which passed unanimously in the Government and Community Relations Committee just days before, served to improve the relationship between Mason and the people of Fairfax.
The resolution was created in the effort to extend an olive branch and form a partnership with the city council, according to the committee. Following a half-hour debate, however, Resolution 29 was sent back to the Government and Community Relations Committee to be reworded.
Bill 16, which provided numerous amendments to the code of Student Government, was also brought back for discussion. When signing the bill, President Nathan Pittman used his line-item veto, or ability to strike certain parts of legislation without vetoing the entirety of the legislation, to veto point Z.
Point Z would have changed the number of people serving on the Elections and Disputes Committee from nine to seven. Pittman cited that currently, the Elections and Disputes Committee has a hard time organizing and running the elections in both the spring and the fall, thus there is a need to keep the present number of people—nine—serving the committee. The veto was sustained by the senate.
The senate also served appointments to the offices of the Secretary of University Services, Undersecretary for State Affairs and Undersecretary for Information Technologies Services.
The Senate appointed Greg Warren to the position of Secretary of University Services. Warren cited his two years of serving on the student senate as well as his wish to provide assistance and help to those in campus organizations as the reason he would be a good choice for the position. Warren added that he would help by taking ideas and utilizing his experiences to help influence positive change on campus.
Blair Schaefer was also appointed to the position of Undersecretary for State Affairs. On why she would be a good choice for the position, Schaefer cited her interest in state politics since her freshmen year of high school as well as her numerous internships with both lawmakers and private attorneys.
The last appointment of the day was Samir Shah for the position of Undersecretary for Information Technologies. Shah has an interest in technology and a history of helping the student government. Shah said he hopes to create a service that would ease communication between senators and students, create a system for a future bike share program at Mason and overall better Mason for the students and faculty alike.
