By Jonathan Stankiewicz
Senators may have varying opinions on whether or not the SGA meetings are being conducted properly, but, according to SGA President Eric Bergenn, they are still getting things done.
At last week’s meeting, the senate allocated a substantial amount of money towards this years’ SGA scholarships and passed two bylaw changes. The changes took the better part of two hours in the near three- hour senate meeting.
“It may not be pleasant to sit through all that deliberation, but some things are going to be a rocky road, and that’s okay if it’s the will of the senate,” said Bergenn. “Going more smoothly is desirable to some, but the process by which we are working is in the best interest of the SGA.”
Senator Ivonne Lopez believes that there is always room for improvement. “Nothing’s perfect,” she said when it comes the senate taking its time during meetings.
The length of time that it takes the senate to do things is just the way it is, said Freshman Senator Simms Sonet. “It’s a necessary evil that needs to be conquered at that moment.”
Senator Shelby Dattilo was pleased with how last week’s meeting went. “That original motion was passed as presented,” said Dattilo, “and that says something.” She added that it’s important to go through everything so that everyone understands what’s going on, even if that requires back and forth debate for an extended period of time. As long as people understand the decisions made, it doesn’t matter how long SGA spends on something, said Dattilo
Vice President Liz Braun said she gets frustrated when senators don’t follow the rules, especially when things get too rowdy in senate meetings. During the meeting Braun wasn’t happy with how much time the senate spent on something that would have been better discussed in a committee meeting.
SGA Resident Senator Jeremy Truex also feels that SGA has been running quite smoothly as of late.
“I do believe that Wednesday’s Senate meeting started out good, but quickly turned badly as we started to lose many senators and almost lost quorum,” said Truex. “I was worried that we would lose quorum and have to put things on hold, like last week when we were ‘filibustered’ by Senator Towler who deliberately left so that we would lose quorum, which I was very displeased with.”
“They are still not being conducted as well as they should be,” added Truex, who believes that SGA loses quorum too quickly. Senators are only required to attend meetings from 3:05 p.m. until about 4:25 p.m.
“Many senators just get up and leave when the clock reads 4:20, which is completely understandable if they have a class or another meeting or event that they must attend, but I have noticed that some people skip out of the meeting early and I will see them wandering around shortly after,” Truex said.
Some people just need to cool off, said Sonet, who added that it does “get heated” in meetings, and some people do leave and come back.
Truex, a member of the Constitution and Bylaw Review Committee, added that he understands why certain things from committees get discussed so much in senate meetings. “Many people are not involved in the committees to understand what was being discussed,” said Truex. “Yes, there are minutes taken from each committee meeting, but many people will still believe that their ideas are far better than people that have been assigned to a committee, or are exercising for or against things presented whether or not they are in their own personal interest.”
Senator Heidy Sanchez reiterated that opinion.
“I believe that although many of us are on senate for ‘the right reasons,’ there are a number of senators who have their own agendas and things to accomplish through senate, which would be respectable if they went about it in the right way and for the benefit of a majority,” said Sanchez. “Admittedly, it is hard to get one’s personal bias and feelings separate from the task at hand, but it is what we’ve been elected to do and I don’t think everyone takes that seriously.” She added that she sees that the senate is trying to better itself.
SGA will be having a retreat over winter break to go over rules and how to write resolutions and bills, said Braun.
“Hopefully these workshops will help show how to keep committee work in committees and what other things we can actually accomplish in our senate meetings when bylaws and finances aren’t being discussed,” said Braun.
