Searching for Senators

Student Senate confronts problems as the need for senators persists

Searching+for+Senators

Tyler Fransen, Staff Writer

Student Senate met again on Sunday, and much like the last meeting, the main focus was getting more senators.

For reasons being debated, the Student Senate is having trouble reaching an agreement on how to go about filling the voids in the Senate.

The main problem is the process by which Senators would be added. On the one hand there could be an election, which would be in line with Article 7 Section 1 of the Student Senate Constitution.

On the other hand, there could be appointments by department and signatures, which would be in line with Article 6 Section 3 of the same Constitution.

It gets worse. Article 5 Section 4 gives off the impression that Article 7 Section 1 only pertains to Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, and that any Senate vacancies are to be determined by what is written in Article 6 Section 3.

It seems that the debate is being generated by the differences in Article 7 Section 1 compared to Article 6 Section 3 and Article 5 Section 4.

The ambiguity of the election versus appointment clauses in the Student Senate Constitution left room for debate among the senators, particularly Senator Nathan Boggess and President Nolan Janzen.

The Student Government committee of the Student Senate is working towards refining the constitution to alleviate any discrepancies.

The Senate also discussed recent polling of the campus with regards to free laundry, as well as the Papercut printing system.

Senate also approved a new bylaw to the constitution regarding allocation funds for sports clubs at Wayne State.

The second of potentially three sand volleyball courts was discussed further. The plan for now is that the Senate will meet with President Curt Frye to discuss the funds being used to pay for the court, after Frye has recovered from his recent surgery.

As for the filling of the senate vacancies, the senate did appoint two new senators, and swore in the new five that were appointed altogether.

However, if the debate over how to add new senators remains an issue, there is a chance, however unlikely it may be, that those newly sworn in and appointed senators could be nullified.