The Knox Student

The inaugural meeting of the 101st Student Senate kicked off the year with a debate to seat an additional representative for each class, confirmation of an interim treasurer and committee selections and reports.

First on the list of new business was whether to seat a sixth place for each class. Senate President senior Gordon Barratt said more people ran and lost in elections than ever before as Senate reduced the number of seats last year. As a comparison, there were 40 senators last year with 50 the year before. With 21 senators seated currently, there would have been 26 with the extra representatives. With 29 faculty seats to fill, some senators were for adding new seats as a means of increasing student participation while others were against the idea.

During the roll call vote, the nays had it, voting down the motion to seat a sixth person for each class.

Afterward, post-baccalaureate Max Galloway-Carson, ’11, was confirmed as interim treasurer by unanimous consent to replace senior Sara Ahmed while she is abroad during the fall. During the discussion of committee assignments, a new committee called ASAP (Allies for Sexual Assault Prevention) was announced.

Of the five freshmen representatives, three ran to sit on the Executive committee: Zoe Marzloff, Payton Rose and Molly Loudon. After a second round of voting between the five freshmen senators, Rose was elected as their class’s representative.

During committee reports, the Sustainability Chair sophomore Max Potthoff said composting has been delayed.

Dining Services Chair junior Kaitlyn Duling responded to the new rule restricting students from bringing their backpacks with them in dining areas, saying there was “nothing we can do about that.”

Technology Chair junior Johnathan Ebbers said he would be working with the Computer Center as well as getting measures going to teach students and faculty cloud computing (Google Docs, etc.) to help with clubs and classes.

The Finance committee met two weeks ago to give $800 for Cellar Door for printing expenses from spring term.

Combining with the Residential Quality of Life (ResQual) committee, the Safety and Services committee goals include putting a stop sign on South and West streets while the ResQual committee has not met yet.