The Student Government Association approved several bills at its weekly meeting Tuesday night, including a bill that recommends moving the date of spring graduation from May 17, 2003, to its original date, May 10, 2003. The bill states, “many students have already made irretractable plans around the originally adopted date,” and the change will, “accommodate the scheduling of students for this spring’s graduation.” Senators also approved a bill which stated a request by SGA that “any changes to the graduation date be made available to students and published a minimum of one year in advance of that date.” According to the bill, “many students schedule around the date of graduation well in advance of one year, and the date change for Spring 2003 graduation caused undue hardship and emotional stress to many graduating seniors.”The senate approved a bill requesting that the Homecoming Election Codes be at the discretion of the election commission for revision when necessary. The bill states the reason for this request is because “the current Homecoming Election Codes have led to three years of protests and these protests are the result of indeterminate in these rules.” The bill requests that, “Article XI of the Homecoming Election Codes is created and states: all matters of the Election Code are at the discretion of the election commission. The senate also approved a bill to expand parking accommodations for motorcycles. According to this bill, “the existing motorcycle parking is inadequate to meet the current level of parking needs and many students are opting to use motorcycles instead of larger vehicles.” The bill requests the, “expanding of the existing motorcycle parking lot located adjacent to the Lowman Student Center.”The Grievance Committee also sponsored a bill concerning road conditions. “There has been an accumulation of potholes in high traffic areas, and extreme trouble areas include the exit lane of the criminal justice parking lot on Bearkat Boulevard and the parking lot behind the library. These potholes are significant enough to cause damage to vehicles of students, staff, and faculty,” the bill states. The bill requests the “repair of these high traffic areas as soon as possible to prevent further damage to vehicles and prevent the damaged areas from becoming larger.” The senate approved a bill requiring each senator “to serve a minimum of one office hour per week, (and) two missed weeks of office hours will be considered the equivalent of one absence from a regular senate meeting.” According to the bill, the reason for this request is because “the Student Senate is the only student organization provided an office so its members are available to serve their constituency, and there is an abundance of work to be done by senators in the office.”Each bill approved is a request from the SGA for action, and the bills will be forwarded to applicable administrative authorities for review. SGA President Helena L. Banks said she continues to meet twice a month with Gaertner, Dr. Thelma Douglass, Dr. Keri Rogers and Dr. David Payne to discuss issues concerning academic affairs, graduation and details concerning the LSC.
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