Recap of the day's Senate meeting

On September 29 and 30, students will elect a new Undergraduate Senate. Also on the ballot will be a Constitutional amendment that will make the executive positions of Secretary and Comptroller appointed, rather than elected. A 2/3 vote by the student population will be required in order for it to pass. When the bill was in the Senate today, I voted against it, not only because I believe that these positions should remain elected ones, but because the method of appointment was not specified. However, I am glad that the students will get to weigh in on the issue.

The other issue of interest was A Bill to Ensure the Continued Sustainability of American University. I am proud to say that the bill passed unanimously, by a vote of 22-0. That is a major accomplishment. However, I was disappointed by some of the decisions made by the Senate. First and foremost, they voted to strike the measure calling for a 5 cent bag fee on all non reusable bags. Actually, a Senator proposed to strike it, and he was voted down. Later in debate, after a couple of Senators had left, the exact same thing was proposed, and this time it succeeded. While it is not technically against the rules, I find it to be a violation of the spirit of the Senate. Senators voted down the proposal to strike it, left, and then the Senate reversed its own decision in a matter of minutes. Furthermore, the argument against the fee was that it is unreasonable to force students to have to incur more costs than necessary. But seriously people, IT IS FIVE CENTS. All this would have done would have made students think twice before taking an unnecessary bag, while not forcing a significant burden on students that really do need a bag. The Senate voted against the Earth on this issue. I was also disappointed to see the Senate strike the section of the bill that called for a feasibility study into the university removing the portions of its endowment fund that are invested in companies whose primary interest is fossil fuels. It would have simply been a feasibility study, and I don't see what is wrong with that. It makes sense not only for the environment, but it also makes sense economically.

Other than that, nothing else of particular importance was removed. And I am very glad that the bill ultimately earned such a wide range of support. The bill now moves to President MacCracken for his signature.