Greetings, All Ye Who Play Croquet!

The fourth ASUW Senate meeting of Session XIV has come and gone, and I have a summary of the past two weeks to present. I created no report for the meeting on October 16th because no resolutions were considered, and the vast majority of the business for the day was the nomination and election of committee chairs and liaisons. I ran for the position of liaison to the Special Appropriations Committee, which handles direct disbursements to RSOs like ours, but I was not elected. It was revealed, however, at the Senate meeting on the 23rd that the person elected to this seat has a schedule conflict, so I hope to run again. I should be able to include the results in my next Senate report.

This week was the first for which I sat on the Campus Affairs Committee. In addition to further election nominations for committee liaisons (much time spent here), one Senate resolution was introduced in the Campus Affairs Committee, and one resolution was brought for first readings. None of the elections was particularly relevant to the HLC, and the most interesting event was the series of answers by Judicial Committee liaison candidates to the question of whether they planned to run for an office in the Spring: “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” and “No, that would be against the bylaws,” which I believe set a record for “most succinct question answers of the 14th session” (unofficial). Introduced in committee was R-14-6, A Resolution Commending the University of Washington Men’s Crew (the name does not match the listing on http://senate.asuw.org because it was amended in committee). The committee recommended it unanimously, and in the next few weeks it should be presented on the Senate floor, with grammatical changes and typos fixed. R-14-3, A Resolution in Support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, was brought to the floor for first readings. The full text of the legislation is available on the ASUW Senate web site, but I’ll paraphrase:

This resolution supports the DREAM Act, which would increase higher educational opportunities for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US before the age of 15. These students would become eligible for financial aid, have options made available for residency, and pay in-state tuition if such would normally be applicable.

Some of the “meta-legislative” points brought up in first readings include the fact that the UW is among the last institutions to take a stance on this act, and that the act becomes open for voting in the US Congress within the week.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, R-14-3 will be up for second readings (which involves senators being opinionated rather than confused) and voting next week. If this Senate report gets published before then (and I’ll make attempts to get it out before then if it won’t be), feel free to let me know your opinions on the subject.

In concluding this report, I would like second the sentiment of Senate Chair Shawn Fisher from the latest meeting: “I guess I’m not funny.” So, here’s a joke:

“Two muffins are baking in an oven, and one says to the other, ‘Boy, is it hot in here!’ The other one says, ‘Aaaah! A talking muffin!’” As always, I can be reached during my office hour (12:00 — 1:00 on Wednesdays in HUB S-31) or at snowg@u.washington.edu.

Your Senator,
Gareth Snow