The Associated Student Body Student Senate meeting this week included the allocation of money to the American River Review and discussion of upcoming advocacy events such as the March in March, Lobby Day and the Spring General Assembly.
Professor Michael Spurgeon, one of the three faculty advisers for the American River Review, appeared before the Senate to ask for $1,000.
“There are very few programs the college offers that garner national attention and the American River Review is one of those programs,” Spurgeon said. “We regularly take first place in the nation.”
The senate board gave $1,000 to the American River Review and the funding proposal passed without opposition.
Several members of the Student Senate will be attending Lobby Day at the state capitol on February 6. Lobby Day gives student leaders a chance to talk to legislators about issues such as textbook accessibility and affordability.
Also on the agenda, was a bill proposing that expenses on the annual March in March–a student advocacy event downtown–not exceed $4,500.
A proposed budget for the event includes $1,600 for two chartered busses, to take students from ARC to the capitol building, $1,046 for commemorative T-shirts and over $900 on signs for the event.
Vice President Tamara Trecek-Dunning suggested that to save money on transportation, those attending take public transit.
“In the past, from what I’ve been told about this event, ARC has a really great show of camaraderie and working together,” Senator Leslie Ann Dameron said.
She added that by taking the public transportation, “It will be a little adventure for us. I think it would be very nice if we got off the train together. It would show that do-it-yourself, that saving money, that we have the resources to do that.”
Voting on the bill funding the March in March was postponed until next week so that the senate could figure out the bus situation.
Also postponed until next week, was a bill proposing spending up to $7,000 for an estimated six-person trip to the General Assembly for California Community College student governments, scheduled to take place in LA in May.
Clubs and Events Board President Jeremy Diefenbacher explained the rationale behind that decision.
“I wish there was a way for us to see how much it is going to cost per person,” Diefenbacher said. “I’m hesitant to put a number on it without specifics.”
A bill regarding $1,000 to be given to the Fierce LGBTA Student Organization for the Reconstructing the Rainbow LGBTQIA Regional Conference at the University of the Pacific in Stockton will also be considered next week.
The Student Senate also considered the design of their business cards, with considerable discussion of whether the personal cell phone numbers of senators can or should be included on the cards. Voting on funding for the business cards was postponed until next week.
President Hinton believed the meeting went well.
“This meeting went extremely well, we got a lot of our business done and a lot of things discussed,” Hinton said. “We are doing fine and I’m happy we are doing the work that we are and we are getting ready to propose our final budget for next weeks JBC (joint budget committee) meeting.”
Senator Tim Lipuma agreed that the first meeting of the semester went well.
“I think it went really smooth. Everyone’s got their parliamentary procedure down, business went through well. There wasn’t any animosity,” Lipuma said.
Lipuma added that sometimes it depends what issues are being presented and that’s why “there’s meetings where we get all the business done and sometimes there’s a few things postponed.”