SGA Passes Legislation to Lengthen Library Hours and Put Vending Machines in Maloney

By Thomas Holmes

After a four week hiatus due to a lack of legislation, SGA held senate session 5-4 Monday in the Pryz great room. The senate brought forward three pieces of legislation as well as voted on an appeal made by the student organization, Catholic U Project Arts, regarding Treasury Board funding.

After the standard prayer and pledge of allegiance, the senate began deliberating over an appeal made by Catholic U Project Arts. Project Arts originally appeared before the Treasury Board asking for a total of $997.10, and submitted an appeal to SGA on October 9th after Treasury Board funded the student organization only $405.10. The special committee on allocations and appeals recommended the decreased amount of  $329, with explanations. The recommendation made by SGA needed a ⅔ majority to pass; there was a unanimous decision to pass it.

The first piece of legislation, Resolution 004, sponsored by Senator Sharpe, a representative for the class of 2022, intended to extend the hours in which Mullen Library was open after the first three weeks of school. This current school year, the library was not open its full hours for the first 4 weeks of the semester. Sharpe intended to work with the library staff in order to provide students with better access to public study space in the library. Sharpe’s well-researched legislation passed unanimously.

Next on the meeting’s agenda was Resolution 005 brought to the senate by Senator Carey, representative of the School of Arts and Sciences, which intended to put public access printers in all academic buildings. The senate debated this resolution at length. 

In the midst of the lengthy deliberation of Carey’s proposed legislation, it became clear that the meeting had the chance to run past the allotted time. A motion to vote to extend the meeting was raised and all but Senator Ciacco, representative for the School of Nursing, voted to extend the meeting until the end of the agenda.

Many senators brought up the issue of how difficult it might be for different departments to get the resources to sustain the addition of printers in every academic building. One senator motioned to send the resolution back to committee which would mean that it could be reworked and enhanced. The vote to send the legislation to committee resulted in a tie, sending the tie-breaking vote to Vice-President Shanahan; she voted “nay” to sending it to committee.

Many senators were against Resolution 005 and voted accordingly. The final vote was seven “ayes” to fifteen “nays” and two abstentions. 

The last piece on the agenda was Resolution 006 brought forward by Senator Galassi, representative for the Busch School, in his first piece of legislation. The bill was designed to install a vending machine into Maloney Hall. A few questions were asked about the logistics of the resolution before the senate voted unanimously to pass it.

The next senate meeting will take place Monday, November 18.