Full-speed ahead

With finals looming next week, Senate is looking toward our last meeting of first semester (Tuesday, Dec. 9 in the David E. Johnson Boardroom). This week we heard a report from college Registrar, Mary Cisar, and learned that the online registration process for both interim and second semester went quite well. A substantial majority of students received their first choice course, and many more, their second. 

Within Senate, we passed a motion providing an opportunity for more debate to occur on any given proposal, and then put that into play as we discussed changes to the Student Organizations Committee (SOC) Constitution and a proposal to allow two members of the Student Activities Committee (SAC) to attend a national conference. 

This coming Tuesday, Jay Jovick will present a project he believes can improve feedback gathering for student governments and the Multicultural, Physical Safety, and Transportation committees will report. 

Good luck studying, and enjoy the last pre-final weekend of the semester!

Diana

pre-Thanksgiving Senate update!

Since every course seems to require a major project or test right before Thanksgiving break (to ensure that if nothing else, we will be thankful for a chance to catch-up on sleep), Student Senate is taking next Tuesday (11/25) off. However, in the previous weeks, we have enjoyed some enlightening guests.

Last week (11/18) we reveled in the Pause Main Stage as our meeting locale. Representatives of Ole Spring Relief 4 (OSR4) stopped by to explain the motivation for returning to the Gulf Coast on a rebuilding spring break trip. Informational meetings and sign-ups will be forthcoming. Contact Emily Segar (segar@stolaf.edu) for more details.

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, College Treasurer and VP Alan Norton discussed the state of college finances, particularly the endowment, and the way in which the current market might impact building projects and tuition. Although the endowment has dropped by millions of dollars, Mr. Norton informed us that St. Olaf is actually in better financial shape than some institutions with larger endowments who depend more heavily upon those earnings. Tuition decisions will be made by the Board of Regents in February and shared with the student body soon after. 

If you have any questions regarding Senate happenings or speakers, please contact me or your individual constituent senator - they're eager to hear and represent your concerns (see the Senate roster on Oleville.com). 

Have a restful break and consider stopping by our meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when you get back!

the "forgot your password" link is actually quite helpful

Hello all!

It has been far, far too long - due, in part to the busy-ness of this part of the semester, with an additional complication in the fact that I couldn't remember which username was associated with this blog, and my password refused to work. BUT, excuses aside, it's time for some enthralling Student Senate updates:

Senate has entertained (and been entertained by) a number of guests. Pamela McDowell from Residence Life spoke to us about the new washers/dryers in the dorms (which unsurprisingly have been quite popular, at least partially since now I don't need to question whether my clothes will be cleaner or dirtier when they emerge). She also explained student responses to a survey about keycard hours for the dorms - apparently the current system of locking the doors at 8pm is relatively popular. 

Bruce King, the Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity spoke about his new role in looking to recruit and expand St. Olaf's racial and ethnic reach, both in terms of students and faculty/staff. He noted that the school has not set numerical targets, but generally wants to encourage the recent admissions trend of enrolling an increasingly diverse student body.

Last Tuesday, the Student Support Services (SSS) Board stopped by to affirm the importance of the program and re-introduce some of the roles and goals of SSS. 

In honor of the Nov. 4 elections, Senate will distribute its resources (i.e. people) to help ensure that Buntrock remains a secure, legal, and non-partisan polling place. So if you happen to have a friendly face ask you to remove a McCain button or Obama t-shirt (since neither of these are permitted in Buntrock on election day), feel free to ask them what's new in SGA!

Instead of our typical Tuesday meeting, Senate will hear Caf fast applicants on Thursday, Nov. 6 in Viking Theater at 6:30pm, and as true with all Senate meetings, all are welcome!

Fall Senate Elections!

Welcome back to hill!
As you unload and unpack, purchase dozens of pounds of books for class, and begin thinking about how your school and social commitments are stacking up, consider picking up or downloading an election packet for Student Senate from oleville.com.

Being a part of Senate allows you to have more of a voice in the way St. Olaf functions, both as an institution, as well as a part of the Northfield community. Issues we anticipate addressing this year include researching and comparing meal plan options, creating an updated student parking proposal, and looking at the way in which other colleges are adopting smoke-free campus policies.

Read through the candidate position descriptions, and please don't hesitate to email me (or stop by the Office of Student Activities) with any questions!

Looking forward to seeing you,

Diana
SGA Vice-President and
Student Senate Chair '08-09