At this week’s meeting, the Student Senate voted to recognize two new clubs and elected two new members of the Treasury Committee.
The Student Organizations Committee (SOC) announced that it is starting the process for stipend review this week. According to SOC Chairwoman Katie Siegle, this process will continue through the month of February.
External Affairs Committee Chairwoman Grace Kiernan announced this week that the committee will be planning a socially distanced food drive on-campus and in Narragansett.
“We want to get the whole community involved,” Kiernan said.
Following up on last week’s discussion about motorized scooters on campus, Campus Affairs Committee Chairman Michael Bentley announced that a survey has been created for students to fill out.
“I created a survey with the help of my committee [to receive feedback on motorized scooters],” he said. “We want to get a good overall feeling on how the student population feels about this.”
The forum will soon be available to the student body.
The Campus Affairs Committee also discussed their proposal to use Senate funds to provide menstrual products to bathrooms in the Memorial Union. Bentley mentioned the idea of using baskets instead of dispensers for a more reliable pilot program. Multiple members of the Senate gave positive feedback on the proposal.
Senator Yasmin Diaz announced that a Valentine’s Day event will be held on Zoom Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m.
She also said that the committee will be hosting an Instagram Live event to answer any questions on the COVID-19 vaccines. The date for this event has yet to be determined according to Diaz.
Two clubs were approved for recognition by Student Senate at the meeting. Siegle introduced Black Women in Medicine, whose goal is to provide underrepresented Black women with the skills, knowledge and experiences to professionally participate in health care fields and scientific disciplines, according to its mission statement. The organization also strives to uplift women in the Black community who aspire to obtain an occupation in medicine and or science, according to the bill. The club was recognized with 24 votes.
Siegle also introduced the student organization America’s Recoverable Medical Supply (ARMS). The mission statement of this organization is to alleviate global health inequities and healthcare’s environmental impact by collecting and redistributing recoverable medical supplies to those in need worldwide.
President and Founder of ARMS Thomas Bonneau spoke on behalf of the organization.
“This is a new, local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,” he said. “Our main objective is to collect [medical supplies] and redistribute these supplies worldwide.”
Bonneau provided examples of the club’s work for the Senate. Instead of a hospital throwing away bandages, ARMS will take those bandages as those supplies are still viable according to the organization. Rather than these supplies be discarded and unused, they can be used by ARMS.
“My organization argues that [these expired medical supplies] can still be used and should be allocated to areas worldwide that don’t necessarily have access to the common, everyday medical supplies that we have,” he said. “I am trying to establish a chapter [of this organization] at the University to assist the mission capabilities of ARMS and involve the college community.”
The organization was recognized with 25 votes from the Senate.
Alongside these two new clubs, Siegle nominated Chris Hoover and Isaiah Kittel for the Senate Treasury Committee. Both Hoover and Kittel were elected.
President Austyn Ramsay was not present at this week’s meeting and the swearing-in of new senators will take place next week.