This week’s University of Rhode Island Student Senate meeting highlighted the importance of veteran and military support in our student body, transportation issues and future voting dates.
Beginning with a visit from the director of the Center for Military and Veteran Education, Tom Flynn, a presentation was given with updates on the Student Veterans of America, an organization of student veterans on campus.
The Senate held further discussion to later appoint a student liaison with the Center Military and Veteran Education, which would be a member of the Academic Affairs Commission.
The External Affairs Committee reported multiple updates on Rhode Island Public Transit Authority service, and the continuous saga of State House Bill #H7382, otherwise known as the housing ordinance bill. Senators are being urged to write to their representatives to express their concerns with the bill.
“We have a large off campus population at the University,” Committee Chair Chris Hoover said. “We need to make sure that word gets out that this is a big problem for us as individual students.”
In addition, the External Affairs Committee brought attention to a hearing involving RIPTA and their coverage of URI. The hearing will be held by RIPTA on Monday, Feb. 19 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Memorial Union, room 360. Senators were encouraged to attend and speak on behalf of the students.
The External Affairs Committee also announced a resolution for next week to recommend the creation of a parking committee.
Vice President Jonah Steinweh-Adler then introduced a new job opportunity: Compost Ambassador. The position will be paid $16 per hour and will focus on researching composting in the URI dining halls.
“It’s really interesting to see what the next steps will be to increase composting,” Steinweh-Adler said.
The Election Committee appointed a new chair, Leader David Rudolph. He outlined potential dates for this semester’s Senate elections, the first of which being the end of the decision period on Feb. 28.
In club news, two new student organizations are now Senate recognized. The Student Nurses Association will provide academic support for nursing students, and the Medical Lab Science Club will run in a similar vein to provide academic support for medical laboratory science majors.
Before the meeting came to a close, the Senate bid farewell to its current Speaker of the Assembly, Cameron Chadronet.
Speaker Chadronet announced his departure from both his position and the Senate as a whole. The search for a new speaker will begin next week.
The next Student Senate meeting will be held on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in room 300 of the Memorial Union.