Final senate meeting for winter term

Tuesday night, the Associated Students of Oregon State University senate passed two pieces of legislation but held off on the “Resolution to Oppose Tuition Hikes,” which has already made its way through the house of representatives.

The first bill heard by the senate was the “Bill to adopt the Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference Vision.” Senator Rhianna Taniguchi presented the bill to ASOSU. Taniguchi also co-wrote the bill with four others from the University of Oregon, Southern Oregon University and Linfield College.

The bill was created during the 2013 Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference and addresses sustainability goals of the organization.

Some of these goals, according to the bill, include, “embedded sustainability throughout curriculum in all departments; and an emphasis on active transportation, and a minimization of privately owned vehicles.”

The senators discussed the relevancy and range of their authority to pass legislation that demanded action plans that were out of their jurisdiction.  One action within the list was the requirement of all major programs to create a class addressing environmental problems and needs.

After a small discussion, Madison Parker, senator, put forth an amendment which struck the action plan so the bill would read as “ASOSU will partner with and expect our institutions leadership to advocate for the vision outlined by OHSC toward a true culture of sustainability.”

This amendment was passed along with the bill.

The “Student Multimedia Services Support Solution Resolution” was also passed by the senate Tuesday. This resolution supports Student Multimedia Services effort for funding, which is currently a request of $1.2 million. This will help the program purchase new equipment and also help in its operations.

This funding was requested through the technological resource funds due to the increase in the demands of students and the use of technology, and the decrease in their equipment inventory. ASOSU’s action will be in the form of a letter of support and will be included in student media’s technology resource fund submission.

Finally, the “Resolution to Oppose Tuition Hikes” — which began in the house and was passed to the senate — was voted down. Senators Thomas Bancroft, Tyler Hogan, Kevin Coffey, Parker and Taniguchi were all in agreement that the bill was written poorly and should not be passed.

“I agree with [the resolution’s] sentiments,” Parker said. “But I do not believe it is reflected in its presentation.”

The senate took a vote, and with three abstentions, it was voted down 0-8.

The only other business of the evening was the first reading of “The Sarman Bill” which strikes the position description and title of “Congressional Secretary” due to redundancies in the ASOSU statutes.

The bill will be voted on the first week of spring term as the senate will not meet during finals week.

Ricky Zipp, news reporter
news@dailybarometer.com