ASG’s start to the semester

Thursday’s senate meeting began with housekeeping procedures and announcements

Mikaela Foehr / News Editor / The USD Vista

The first Associated Student Government (ASG) senate meeting of the semester began with procedural updates. These included confirming members who were both filling vacated seats or being appointed to the newly created judicial branch, discussing the publication of the budget, outlining the election process, and explaining expectations for the semester.

The fall semester was marked by conflict over the College Readership Program, frustration over lack of senator participation, and calls to be more transparent. This semester, the executive board of ASG is looking to change that. 

“This semester there is no room for excuses,” said Speaker of the Senate Carolina Morena Armento. “It is no longer acceptable to say you didn’t know, or you didn’t feel comfortable doing that. You have had an entire semester so you are now expected to be knowledgeable in your roles.”

Morena Armento also asked the senators to increase participation in committees, noting that there is one Budget Committee seat, the Health and Wellness Committee Chair, and the Academics Committee Chair position open. Sophomore senator Chidi Okaru expressed interest in filling the Budget Committee seat.

Following up from last semester, Budget Committee Chair George Saunderson presented the finalized budget. The spring budget spreadsheet lists the allocations toward each organization and contains visual representations of each organization’s budget in relation to the others. Saunderson also stated that the budget will be made public on ASG’s website, and will be downloadable. 

Senator Justin Daus asked for an estimate on when the budget would go public. Saunderson did not specify the date the budget would be released, but did say that the budget is ready.

“Since the budget is finalized and all its visual aspects are ready, all we have to do is start the web approval process,” Saunderson said. 

Jesse Magaña, the chair of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Committee is also working on publishing ASG information. Magaña’s committee is in the process of gathering information from the campus climate survey that they sent out last semester. The survey was aimed at discovering the degree to which different groups of students feel included, represented, and supported on campus.

Senators began discussing the upcoming elections. The informational meetings on the races and offices will be held from March 9-24, with applications due on March 25. After the application deadline, candidates will have less than a month until the voting period, which will run from April 16-17.