Senate Meeting: Discussion regarding old skate park grounds and new bill proposals

Alan Vargas

Senate members discuss business during the meeting. Photo by Alan Vargas.

The UNF Senate met on Friday, June 8 in order to vote on a bill that clears up language in the Title VI Election Code, as well as send two new bills to Student Government Committees for discussion.

The Transfiguration of Title VI Act updates the wording in a handful of Election code statutes. For example, the Act removed wording that gave the Elections Commissioner five business days to review declarations of intent and, in the same line, it required the Elections Commissioner to issue notifications of disqualification on the third business day after the candidate submission deadline. This confusion was cleared up by removing the five-day review from the Title.

The Senate also sent bills for committee review and discussion.

One bill included a resolution on the Coastal Biology Department’s presence on the campus lot that had previously housed the UNF skate park. This bill would remove the Coastal Biology Department’s access to the concrete slab out behind Lot 18. The slab is currently being shared by the Coastal Biology department and Ogier Gardens.

According to the bill, the old skate park was funded by Student Activity and Service Fees, therefore President DuPilka is asking the Senate to remove a University department from a “student resource.” The bill does not currently state any intentions for future usage of said space.

The Clarification of Removal Process Bill and Title VIII Amendments make changes to various statutes within Titles V, VII, VIII and XI. The majority of these changes are to update wording throughout the statutes, though there will also be changes to the composition of the Judicial Branch.

In specific, the Clarification of Removal Process Bill would update the number of justices in the Primary Court and the Supreme Court, as well as remove a protection on Executive staff members from potential impeachment.

The Title VIII Amendments Bill was also sent for committee review and, if passed, would make changes to the Finance Code. Specifically, it would remove language that “required to either have the statement ‘Funded by UNF Student Government,’ or a similar statement approved by the Business  Manager, in a conspicuous location and size proportional to the item being printed. The decision may be overridden by the Treasurer.”

During the Legislative and Executive reports, the next Osprey Voice was announced for June 25 through June 29 and the Summer B Pool Party was slated for Friday, June 29.

Lend-a-Wing will reportedly be partnering with Feeding Northeast Florida, and five new people were hired into Osprey Productions.

The Budget and Allocation chair shared the balances of the Travel Budget, which is at $2,640.85, as well as the Special Request Budget, currently at $62,975.35. Two pending travel requests were also announced and reminded senators of the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The next Senate meeting will be on Friday, June 22.

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