Senate members down, not out

With last week’s paper emphasizing the events of one student senate member, a motion was put on the table for Tuesday’s meeting. The motion to “officially condemn the actions of Tory Schaaf and Jason Schultz” passed by unanimous oral vote.

Both Schaaf and Schultz prepared written statements to present to the members in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting regarding their actions in respect to the theft of newspapers on campus.

Schultz was not present at the meeting, “due to personal issues,” but President Joe Eggers read his statement aloud. In it, Schultz apologized not only to the Student Voice, but also Theta Chi fraternity, Student Senate and the student body.

Schaaf read his statement to the group. He also apologized to each organization.

“We did not take them with the intention of vandalizing them,” he said. “ ... I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

“We felt that Student Senate as an organization has a duty to help students grow and develop,” Student Senate Vice President Derek Brandt said. “His actions were probably not the best choice, but everyone makes mistakes.”

Schultz has chosen to step down as Student Senates Ethics Chair, though he remains an active member of the group.

Though two members of the UW-River Falls community were in attendance to discuss the motion regarding Schaaf and Schultz, other motions garnered more time and attention.

A motion was introduced last week by Adam Koski, finance director, to have funds from the University reserve account allocated to fund the on-going film series.

By approving this motion, Senate has allowed $12,000 to be re-allocated by the Leadership Development and Programming Board (LDPB) to student organizations that took cuts during budget discussions.

The chart created by LDPB showing where the money will go shows relatively even increments being given to seven different student organizations.

Diversity Issues Directory Ashley Olson’s motion for Student Senate to fund the “Unity in the Community” event was resolved Tuesday after being introduced at last week’s meeting.

The motion asked for Student Senate to allocated $1,500 to fund two projects that are part of “Unity in the Community,” and annual diversity event.

“Faces of UWRF” and an interactive art project are the two projects that require funding.

In an e-mail, Olson emphasized the importance of Student Senate being involved in “Unity in the Community.” However, she said that the event is not about Senate’s involvement, but rather it’s about UWRF students and getting them more involved in diversity. The motion passed with a unanimous oral vote.

Other Senate news

Facilities and Fees Board Chair Jim Vierling had two motions on the table for Senate to discuss. Both dealt with creating new committees for the furture.

The first, a motion for the C.H.I.L.D. Care Center Committee was passed. According to the agenda, the purpose of the committee will be to support and advance child care initiatives and necessities as well as to “develop policies that govern and promote development, establishment ... and dissolution of the Child Care Center.”

The second committee Vierling presented was a Differential Tuition Advisory Committee.

Bylaws were suspended in order to have the motion passed and started this semester, as opposed to waiting until fall to recruit members and begin meeting.

The committee will develop policies related to the structure of differential tuition and develop and approve any changes in the structure of differential tuition, according to the agenda.