ASUAF meets regularly to discuss the welfare of students on and off campus.
By Dianna Rupp
Web Editor
03/03/2015
Senators Present: Lachlan Gillispie, Michael Mancill, Colby Freel, Erik Rickards, Matt Harris, Mitchell Davidson, Eli Barry-Garland, Chris Hoch, Mickey Zakurdaew.
Senators Absent: Cordero Reid, Allyssia Garcia, Jonathan Quiñones, Kayleen Hansen.
Guests: Two representatives from the Cyber Defense Club were present at the meeting to show support for a bill currently in committee that would allocate the club up to $1,000 from the senate rollover fund for use in purchasing and installing new equipment.
Nominations to the Election Board: Three new nominees were named for consideration of seats on ASUAF’s Election Board. Senator Hoch chose to nominate James Taylor, a student who has shown interest in ASUAF during past meetings, while Senators Gillispie and Harris chose to nominate themselves. Nominations were then closed and all were sent to the internal affairs committee.
Appointments: Michael Magnan was appointed to the senate with a unanimous vote.
Vertical Farms in the Lola Tilly: After being discharged from the Student Affairs Committee with a vote of 7-0-1, a bill requesting funding for a scoping study of the Lola Tilly complex in relation to the possibility of turning the complex into a vertical farm was sent to the senate floor. Committee members Senator Zakurdaew and Barry-Garland expressed concern over the bill, and explained after much discussion they remained unconvinced as to whether or not the bill was even feasible. Senator Zakurdaew cited that the first vertical farm did not exist until very recently. They were also unsure of whether or not ASUAF had any business supporting such a large expenditure when it remained unclear whether or not the bill truly was in the best interest of students. In response, Senators Freel and Gillispie pointed out Chancellor Rogers has previously stated the Lola Tilly is slated for eventual demolition, and prior to that the space has already been OKed by the university for use as office space. After much discussion, the bill failed with a vote of 0-8-1 with only Senator Hoch, a sponsor of the bill, abstaining.