Senate opens new session

Upcoming fall elections discussed at first meeting

The first Student Senate meeting of the year was not one where senators expected to accomplish a lot. "Since it's an interim senate, we're not empowered to make many decisions," said senator junior Andreas Pape.

The senators will begin addressing serious issues after they fill the 10 at-large seats in next week's election.

Much of Senate's first meeting was devoted to planning the logistics of Senate nominations and elections.

At the meeting, senator junior Matt Green, elections chair, announced that Senate is one week behind in its elections process. The Senate decided not to alter the dates of its info-session and nominating assembly, despite the lost time. The nominating assembly was held Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Only four nominations were made at the assembly. "We had a considerably lower turnout than we expected," Green said.

According to Green, fall elections are traditionally smaller than spring elections. The elections are held mainly to accomodate first-years and students who have returned from abroad who wish to run.

This Senate meeting was Director of Conference Services and Senate adviser Michele Gross' last. After spending over a year listening to discussions of co-ed housing and contested by-laws, Gross is changing jobs.

"Michele Gross said how much she enjoyed attending meetings," said senator senior Claire Kozack. "There was a warm and fuzzy feeling."

Gross' position is being filled by Interim Associate Dean of Student Life Joe DiChristina for the remainder of the semester. DiChristina reminded senators that interviews with candidates for the associate dean of students position will begin soon and he encouraged student involvement. DiChristina also spoke of plans for an upcoming student leadership retreat.

The meeting concluded with the formation of a committee to help enforce attendence at committee meetings. The committee, suggested by senator senior Chapin Benninghoff, will be comprised of senator juniors Toshio Mana, Pape, Dan Persky and sophomore Erica Zaklin.