Reform of governing councils delayed

by Philippe Buteau

After postponing the reorganization of the structure of governing councils for an additional week, the only form of legislation discussed by the senate of the Student Government Council at Modesto Maidique Campus was an appropriation.

The April 5 meeting made three weeks that the reforming was postponed. Engineering senator William Jose-Velez was the one who motioned for the postponement.

Velez said to Student Media after the meeting that the reason he postponed it was because the authors of the resolution are “working on some details of the bill.” One of those details was fine-tuning what oversight Student Government Association will have over governing councils.

Dealing specifically with the Graduate Student Association, Velez said another detail is working out how the Graduate Student Advisory Board will work.

The new SGA constitution proposed by the SGC-MMC judiciary, revised by the University-wide Council and not on the ballot during general elections has an article that details the new structure of governing councils. However, as it wasn’t on the ballot, the current constitution still stands as the authority within SGA.

Velez said that because of this, if the restructuring had passed, it could have been deemed unconstitutional.

“If we pass that bill without specifying that it is subject to the new constitution, it would have been in contradiction to the [current] one,” Velez said.

The restructuring could theoretically be passed at next week’s senate meeting but there would have to be specific wording, a proviso, which states it is subject to the new constitution.

“The proviso would say if the constitution is approved the bill will go into effect,” Velez said. “If and only if.”

The GSAB will be made up of the four graduate senators proposed in the new constitution and is a part of the new structure of GSA. The resolution says that the GSAB will be in charge of allocating funds for research, conferences and other events that will help the student base.

This will be done through “a more efficient, transparent and accountable system that strictly follows the applicable laws and regulations.”

A resolution supporting GSA’s restructuring was passed unanimously at the March 29 senate meeting.

The appropriation passed was $450 for a Clinical Volunteer program to pay for CPR classes for a maximum of 20 students.

According to the appropriation, which was originally on the agenda for the March 22 meeting, University Health Services will host “the Clinical Volunteer Program that will give students training in CPR, immunization shots, etc.”

The volunteer program will start during Summer B and last for the whole year according to the author of the appropriation, David Dial. Dial is also coordinator of health affairs in the cabinet of SGC-MMC President Anthony Rionda.

The volunteer program will take place in the general medical clinic. The appropriation says the program will give the University’s undergraduate pre-med student clinical experience “in order to be competitive in their application to medical school.”

Although the appropriation specified pre-med students, Dial said during the meeting that the program will help all pre-health students.

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