In its meeting Wednesday night, the Duke Student Government Senate addressed several issues aimed at facilitating its duties for the rest of the year.
Among the Senate’s main concerns were changing house rules to increase legislative efficiency and discussing important issues to be covered in this year’s agenda.
To remedy the slow lawmaking process, the Senate approved a motion which makes Monday the legislative deadline to give senators ample time to question proposed laws—an integral part of the process—and offer friendly amendments prior to the Wednesday debate.
In the past, Senate agendas were distributed Wednesday afternoon, not leaving senators much time to review the documents.
Executive Vice President Pete Schork, a junior, also noted that the limits on presentations and on question and friendly amendment time will be more strictly enforced.
The Senate, however, was divided about an amendment regarding removing the precedence of seniority during debate discussion.
“The same people get called on over and over again and some freshmen can’t speak,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Gurdane Bhutani, a sophomore. “You are all senators representing your respective groups in student government, so one should not have priority over the other.”
Because of disagreement, the Senate voted to discard the amendment concerning limiting seniority. The body approved all other changes to the senatorial rules.
Most senators agreed that the inefficiency in handling resolutions is a pressing concern.
After the meeting, Isabella Dreyfuss, a newly-elected freshman senator, expressed frustration regarding the Senate’s efficiency.
“I am the kind of person that likes to take action and have things be done quickly and implemented effectively,” Dreyfuss said. “I don’t like sitting around listening to useless debate if nothing is getting done.”
The Senate proceeded to review and approve the agenda for the coming year.
Schork said the Senate must encourage more individual involvement in committees.
“You have to sit down with your vice president and chart a course for yourself for the year and adhere to evaluations,” Schork said. “The committee heads should check in on their senators as often as possible.”
The vice presidents each elaborated on their overarching goals for this year. These topics included transportation resources, dining, sustainability, fair treatment among students and education about off-campus housing.
“We hope to expand student opportunities and diversify their interests,” Bhutani said regarding the need for universal awareness of student issues.
In other business:
The Senate also confirmed the at-large senators, who are now members of the body.
It also approved a budget request from the International Association for Foodfest, an event that will take place Oct. 29 that had its inception in response to the Hurricane Katrina crisis. The event is projected to have about 3,000 attendees and will be serving multicultural food with a live band.
The International Association received more than $1,700 in funding for the event.
The Senate also heard Bhutani’s presentation about the Student Health Advisory Committee Report from last academic year. The discussion outlined changes to Student Health, especially the fact that Student Health moved under the Office of Student Affairs and that free sexually transmitted infection testing was cut over the summer. The Senate has made it its goal to bring back free testing because it has implications on the sexual health of the student body, Bhutani said.
“These are the kinds of problems DSG tackles,” said DSG President Mike Lefevre, a senior, in response to complaints from new senators about DSG’s purpose. “This is why we exist as a body.”
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