SG amends bill; ECHS wants representation

During the March 4 Student Government Senate meeting, discussion centered around Senate Bill 014-Spring 2009, the Executive Sessions Amendment and Legislative Streamlining Bill. Authored by College of Arts and Sciences Senators Juan Sebastian Mendive and Carlos Cantu, SB 014 intends to amend SB 013, the Establishment of Executive Sessions Act, which the senate passed on Feb. 11. That bill affirmed the senate’s right to hold executive sessions: special sessions in which student body representatives discuss official business without any observers or members of the general public present. Stating that “the Student Senate exists to serve the student body in the most public and transparent manner,” the text of the new bill, SB 014, contains emendations which College of Education Senator Maritza Morris, one of the bill’s sponsors, hopes will avoid confusion at the senate meetings by improving communication between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of student government. “This is to help the three branches better communicate what will be discussed [at the senate meetings],” said Morris. Morris hopes improved communication might mitigate senators’ desire to call an executive session in order to privately discuss an unfamiliar agenda item.To that end, SB 014 places a deadline of every Monday for a preliminary senate meeting agenda to be submitted to senators. Senate meetings are usually held every Wednesday. But the fact that the SG vice president, a member of the executive branch, prepares the senate’s agendas becomes problematic for SB 014, according to Senator At-Large Alfredo Jimenez.”The bill runs the borderline of being unconstitutional,” Jimenez said. The basic issue, as Jimenez sees it, lies in that the SG constitution does not allow one branch of government to mandate what another branch does. He stated that imposing the Monday deadline for the agenda on the vice president does just that. Jimenez’s objection prompted discussion by various members of the senate and the student body judiciary. In nearly ten minutes of discussion, various concepts purportedly from the constitution were mentioned, yet nobody cited any specific portion of the document. A physical copy of the constitution was never pulled out. In the end, SB 014 passed; although, Morris advised senators that what they were voting on was not exactly the document before them. Prior to the discussion, Morris explained that the wording of some portions of the bill had been changed. She explained the changes and asked the senators to keep them in mind.No copies of the new SB 014 were provided. In other business, Jimenez and Sanchez School of Business Senator Alejandra Avila reported the success of the organizational fair. Jimenez stated that 17 student-run organizations participated, and many of them said they recruited as many as 20 new members. SG, according to Jimenez, also signed up twenty new volunteers for the March 7 Big Event . During the meeting’s open floor, Andrew Carranco, Student Council President of the TAMIU Early College High School reiterated his long-time hope that the ECHS would received some form of representation in student government. Carranco, who has been pursuing the issue on and off since the Fall 2008 semester, was prompted to bring it up at this meeting when The Bridge asked about the upcoming student government elections. Carranco wanted to know if ECHS students can vote. “We’re TAMIU students also. We all carry TAMIU IDs,” Carranco said. Miguel Treviño, associate director of the Office of Student Activities, stated that the student service fee paid by most TAMIU students funds student government and allows students to vote in the SG elections. Since ECHS students don’t pay all the same fees as regular TAMIU students, they may not be able to vote in the student body elections.