Former-SGA Chief Justice Canyon Sanford presented on behalf of the Modern Abolitionist Coalition throughout Wednesday night’s proceedings. | Dailey Hubbard/The Cougar
During Wednesday night’s meeting of the Student Government Association Senate, the chief election commissioner position was filled. Throughout the meeting, comments urging senators to remain focused and providing committee updates were frequent.
“The whole role of the Student Government Association is to promote the student interest. Whether or not somebody agrees that one way is more efficient than the other is irrelevant,” said Austin Turman, newly appointed chief election commissioner and political science senior. “I believe that each and every one of you have the students’ interests in mind.”
The chief election commissioner is responsible for ensuring rules are enforced and students are involved during SGA campaigns and elections. Turman said that his ability to remain impartial, in combination with his plans to alert and encourage more students to participate in the election, make him fit for the position.
Senator and presidential elections are typically held in February each year.
Other appointments included Annie Samuel, a biology sophomore, to the Health Center Policy Board, and Christopher Chan, a biology freshman, to the Children’s Learning Centers Advisory Board and the Appellate Board.
Apart from student appointments, the majority of the meeting was spent on updates from both committees and individual members of SGA.
Open source textbooks, which are free for students, were a major area of focus during SGA President Shane Smith’s address to the Senate.
“There have been programs at other schools that have saved students over $1 million a year,” Smith said. “The question is: Can you incentivize professors to switch to those open source textbooks?”
A big obstacle for this initiative, Smith said, will be gaining the support of professors when many textbooks offer instructor access to course materials and student access to online study aids.
Smith briefly commented on the conclusion of the previous week’s Student Fees Advisory Committee’s unit presentations. Last Tuesday, Smith went before the committee to request not only a reduction in the SGA budget, but also for all fee-funded units.
“I believe that that has really started to have an impact,” Smith said, before commending the Department of Athletics on its offer to take a 1 percent reduction over a two-year period. “By us giving up a small section of our budget, a very small section, we can potentially help prevent the committee from having to raise the fee next time around.”
During the time allotted for students to address the Senate, former SGA Chief Justice Canyon Sanford presented on behalf of the Modern Abolitionist Coalition, a registered student organization that aims to help fight human trafficking.
“What people don’t realize is that a serious issue in the University is that people, traffickers, pimps — they’re now starting to really come to colleges,” Sanford said. “It’s much more difficult to prosecute anybody if the victim’s over 18.”
Houston, Sanford said, is the U.S.’ human-trafficking capital. According to historical data, human trafficking will only rise in the time surrounding the upcoming Super Bowl.
In his closing remarks, Smith reminded senators to stay focused and friendly in light of the national election. Referencing President Barack Obama’s speech from that morning, Smith urged SGA members to align with their University, and their country as a whole, before with political parties.
“We need to be able to represent for all students,” Smith said, after speaking on comments he had received from students about the political messages some senators had released on social media. “Just keep that in mind and be friends with everyone as best you can.”
In response to increasing talk of SGA’s own elections, which are held annually, Smith urged senators to concentrate on the tasks at hand.
