Last Student Senate Meeting Marks New Beginnings

Although Sunday night’s Student Senate meeting was the last of the academic year, the topic of new beginnings was the focus of the agenda.

The meeting was the first of the XXXII session of the senate and had three main purposes. The first was to approve of Summer Senators, the second was to approve of Summer Oversight committee members, and the third was to approve of the Summer Quorum.

In attendance at the meeting were the newly elected President Richard Peyser, Vice President Christina Caiazza, and Senate Speaker Jeff St. Cyr. About 20 other members of the senate also attended the meeting, which lasted just 12 minutes.

“People may not realize, but actually quite a lot goes on with Student Senate during the summer in order to prepare for the upcoming year,” said Peyser.

According to the University of New Hampshire Student Senate Constitution, 3 members of the senate are required to meet at least 3 times during the summer. In addition to the president and vice president, the senate speaker must attend the meetings. Members of the quorum are required to hold at least 20 office hours a week.

“Summer Quorum will enable us to get the Student Senate ready for the upcoming year,” said St. Cyr.

The officers have ambitious plans for the summer and hope to work towards redrafting much of the Senate Constitution in order for approval in the fall.

“The Constitution will be receiving an overhaul,” said Caiazza.

Another goal of the Summer Quorum is to work towards approval of the Medical Amnesty Bill. The senate has been working closely with the administration in order to bring this bill to fruition. The bill would protect those who are underage from legal consequence if they are drinking and call the authorities for assistance for someone who needs medical attention.

“The bill aims at increasing public safety,” said Peyser.

The senate understands that in order to pass such policies, it must have the respect of the administration and faculty.

“It can frustrating,” said sophomore trustee, Kurt Eddins. “It can be a bit of a roller coaster relationship... We’re a voice, a liaison between the administration and the student.”

Unfortunately, that voice is not always heard.

“They don’t listen to us quite as much as we would like, but we need to keep good relations,” said Peyser.

Fortunately, Peyser and Caiazza are close with University President Mark Huddleston and are optimistic that they will be able to achieve much during their time in the senate. The summer session is just the first in a series of steps towards accomplishing their goals of changing what they can at the university level.