The Student Association Senate passed a resolution Monday night, requiring all senators to submit reports outlining their initiatives, progress and suggestions for their successors at their end of their term.
The senate voted unanimously in favor of a bill that would mandate senators to provide the report to their committee chairperson on the last meeting of their committee.
Sen. Logan Malik, U-At-Large, said he co-sponsored the resolution to improve how senators’ progress is documented and help future senates learn how to build on their work.
“It’s not like this year’s senate ends and the projects we care about disappear. We go off other senator’s work,” he said. “It is important that their senators they get some sort of documentation what we have done, who to contact, who to reach out to.”
The senate also voted 28 to one in favor of installing a crosswalk on H Street between 21st and 22nd streets.
The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission unanimously passed a resolution last month supporting the installation of a H street crosswalk in response to jaywalking on the block.
Sen. Sydney Eskin, SEAS-U, co-sponsored the bill to show students’ support for a 40 foot crosswalk – a size common in dense D.C. areas like Woodley Park and Chinatown – to prevent possible student injuries from walking into traffic. Eskin added that a crosswalk straight across the center will effectively be a “no parking zone” for cars and food trucks.
“This is the most tangible and currently available option, speed bumps are not in regulation and there is not enough funding to hire more police officers. We want students to cross safely,” she said.
The senate also voted unanimously in favor of adding a referendum to the SA election ballot amending the group’s constitution to clarify the powers and responsibilities of the vice president of community affairs and the vice president of student activities.
Sen. Sydney Nelson, ESIA-U, said she co-sponsored the bill because having the responsibilities be made more clear will help those in the roles to be more effective at their jobs.
“We want a person who is the most qualified student for it,” she said. “So we re-outlined and wrote responsibilities and powers.”
The role of the vice president of student activities will be expanded to be the “point person” between student organizations and the administration, as well as between student organizations and the SA, according to the bill.
If the referendum passes, the vice president of community affairs will also be specified as someone who creates and works on relationships between the student body and community organizations, Nelson said.
Executive Vice President Thomas Falcigno said that the SA affordability survey is now closed and the 1,917 responses are currently being analyzed. There was a “major uptick” in graduate students who filled out this survey compared to past surveys, he said.
“We are pleased with how it came out,” he said. “Hopefully it lays the groundwork for future advocacy with important issues of affordability.”
