By Rocio Hernandez
Two senators censured
The Associated Students of the University of Nevada senate ended the fall semester by censuring Sen. Quinn Jonas of the College of Liberal Arts during its Dec. 10 meeting. ASUN senators voted unanimously to censure Jonas.
Jonas received a total of 5.33 censure points. Jonas, who is chair for the Public Affairs committee, received four censure points after he failed to schedule a meeting for his committee for two consecutive weeks. The remaining 1.33 censure points are due to Jonas missing four office hours from the end of August to the beginning of September. At least five censure points are required to recommend that a senator be censured.
Earlier in the semester, Sen. Jeffery Dominguez of the College of Science was censured in an unanimous vote on Sept. 24. Dominguez received a total of 6.67 censure points for failure to hold office hours, one unexcused absence in a Public Affairs Committee meeting and two unexcused senate meetings.
After the senators were censured, they were required to write an apology letter to students to be published by The Nevada Sagebrush. The letters can be found on The Nevada Sagebrush’s website at http://archive.archive.nevadasagebrush.com.
40 Resolutions passed by senate
According to the ASUN website, 48 resolutions were presented to the senate during the fall semester. Of those resolutions, 40 were passed, three were not passed, four are awaiting signature and one still requires a second reading.
Students turn their attention to senate meetings
The Nov. 19 senate meeting received the most student attendance of the fall semester. Sen. Raina Benford of the Division of Health Science presented resolution SR 82-110 in favor of the creation of gender-inclusive restrooms. More than 15 students joined the meeting to express their opinions on the resolution and six of those students voiced their concerns to the student government.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, six students told the senators that it disappointed them that they weren’t informed of resolution SR 82-110. During the meeting, senior Desirae Acosta said that she did not think it would be appropriate for senators to make a decision on resolution SR 82-110 without reaching out to their constituents.
Sen. Ryan Hood of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources stated that he hopes that the Nov. 19 meeting will encourage more student participation in ASUN.
Upcoming ASUN plans
ASUN is looking maintain greater transparency among its student constituents. Beginning this semester, ASUN will send out weekly emails to college deans and university officials and post the same emails on their social media websites for the general public to read.
Rocio Hernandez can be reached at rhernandez@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @rociohdz19.