By Jacob Solis

MEETING QUORUM

In defiance of speaker, four  senators skip meeting in favor of Greek recruitment

The Associated Students of the University of Nevada Senate barely made quorum this week as seven of the 22 senators were absent at the meeting’s start. Two senators, Sen. Amanda Cuevas and Sen. Larissa Gloutak, arrived late while the other five, Sen. Casey Connolly, Sen. Sadie Fienberg, Sen. Kelsey Hannah, Sen. Makayla Ragnone and Sen. Colin Wilhelm, remained absent for the duration.

In an email to The Nevada Sagebrush, Speaker of the Senate Nick Andrew confirmed that four of those senators told him in advance they would skip the meeting in favor of Panhellenic recruitment events.

However, during the meeting on Aug. 26, Andrew made it clear that any absence on Sept. 2 for recruitment would be unexcused. His reasoning for the decision was simple.

“We would be sending the signal to our constituents, the vast majority of whom aren’t involved in Greek life, that Greek life is more important than our jobs as senators,” Andrew said.

Censure points will be handed out at the Sept. 9 oversight committee meeting. The five senators in question have not yet responded to comment requests made by The Nevada Sagebrush.

SENATE BILL 83

ASUN approves fund to remake ASUN website

The Senate voted unanimously to fast-track a bill that would appropriate $27,350 to fund changes to the ASUN website. The bill provides for money to be spent on fixing features and infrastructure.

The website was previously remodeled last semester in a deal ASUN made with The Abbi Agency, a local public relations firm. The Abbi Agency, which was paid over $22,000 to make the website in April of last year, contracted the job out to Boost Creative, a local marketing agency.

ASUN’s new website was officially launched at the end of January but was by and large incomplete. Many features, from student government bios to passed legislation, were missing at launch. Moreover, certain aspects of the website, like senator application forms, could not be changed because the features were embedded into the site’s code.

The redesign will be handled by KPS3, a Reno-based marketing firm. KPS3 has produced the University of Nevada, Reno’s current website as well as the old ASUN website. KPS3 had offered ASUN a bid of around $50,000 when the question of a website redesign first arose in 2013, but the firm was passed over for the less expensive Abbi Agency.

However, when the problems with the website became apparent, campus IT found itself without the means to fix it, and The Abbi Agency began quoting ASUN thousands of dollars for small tweaks, according to ASUN president Caden Fabbi.

Jacob Solis can be reached at jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.