by Jacob Solis

COMMITTEE BUSINESS

CHAIR ELECTED FOR NEW COMMITTEE ON SAFETY, SUSTAINABILITY AND WELLNESS

Sen. Michael Upton of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources was elected chair of the new committee on safety, sustainability and wellness. In a vote of 13-3, Upton trumped College of Education Sen. Emilia Carro. The two had previously been co-authors of the resolution that created the committee.

Upton won largely because of his passion, according to senators who spoke during deliberations. Sen. Mikayla Ragnone, also of CABNR, noted that Upton was already at work on a number of projects that would now fall under the purview of the committee on safety, sustainability and wellness.

Additionally, concerns arose regarding Carro’s ability to helm yet another leadership position in the senate. Carro is currently the speaker pro tempore for the senate and heads up ASUN’s legislative internship program. Though Sen. Brandon Boone of the College of Business and Sen. Larissa Gloutak of the Interdisciplinary Programs dismissed these worries, it ultimately wasn’t enough to win Carro the chair.

RESIGNATIONS

SEATS OPEN UP IN COS, DHS AND COE AS SENATORS RESIGN

One more ASUN senate seat has been left open as Sen. Anthony Ramirez of the College of Engineering resigned last Wednesday. This comes in addition to resignations by Sen. Colin Wilhelm of the College of Science and Sen. Amanda Cuevas of the Division of Health Sciences. All three senators were absent during the meeting.

While all three have tendered their resignations, only Wilhelm’s has been read by the speaker of the senate. As such, the application to fill Wilhelm’s seat will remain open until Sept. 30. Applications for the other two seats will remain open for two weeks after the remaining letters of resignation have been read by Speaker Andrew on the senate floor.

LEGISLATION

SENATE APPROVES EXTRA FUNDS FOR BLUE CREW AND TEDX- UNIVERSITYOFNEVADA

In a 12-5 vote, the senate approved $27,000 to be moved to Blue Crew and the executive account.

$15,000 of the total will be allotted to Blue Crew, now an official department of ASUN’s executive branch, and is slotted to be used for extra swag — be it T-shirts or otherwise. The remaining $12,000 will be used by the executive board to pay for a sponsorship of TEDxUniversityofNevada, UNR’s independent TED conference, and to pay for Welcome Week T-shirts.

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