The Undergraduate Senate passed the Students' Bill of Rights and tabled revisions to the Student Government constitution until the fall semester.
The senate passed the "Students' Bill of Rights" by a vote of 20-1-0. Students will vote on the bill through a referendum on April 28, the last day of classes, according to Georgette Spanjich, chair of the senate's Committee on Students' Rights.
Spanjich said the Students' Bill of Rights is "a document written by the students, for the students" that lists "what we as students expect from our administration." In order for the bill to be legitimate, the student body has to turn out and vote for the referendum.
There will be a publicity campaign, and the SG will e-mail a link to the text of the Students' Bill of Rights to the entire student body within the next two weeks, she said. Students will then vote online at my.american.edu. Two-thirds of the votes have to be in favor of the referendum in order for it to pass.
The bill describes the rights students have in relation to the university in the areas of academics, finances, health and safety, freedom of expression, information and association and policy violations and adjudication, according to the bill's text.
The senate passed several amendments to the bill. Class of 2010 Senator Julie Mills said the amendments mostly clarified when there can be exceptions to the rights listed but maintained the original ideas of the document.
In other SG news, the Commission on Reform held a forum Thursday for constituents to view and discuss the new SG constitution. Approximately 15 people attended - 10 were senators and four were members of the commission.
Following the forum, the Committee on Rules and Privileges voted to table the new version of the SG constitution until next fall in order to allow for time since there was still concern among constituents, according to Peter Wahlberg, chair of the commission.
"I don't support this move," he said. "I argued that this should be done this spring, that there was an obligation to act now and not later. I don't believe that a mere passage of time will make the document stronger."
During the senate meeting, the senate passed a "Bill to Increase Representation on the Club Council." The bill, sponsored by Class of 2009 Senator Jason Cunningham, would create two more positions within the AU Club Council - one from the SG and one from the Graduate Leadership Council.
Cunningham said that while the student body funds the AUCC, they do not have adequate representation within the council. He said that adding one additional SG member and one additional GLC member would make the AUCC more accountable to the student body. Currently, one member of the SG and one member of the GLC are on the council.
The senate also heard a first reading of the 2008-2009 SG budget. The Budget Committee will discuss the budget at its meeting Tuesday, and it will go up for a second reading at next Sunday's senate meeting. It also passed the School of International Service Undergraduate Senate's bylaws.
Also, the Committee on Campus Life killed the Gender-Neutral Housing Bill last week during its meeting. Jillian Rubino, a class of 2009 senator and recently appointed director of the SG's Department of Diversity Advocacy, said she will make re-working the bill one of her top priorities next year.
The SG will hold its first smoking awareness campaign during the Healthfest Extravaganza this Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the quad. The SG will distribute information about how to quit smoking at its table.
