The Student Association convened for its final meeting Wednesday night punctuating a fruitful semester. The representatives tied off loose ends in summer budgeting, allocation of funds for clubs, approval of permanent status for others, appointed members to the recently created Census Committee and passed the second piece of legislation.
A representative from the Learning and Experiencing God (LEGO) club was able to see the status of his organization upgraded to permanent status after experiencing marked increases in membership from the freshmen class, the approval was passed unanimously. LEGO intends to hold prayer sessions during finals week in order to comfort students feeling the pressure of final examinations. The Creative Writing Club was granted permanent status as well, despite its representatives arriving after the vote was taken.
After being denied during their previous appeals for funding, both the Sophomore Engineering Club and Club Caribbean received the approval for their requests for additional allocations. The former plans to start producing YouTube tutorial videos on competitive software; the latter has an upcoming social event this weekend where they intend to take advantage of the return of warmer temperatures and clear skies. Both clubs found approval unanimously among the Senate, who voiced appreciation for their patience.
Senator of Clubs and Organizations, Tim Miller, introduced the second Student Bill to come before the Senate for confirmation. The Student Association Clubs and Organizations Risk Management Policy, serves to enhance the foundations laid out within its predecessor, which was written by no other than SA Advisor Jake Avery 10 years ago during his tenure in the Plattsburgh SA. The updated Risk Management Policy serves to outline the expected behavior of SA members both in the representatives and in the various clubs and organizations. The five main policy elements that are detailed are concerning alcohol and drugs, sexual abuse and harassment, discrimination, hazing and education. Miller elaborated that in his work to update the Risk Management Policy, additional emphasis was exerted in expanding the inclusive nature of the language. For instance, no pronouns are included and the sexual misconduct section was reinforced to include, among an overall revision, a definition of sexually abusive behavior, whether it be sexual, physical, mental, or emotional, as “any actions that are demeaning to anyone”.
The section that statistically contains the most relevant risk college students are inevitably forced to manage is the second section that contains the policy for alcohol and drug abuse.
Senator Miller highlighted that the zero tolerance policy of the updated Risk Management Policy is a significant escalation from the pervious legislation which contained technical loopholes that lead to the circumnavigation of the Policy by select clubs and organizations over the years.
The policy stipulates regarding to alcohol and drugs that, a) the possession, sale, use or consumption of alcoholic beverages at or during a club function, activity or event sponsored or endorsed by a ST club or organization is strictly prohibited, b) no members of an SA club or organization can purchase for, serve to, or sell alcoholic beverages to minors, c) the possession, sale or use of any or illegal drugs or controlled substances is strictly prohibited, d) no SA club or organization can co-sponsor an event with alcohol distributors, charitable organizations or bar where alcohol is present.
Fortunately for the greater constituency of PSUC students, violation of latter mentioned provision will be the “responsibility of the SUNY Plattsburgh community” to enforce and all punishments.
Email Kyle Welling at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
