70th General Assembly lobbies for campus, student safety, increased transparency

Sean Mccully

December 15, 2015

Headshots of the Student Government Association on September 2, 2015.

The Student Government Association’s 70th General Assembly passed legislations during the 2015-16 fall semester aiming to improve SGA transparency, APSU campus safety and quality of life.

Act No. 2, dubbed the “Sunshine” Act, was the first piece of legislation presented aiming to increase SGA’s transparency.

Authored by Sens. Johnathan Johnson and Peter Ponce, the “Sunshine” Act would have SGA publish a monthly financial report with information including the starting and ending balance of SGA’s budget each month with all their expenditures for that period.

It was originally presented at the Sep. 16, SGA meeting, but then it was tabled at the following three meetings on Sep. 23, Sep. 30, and Oct.7, and has yet to re-enter discussion in the senate as of production time on Monday, Nov. 30.

SGA President Will Roberts said he supported the bill, but it is ultimately up to the senate to bring the act back into discussion and make a decision about it.

“[The senate] debated it thoroughly and multiple issues were brought into consideration, including how often SGA takes in revenue and how that would align with how often the bill called for a budget report to provide accurate information,” Roberts said. “The bill is feasible if some changes are made and it is up to the senate to work on it and bring it back up at this point.”

SGA also passed Resolutions No. 1, 3, 5, 14, 15 and 17, which all aim to increase campus safety.

Resolutions No. 1, 14 and 17 all look to create crosswalks at different locations around campus.

Resolution No. 15 looks to send a letter of recommendation to the Govs R.O.W. committee suggesting they give presentations about sexual assault prevention.

Resolution No. 3 sends a letter to the Physical Plant recommending better lighting be installed on Drane Street and Resolution No. 5 recommends to the Physical Plant that they install sanitation devices in APSU restrooms.

SGA passed Resolutions No. 6 and 10 aiming to improve APSU quality of life.

Resolution No. 6 recommends the implementation of gender-neutral restrooms on campus.

Resolution No. 10 recommends that students be able to donate unused meal plan meals to the Service Learning Center.

SGA meetings will reconvene in the spring after classes resume.

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