The Associated Students of the University of Wyoming voted down a bill to limit absences by organizations with ex-officio positions.
Ex-officios are large organizations and committees that have a vested interested in the proceedings at ASUW senate meetings.
Sen. Morgan Powell, author of the bill, said the legislation was intended to encourage ex-officios to fully represent their organizations by attending the meetings more frequently.
The by-laws remain the same, allowing an ex-officio organization to miss up to four consecutive meetings before they get a first warning notice.
The ex-officios who offered a voice on the bill were generally in favor of the change. The ex-officio from the Residence Hall Association said RHA has ASUW Senate attendance as a requirement of its own by-laws and would like to see other ex-officios do the same.
Some senators said they were in favor of the bill.
“As a former ex-officio, I feel this isn’t that much to ask. If you’re missing three consecutive meetings every time you go, you’re not really following along very well,” Sen. Sam Reinicke said.
“We’re not actually making a huge change. They can technically miss seven meetings per semester before they are kicked out,” Sen. Hunter Christensen said.
Other senators felt the ex-officios were already accountable.
Sen. Kia Murdoch said, “While I understand the idea of accountability, I think we should be grateful that the ex-officios can come whenever they can come. I think that’s us closing off avenues we shouldn’t be closing off.”
ASUW President Joel Defebaugh said he thought a bill like this would be overreaching the bounds of ASUW authority, as ex-officios are not elected like senators.
Sen. Alex Brink agreed.
“I’m wondering why this is the legislation we are writing. It seems like a lot of thought for something that is not quite an issue,” he said.
The bill failed with a 16-9 vote.
In other business, ASUW also voted to fund $14,216 for two upcoming events on campus, an Eid dinner and events for Holocaust Remembrance Week.
The Muslim Students’ Association was awarded $8,866 for an Eid dinner on Nov. 3. The group plans to host an authentic meal for the religious holiday for 300 people. ASUW senate added $200 to the original recommendation by the Recognized Student Organization Funding Board.
The campus RSO Hillel was awarded $5,350 for activities associated with Holocaust Remembrance Week on Nov. 4-11. Tara Golden, the group representative, said the activities include reading the names of Holocaust victims, showing three films, a Skype session with a Jewish spy during World War II and a performance by Colorado Hebrew Chorale.
