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Student Association Senate holds early summer meeting
Presidential appointments approved; UC status still unclear
By Kevin Lessmiller
“You’re in a great position to represent the students of UWM” – Tyler Draheim, Student Association President
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association (SA) Senate approved a new leader on June 8, along with a full agenda that prompted a two and a half hour meeting.
Agenda items included presidential appointments, voting sessions to fill new Senate seats, a SA budget approval, and the approval of SA and Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) by-laws.
Hughes called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m., as a new Speaker of the Senate had yet to be elected. As the first item of business, Sen. Tyler Kristopeit was quickly nominated for Speaker and appointed to the position.
Next, Sen. Mark Zeihen defeated Sen. Allison Wartick for the position of Deputy Speaker. Draheim and Hughes, along with UWM Dean of Students James Hill, then gave opening comments.
“You’re in a great position to represent the students of UWM,” said Draheim, emphasizing fiscal responsibility and other duties. He also spoke on the controversial United Council (UC) referendum held May 8.
Draheim’s presidential appointments included Brok Bucholtz as Webmaster, Sen. Brandon Decker as Shared Governance Director, and Dave Jetton as Office Manager.
Also, Daniel Bahr was appointed as Interim IEC. The selection faced mild criticism due to the fact that Bahr will not be on UWM campus very often during the summer. He was absent at Sunday’s meeting, and Sen. Kyle Duerstein read a statement on his behalf.
“As promised, I will not be accepting any pay for my position this summer,” the statement read. Bahr also wrote that his knowledge of SA and SAC by-laws is “unparalleled”.
Duerstein defended Bahr, saying “you don’t necessarily have to be in person” to do the job and communicate with the right people. Bahr will finish duties surrounding the UC referendum, in which UWM students voted to end its UC membership.
UC considers the decision invalid, as they claim to have not received a required two week notice of the referendum.
Three SAC Senate seats were filled by Zeihen, Duerstein, and Sen.Emily Grotz. Decker, Grotz, Wartick, and Sen. Joseph Kolbach won the four open Senate Oversight and Rules Committee seats.
Finally, four vacant Union Policy Board (UPB) seats were filled by Hughes, Duerstein, Kristopeit, and Sen. Mia Steinemann. Sen. Roman Rewolinski made a run for a UPB seat, but may have hindered his chances by promising to make the Senate’s “wildest dreams come true” before quickly retracting the statement.
New business items included approval of Draheim’s proposed budget, by-laws, UPB constitution, and a Student Organization Transfer Act. All were approved with the exception of the University Student Court budget. Its Chief Justice claimed to have never seen the budget before Sunday’s meeting.
“I took it upon myself to do all four budgets by myself,” said Draheim. “Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.”
Following brief announcements, which included informing the Senate of the flash flood that was occurring outside, the SA meeting was adjourned at 8:29 p.m.
| Download: Meeting agenda (including proposed budget) |
> Comments
What else is new on Jun 11, 2008 at 02:48 PM:
Meet the new boss (Tyler Kristopeit), same as the old boss (Dan Bahr).
undecided on Jun 11, 2008 at 06:37 PM:
kristopeit doesn't seem so bad
Aaron Jeske on Jun 11, 2008 at 10:51 PM:
You guys sure do love to quote songs don't you?
Tobin on Jun 12, 2008 at 12:09 AM:
Dan was a good Speaker of the Senate. The hippies simply do not like him because he achives his objectives. Tyler not quite like Dan, but will also do a good job with his own style.
karaoke on Jun 12, 2008 at 01:10 PM:
im confused. where are the song quotes?
Kyle Duerstein on Jun 12, 2008 at 05:01 PM:
Where to begin... First: The President and Vice President don't head up the senate. The speaker does. Second: No senate seats were filled. Only appointments to Senate committees were filled, by sitting senators. Third: It's tough to misquote someone's written statement, and could have been avoided by simply requesting a copy of such statement, but nowhere did Dan mention SAC bylaws, as they are irrelevant to being appointed IEC Fourth: "mild criticism" is not what you term Senator Jessie's opposition to Dan Bahr's appointment. You call that a personal vendetta left over from a lost election. Mild opposition signifies perhaps more than one person's psycho crusade. There was no "mild opposition."
I realize it's summer, Kevin, but you people have to get your shit together if you plan to try to pass yourselves off as a credible news organization for yet another year.
Kyle Duerstein on Jun 12, 2008 at 05:06 PM:
By the way, this wasn't the first meeting since the election you dope. It was the first meeting of the new term.
Aaron Jeske on Jun 12, 2008 at 10:59 PM:
"im confused. where are the song quotes?"
It would be the first mindless comment...
RS on Jun 13, 2008 at 01:10 AM:
You got to love it when people who constantly put down SA and want to take over have absolutly NO IDEA of how it runs. Good thing voters did not take the Post's ASAP endorcement seriously. As if anyone cares what they think.
AJ Piwarun on Jun 19, 2008 at 03:41 PM:
I know President Draheim and Speaker Kristopeit will do a fine job this year. They will work their hardest to ensure a student government that stays fiscally responsible, ethical, and transparent, just like it was last year.
Tyler Kristopeit on Jun 20, 2008 at 03:26 PM:
If any of the students have concerns or suggestions for the Senate, please let me know. My email is: tylerjk2@uwm.edu. I want to work with everyone (as I already work for everyone) - so please feel free to contact me with concerns, questions, or ideas.
Thanks to those of you who have shown confidence in me and stated it by posting on this story. I will do my absolute best to not disappoint.
UWM Alum on Jun 24, 2008 at 11:54 AM:
It is the job of the President to present all of the budgets--Draheim you need to look at the bylaws before you apologize...you're doing the right thing, just go with it :) Directly from the Senate bylaws... Section 3 – Proposal a. The President of SA shall propose all three parts of the SA Budget to the Senate for approval at the first Senate meeting of the session. b. The president may not allocate funds to the different parts of the budget in excess or deficit of what SFC approved from the prior senate session.
Erin Lennon Phreak on Jun 26, 2008 at 06:37 PM:
Nice photo! You got some sexy senators in that one :)
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