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In the single item of new business on the agenda, the Presidential Campus Accessibility Act was passed in a 12-18 vote

The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Student Association (SA) Senate held its first meeting of the fall 2008 semester on Sunday Sept. 7 in the UWM Union Fireside Lounge.

The meeting, which was called to order at 6:41 p.m., met quorum by five Senators. After a roll call, minutes from the July and August Senate minutes were approved.

SA President Tyler Draheim gave opening comments, which included a recap of PantherFest and a mention of Lauren Molitor, a 22-year-old UWM student who was seriously injured on Saturday afternoon and is in critical condition at Froedtert Hospital.

“Let’s keep our thoughts and prayers with the Molitor family and friends,” he said.

The SA treasurer, director of legislative affairs, and the director of shared governance were all absent and therefore no reports were presented to the Senate.

Five presidential appointments were made at the meeting; Emily Grotz was approved as senate appropriations committee (SAC) chair, Mia Steinnemann was approved as associate justice of the University Student Court, Amanda Voigtlander will be SA secretary, Kara Campbell was approved as university affairs director, and Michael Knappan will serve as the SA’s new public relations director.

Three office managers were also appointed: Hannah Dirkse, Jamie Livermore and Riley Haupt.

The Senate took a recess at about 7:30 p.m., as Senate caucuses met to appoint Senators to the Senate Finance Committee (SFC). The meeting resumed just prior to 7:40 p.m.

The Senate At-Large caucus approved Craig Haas and Gabrielle Shuster as a package. For Letters and Science, Allison Wartick and Kyle Duerstein were approved individually. Sen. Katherine Jesse objected to Duerstein’s appointment on the grounds that his blog and radio show demonstrate a bias.

The Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business caucus then appointed Emily Grotz to the SFC. No representatives were available from the School of Education or UWM Graduate School, so SA Speaker Tyler Kristopeit will make an appointment at a later time.

Finally, Christina Radomski and Joseph Kolbach were approved as SFC representatives from the smaller school divisions of UWM.

In the single item of new business on the agenda, the Presidential Campus Accessibility Act was passed in a 12-18 vote. The vote required a two-thirds majority, but Speaker Kristopeit said a two-thirds tie was enough to pass the legislation. The Presidential Campus Accessibility Act provides for the President of the Student Association to have the option to take money out of their Senate-approved salary, on a monthly basis, for a University Parking Permit.

The permit is not available to students and SA President Draheim would be charged the faculty rate. The topic provoked some debate, including Sen. Duerstein saying he does not support the legislation and that the executive branch should fight to get students the opportunity to obtain such permits.

The meeting was adjourned at about 8:05 p.m., lasting nearly an hour and a half.

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