ASG Recap: Week Five

Senate unable to confirm stance on meeting recordingsMeghan McLaughlin The Santa Clara October 26, 2017A decision on the behalf of the Associated Student Government (ASG ) Senate was made regarding recordings at meetings, but it may be retracted.The debate on whether to allow any outside sources to record ASG meetings continued and did not conclude with a vote.Tedd Vanadilok, the ASG Center for Student Leadership Staff Advisor, made a short presentation on the questions he brought to the general counsel, who essentially act as the university’s lawyers.These questions did not give senators new information, as Vanadilok had not received any response to them at that point.Sophomore Senator Duncan McDonell asked if the votes made by ASG members would be filmed by media services.Vanadilok suspected those votes would be recorded, but without confirmation from a licensed attorney, there was no way to completely answer questions.Senate Chair Aly Motzel claimed that from the previous discussions, it had been decided that through the remainder of the academic year, no recordings would be allowed at ASG meetings.However, no unanimous decision was made on the matter.Multiple senators spoke up and many agreed a vote on this decision would be justified, rather than a few central people to ASG making a major decision on the senators’ behalf.A commendation in the name of Jay Bassett, a recent alumni who passed away the week prior, was made and presented to ASG by Vice President Sam Pérez and ASG Associate Justice Grace Zimmerman.Bassett was commended for their “oustanding contributions to the Santa Clara University campus community for the betterment of the lives of the students” and “unwavering devotion to confronting stigmas” regarding mental health and the LGBTQ+ students.President Jack Herstam encouraged senators to continue inquiring about the Sustaining Excellence Project to help improve upon it.The ASG Senate will meet again during week six on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Williman Room in Benson.Contact Meghan McLaughlin at mmclaughlin@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852