Hello! My name is Selena and this is my second year as a senator. I’ll be blogging for your pleasure for the last the three senate meetings. I’d like to begin this blog by explaining the responsibilities of the Senate as I see it (the views of this blogger do not necessarily reflect those of the entire Senate, especially Josh Stein for whom misogyny is also an important Senate responsibility). Conventional wisdom contends that all the Senate does is dole out money to campus groups. This claim is only about 50% true. The senate has a considerable responsibility in allocating money from the Comprehensive Fee. Of that whooping $45,000 you may pay a year, the Senate gets 1%. While that seems like a lot of money, the senate funds things you might not think of: ACEMS, Olio, sports teams, Program Board (since you paid for Third Eye Blind, should you scalp your ticket if you don’t like ‘em? Abso-fuckin’-lutely), SoCo, all club budgets, etc. We also sit on faculty committees — like the Committee on Educational Policy, College Council — and Trustee committees. And we’re supposed to accomplish one Senate project. These projects are generally not earth-shattering but make Amherst life a little rosier. For example, the box giveaway at the end of the year is a senate project. Getting DDR in the Campus Center was a proposed Senate Project. Got a similar idea? Just talk to a senator.

So that’s what Senators do. What happens at the meetings? After roll call, the Executive Board members each says a few words. President Pan Venkatraman usually says something jolly and bubbly. VP Raj Borsellino usually passes. Anneliese reminds the Senate how poor it is. Austin complains about his thesis (congratulations for finishing!). The Judiciary Chair Mike Gutilla usually threaten Senators to complete their Senate projects. After E-Board reports, we move on to committee reports and announcements. This week, Jarad enlightened us on his fascinating meeting with Program Board. He concluded that Program Board is “easy on the eyes” (yes, it was inappropriate even by Senate standards). After announcements and committee reports, we listen to any speakers we have. This week SoCo came in to answer the Senate’s questions. They explained how SoCo is run this year and their status for next year. Considering that SoCo hasn’t been as ridiculous as in years past (mainly buying ridiculous accessories for TAPs), it wasn’t a serious inquiry. The Senate then looked at the Budgetary Committee Recommendations. Without any controversial recommendations, they passed unanimously. Without any new, or more importantly, interesting new business, the senate adjourned. This week was pretty tame, let’s hope someone throws a temper tantrum next week.