This covers the meeting on Sept. 23

CLIMATE CHECK

Sophomore senator Donya Ahmadi started off this week’s climate check by inquiring about what students should do if they are randomly selected for surveillance testing, but aren’t able to attend due to a unique circumstance. In Senator Ahmadi’s case, she mentioned that she was selected for surveillance testing, but would not be in town for the date of the test.

Advisor Jamie Thompson suggested that students who cannot make their testing date should call the COVID clinic and let them know.

Advisor Thompson also mentioned that as of today, 450 people have registered to vote using Turbo Vote. She added that this week alone yielded around 55 new registered voters.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

During the Sept. 16 SGA meeting, Senator Ahmadi suggested that SGA review their constitution to address conflicts of interests in order to prevent potential issues in the future. At that time, junior Vice President Oliver Chapin-Eiserloh stated that there were no active violations. After VP Chapin Eiserloh’s statement, junior senator Nasim Salehitezangi suggested that a constitution review would be beneficial for SGA.

In today’s meeting, President Harris announced that former senior senator Addison Sheppard stepped down from her position in order to avoid future conflicts of interest. Shepperd was a first-term senator who wouldn’t have a vote in USO funding until the end of the academic year. So though the conflict of interest had yet to arise, she stepped down to prevent any conflicts in the Spring.

COMMITTEE UPDATES

Junior Senator Nicholas Janedis, member of the dining committee, was working with the sustainability committee for collaborative efforts. Though he noted that their options are restricted due to the limitations of COVID-19, he wants to pursue the efforts that are indeed possible.

The diversity and inclusion committee has reached out to student cultural organizations in an effort to be more supportive of them. Sophomore Senator Sarah Pita emphasized that they wanted to take a backseat when it came to collaborating with these organizations, meaning, they don’t want to dominate the conversation and instead wish to allow these organizations to express what they need.

Senior senator Julia Hyun, member of the PR committee, shared that she wanted to see more infographics shared with the Trinity community, and a larger presence on their Instagram account.

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

VP Chapin Eiserloh shared the amount of funding they had granted to four organizations as of this week. $499.50 for LoonE Crew, $1,222.99 for Tigerthon, $1,128.00 for TuFit, and $750 for the South Asian Student Association’s Diwali event.