Student Senate passed four bills unanimously including two dedicated to veteran affairs at the March 6 meeting.
The meeting was preceded by the swearing in of 24 new senators to the 65th Session by Julian Whitley, chief justice of the judicial court, including 10 off-campus positions.
In Open Session, Senate unanimously passed the Veteran Resource and Support Center Bill, which calls for the reallocation of $58,000 from the University Advancement Fund to create positions for the purpose of gathering funds for veteran services. Taylor Sessions, head of veteran affairs, said there are not enough workers to sort through potential means of revenue for veteran services.
The University of Texas is far outstripping what Texas A&M is doing, Sessions said. We didnt form the first University committee to support veteran affairs until late 2008 and early 2009. That committee is still around, but its just a little behind.
The other passed bill related to veterans, The Hazelwood Lobbying Act, calls for Student Government Association to send a group to lobby on behalf of A&M veterans at the state legislative level against proposed changes to the Texas Education Code that would limit the scope of the Hazelwood Act, which currently subsidizes tuition and fees for veterans and dependents of veterans.
Tyler Mandry, academic affairs chair and senior computer science major, introduced The Go Google Bill, which requests that the University adopt Google services to improve student email services at no cost.
According to Speaker of the Senate Scott Bowen, the switch would save the University between $20,000 to $100,000.
Mandry also presented the unanimously-passed Fairness and Equivalence in Make-Up Responsibilities Bill, which requests University student rules be changed to require students and professors to reach an agreement on a fair form of make-up work in the event of an excused absence.