Student Government held its sixth senate meeting Nov. 5, largely focusing on committee reports and project updates in the wake of the general election that same day.
Devin Schwartz, Computer Science and Philosophy double major and SG president, announced the Student Media Bylaws Committee had met for the second time Oct. 31. Formed through an SG resolution to review and revise the bylaws governing Student Media — which includes Radio UTD, UTDTV, AMP and formerly The Mercury — in response to The Mercury’s strike and hiatus, this second meeting involved considering model student media bylaws created by the Student Press Law Center and reaching out to journalism mentors to help advise the committee. The committee consists of Rafael Martin, vice president and chief of staff; Gene Fitch, vice president of Student Affairs; Chad Thomas, senior associate vice-president of student affairs; Kent Best, associate vice president of marketing; Michael Kesden, physics professor and speaker of the Academic Senate; management professor Sarah Moore; graduate student assembly president Vishva Patel; The Retrograde’s Editor-in-Chief Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez; Schwartz; and SG Vice President Debopreeta Bhattacharya.
Schwartz also announced the Presidential Search Advisory Committee’s first meeting is scheduled for the week of Nov. 11, and that future updates will be scarce since the individuals being considered are confidential. Additionally, the Student Advisory Committee, composed of students from various University of Texas institutions which suggests recommendations and improvements to the UT System Board of Regents, is scheduled to meet the weekend of Nov. 23. Finally, the university-wide Educational Technology Committee met Nov. 1 about the update to the Student Code of Conduct concerning artificial intelligence’s use in class; Schwartz said the proposed update gives professors individual discretion about what AI tools and uses they allow in class.
The Legislative Affairs Committee, chaired by neuroscience junior David Baker, provided several project updates as Election Day wound down. SG is tentatively looking into sponsoring legislation for the Texas state legislature, Baker said, and SG’s election-focused event Party to the Polls helped over 80 people reach polling locations on Election Day. The Meet Your Candidates panel, held the week before, was attended by Sen. Nathan Johnson, Rep. Rhetta Bowers, and challengers for House seats 66 and 112, David Carstens and Averie Bishop, respectively.
Daniel Zargaran, global business senior and Student Affairs Committee chair, reported SG’s university-wide T-shirt design contest is officially open for submissions and that Finals Scream, SG’s semesterly event featuring performances and a coordinated group scream before finals week begins, is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 4.
An allocation request to purchase prizes for participants in SG’s Civic Coalition Survey, which aims to collect data on voter registration and voting attitudes within UTD’s student population, was approved. A second allocation request to purchase supplies for SG’s Trans Day of Remembrance Event, to be held Nov. 20 in the Chess Plaza, was also approved. The cost for both requests combined totaled $265.