One thousand dollars will be allocated to the Student Association Senate every fiscal

year, the student body decided Sunday.

The allocation is a part of a bill to amend the bylaws of the SA’s finance policy. Speaker Robert Batey said the bill would make the senate more efficient.

“One thousand dollars is an easy way to do it, so each time we won’t have to keep coming up with a bill to approve,” Batey said.

Batey later said that he has paid for senate supplies out of his own pocket since being appointed speaker. According to the bill, the speaker of the senate can allocate

the $1,000 with the approval of the chairs of the Campus Life and Greek Affairs

committee, the University Services committee and the Public Affairs committee.

Concerns expressed

Sen. Aaron Funfsinn said he was concerned with this provision, because the speaker appoints the committee chairs.

“The chairs might be a little incongruent with the speaker,” Funfsinn said. “If the speaker were to appoint chairs that had a close understanding.”

Batey addressed Funfsinn’s concerns, saying that while the possibility of abuse exists,

the chance is very small.

“It can only be used for operations of the senate, so I wouldn’t perceive the speaker

having any kind of real idea of spoiling on himself like buying an Xbox 360 or something,” Batey said.

At the end of the year, the funds not used by the speaker would go back into the general reserve.

New senator

In addition, the senate also appointed Eric Johnson, a law student, as a senator. Johnson said he has a long history with the SA at NIU. From 2001 to 2005, he served as a senator, the chief justice, the student trustee and the chief of staff to then-SA president Shaun Crisler (now student trustee), he said.

Johnson said one of his goals for the semester is to “[make] more public the student evaluations of professors.”

“As you know, at the end of every class, you fill out a 40-question form, and no one

knows what happens to them,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he would like to universalize the evaluation process, and publish the answers online.