DeKALB | Sunday night, Student Association and Campus Activities Board election commisssioner Erick Brenes was appointed to the senate without debate.

The enthusiastic election commissioner produced a short film, “The Purple Elephant in the Room,” which aired as a part of the spring election debates.

Brenes was not concerned over a potential conflict of interest because he was responsible for disciplinary actions on all candidates.

“I think, if anything, being an election commissioner during these [senators’] terms would hinder me,” he said.

Brenes’ goal as a senator is to further involve students in the SA, and to these ends, he wished to be placed on the Public Affairs and Rules Committee.

After reading the bylaws for his position as election commissioner, Brenes said that he felt the bylaws left too much room for interpretation and they should be amended and clarified to prevent any “crazy” interpretations.

“There are so many students we need to get in touch with,” said Brenes.

During his speech before the senate, he said he would like to create a newsletter allowing students to learn about SA and its actions. Brenes stated the newsletter could even be presented to the public as an insert in the Northern Star.

The SA had previously published the now defunct Huskie Highlights, which was meant as a tool for students, student organizations and members of the faculty to address all aspects of student life

HH was highly controversial and featured a fiercely debated budget. Initially plagued by publication problems, the magazine was discontinued in spring of 2006.

Brenes was unanimously elected into the senate as a senator-at-large. The senate did not ask questions of him, as multiple senators, including Josh Alvarado, Joe Porter and Speaker Robert Batey felt Brenes’ performance as election commissioner clearly qualified him to become a senator.

Eight of the 32 senators were absent for the meeting. There were only two students in the audience: Nick Look, who is seeking appointment to the senate, and Brenes.

SA RECOGNITION

The student organization E.L.I.T.E. was up for recognition Sunday; however, no representative from the group was present, leading to their recognition to be tabled until the next SA meeting.

NEXT MEETING

On April 15, the senate will host legislation intended to reform the SA in two bills.

One will prevent senators from voting on legislation to fund organizations in which they are paid members.

Another will require a public record of all roll-call votes on financial legislation.

The legislation did not pass on November 19 – some senators said the recording of their votes would hurt them in elections.

The SA senate will not assemble April 8 due to the Easter holiday.