The Student Senate dressed up in costume for its annual Senate-ween meeting Wednesday, Oct. 26. Officers were dressed as Mario and Luigi and senators were dressed in costumes ranging from “Minecraft” and “Pokemon” characters to Little Red Riding Hood. 

At Senate-ween, Treasury and Funding officers gave a State of the Treasury presentation, an appointment for Treasury Official was made and Student Senate introduced a resolution addressing the University regarding suicide prevention measures and transparency. 

During First Reading of Legislation, Student Senate introduced bill R 58 – Campus Suicide Prevention and Response Act. If passed, this bill will address NC State administration, recommending they be more open with the campus community about their plans to address suicide on campus. R 58 was sent to the Student Affairs committee, and will be up for debate and to be voted on by Student Senators at the Senate’s next meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 9. 

The Student Government (SG) Treasury and Funding officers gave a State of the Treasury presentation. According to Harrison Andrews, a fourth-year studying political science and communication and student body treasurer, the officers are required to give a State of the Treasury presentation each semester. The presentation provided updates on SG’s budget, appropriation funds and a new website. 

“We are launching the SG Open Treasury website soon,” Andrews said. “Anyone can learn more about how Student Government spends our student fee money that everyone pays, and you can see all our financial documents and receipts and all that fun stuff. Through this we’ve increased the accessibility of financial documents and procedures.”

Andrews said SG’s budget for this fiscal year is estimated at $454,000 and comes from student fees. Andrews said SG also moved $60,000 from its reserves to go towards the fall appropriations cycle. 

“This is our estimated student fee revenue for the fiscal year,” Andrews said. “So, it could fluctuate based on actual enrollment numbers, but this is the amount of money we started off with in our budget.”

SG has $79,492 in line item revenues, which come from returned funds and cash reserves. 

“So, like I said, we moved about $60,000, from our cash reserve and to appropriations for this fall, and the rest of this money comes from last fiscal year cash reserves or different events and programs like Packapalooza,” Andrews said. “We moved $5,000 from last fiscal school year to this fiscal school year for that, and we also got about $10,000 in return funds from organizations. So, organizations who receive money from Student Government, if they don’t use it all, they have to turn it back to us. So that came back and went straight towards appropriations for this fall.”

SG’s line item expenses are at $254,087. Andrews said this is so high due to SG getting the highest number of appropriations requests it’s ever had this year.

“The reason why it’s so high is appropriations just hit and it was our largest cycle yet,” Andrews said. “We have allocated a little bit over $170,000 to student orgs so far this semester. This number includes pending approvals on a couple organizations … I think it has gone to about 222 student organizations so far.”

Matthew Denoncourt, a third-year studying computer engineering and assistant treasurer, said the remaining money went toward events and the SG branches and the Board of Elections. The remaining money in the budget is $249,405. 

“We also had $15,000 for the sponsorship of Packapalooza, and there was an additional $6,298.20 spent on promotional items,” Denoncourt said. “And there was the Respect the Pack initiative, which totaled $1,627.40. … Then we have the expenses for branch and Board of Elections operations. For the executive branch, that total of $2,043.80, the legislative branch, that’s $600 and the treasury branch $454.59 and finally afford elections with $103.98. And then, for the office administration and personnel fees, there were the stipend salaries and benefits … And then, for office administration, that total is $23,475.75 … And finally, there was also $988.39 in promotional and advertising.”

Click here to learn more about SG’s appropriations and reserves. 

During a recess, a Senate-ween parade was held for senators dressed in costume for other senators to view before a vote was drawn. Student Senate officers voted on which attendee had the best costume. Best Solo Costume went to Senator Lewis Stepp as Formal Horse. Best Costume went to Student Body Vice President Timothy Reid and Student Senate President Miles Calzini as Mario and Luigi. Culture, Leadership and Onboarding Committee’s Choice and Student Body President’s Choice went to Senator Bliss Pointer as A Bill. 

Student Senate swore in new Senator-elect Chalina Lauraine Morgan-Lopez, a first-year studying political science, and unanimously approved the appointment of Olivia Mock, a first-year studying management, as Treasury Official. 

Passed Legislation

R 42 – The Graduate Student Bill of Rights Support Act

The Graduate Student Bill of Rights Support Act endorses the “Positive Graduate Education and Culture” document, which lists axioms intended to improve the relationship between students, faculty and staff on campus, particularly within graduate programs. R 42 passed with 45 positive votes, zero negative votes and one abstention. 

GB 48 – Appropriations Start-Up Funding Update Act

Appropriations Start-Up Funding Update Act clarifies language regarding qualifications for start-up funding under Chapter 5 Article 5 of Student Body Statutes, and requires a public database to be maintained to keep track of what organizations have received start-up funding. GB 48 passed with 46 positive votes, zero negative votes and zero abstentions.

SB 41 – Duplicate Senate Officer Election Removal Act

Duplicate Senate Officer Election Removal Act removes the re-election of Senate Officers held the meeting after first-year senators enter office. SB 41 passed with 44 positive votes, two negative votes and zero abstentions. 

FB 52, FB 53, FB 54, FB 55, FB 56 and FB 57 – Finance Bills

FB 52, FB 53, FB 54, FB 55, FB 56 and FB 57 were fast-tracked and considered in block. FB 52 reimburses $2,000 to Human Factors and Ergonomics Student Chapter at NC State. FB 53 allocates $950 to Club Baseball. FB 54 allocates $1,100 to Alpha Kappa Psi. FB 55 allocates $1,500 to Every Nation Campus Ministry. FB 56 allocates $3,000 to the Bangladesh Student Association. FB 57 allocates $2,000 to the Rafting Club. All finance bills passed with 46 positive votes, zero negative votes and zero abstentions.