At the Wednesday evening Student Senate meeting, senators dressed up in costumes to celebrate Halloween, discussed two bills that were on second reading and the debated issues with funding for the ‘We Bleed Red’ initiative.
During Student Body Official reports, Adam Schmidt, a third-year studying civil engineering and Student Senate President, said that Finance Bill 28, regarding distributing menstrual cups to students, is no longer able to be financed by Student Government.
According to Schmidt, this is because the funding from North Carolina state government that has been allotted to distribute to organizations is not permitted to be used for “personal items.” The clarity what was considered a personal item was debated during the meeting.
Schmidt said Senate will continue to look into the details and determine how Student Government will financially be able to help the ‘We Bleed Red’ initiative*.
“I share the frustrations with the university’s monetary policies and the frustrations on how we allocate our money and how we are not easily being allowed to disperse them how we hope,” Schmidt said in response to questions on the change. “Know that my job is to advocate for you and I plan to do that. I will keep you updated as I sort through, learn more and hopefully find a way to get these students the support we intended to give them from the get-go.”
The Pulliam Communications Director Act addressed appointing Taylor Pulliam, a fourth-year studying political science, as the sole Communication Director from his position as co-director. The act was was passed unanimously.
The Absence Clarification Act was proposed to change the language in official Student Government documents regarding the attendance of Senators in Student Government activities. Instead of using a variety of terms to describe types of absences, such as half-absences and full absences, a blanket ‘absence’ was proposed, with no change to the the number of absences allowed for Senators.
Senator Zeenat Nadvi, the chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations and a fourth-year studying biomedical and health science engineering representing the College of Engineering, addressed how over 300 student organizations were not recognized as being registered organizations by the appropriations deadline.
According to Student Body Treasurer Molly Mueller, a fourth-year studying political science and international studies, about half of the student organizations on campus were not registered by the first deadline. There is an appeals deadline for Nov. 1 for clubs to dispute not being recognized.
Mental health ambassadors Sam Chan, a third-year studying political science and communication, and Cody Zane, a graduate student studying fiber and polymer science, also spoke at the start of the meeting about counseling services that are available to students for anxiety, depression or any other reasons relevant to counseling that undergraduate and graduate students may need. They encouraged students to seek assistance if needed, especially with the exam season approaching.
The next meeting will take place on Nov. 7 in the Student Government Chambers located in Talley Student Union.
*Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correctly reflect the history of the “We Bleed Red” initiative.
