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Show 6 ASWC FORUMFORTNIGHTLY.COM Meet your senators Details behind the coming changes to the student government Brendan Wasser Staff Reporter The Jason Deriilo incident sparked a lot of thought about how the student government of Westminster is run. to student body president Jonathon Pierce, The entire organization ASWC was pretty reflective after the Jason Deriilo mess. He added that some change needed to come, and by working with veteran Westminster administrators and former student According body presidents, we recognized that this wasnt the first time that this has happened and wasnt the first time we had a hard time keeping track of everything. For a long time we have always thought, man our system is strange, Pierce said. There were a lot of questions raised after Jason Deriilo like why do we have the head of our student activities in the executive branch? Why do the clubs have to go through this bureaucratic process in the executive branch to get plans approved? In response to these questions, Pierce decided that there needed to be a change to the constitution and the organizational structure of the student government. Starting in late October, it took him until the end of January to draft the new changes and receive all the feedback he needed. As of now, ASWC is made up of five branches: from the pool of applicants, the Senate will approve the choice. The general direction of these changes is the idea that each one of the branches of ASWC, especially the ICC, has the ability to be independent and have a little more power to make decisions on their own. Right now, we have the Senate making decisions about approving new clubs and theyre not really the best equipped group to handle that said ASWC Vice President Karl Gemer, No better group than the club presidents to know whats really happening with clubs. The changes to the constitution were unanimously approved by the Senate, and according to the Director of Student Involvement &, Leadership Trisha Teig, 88.4 of students who voted were in support of the new constitution changes and 11.6 were not in support. Teig said in total 86 students voted on the constitution. 76 agreed and 10 disagreed. She said the voting turn out was less than what ASWC had hoped for. Teig said, Im excited about them the constitution changes. I think this year was a challenging year and I think any time theres challenge, it allows you to have a reflection of where you can make changes. Although optimistic about the new changes, Gemer worries that, by separating the brandies so explicitly, die student government wont function as well as a whole. But he said, I think that if there is good leadership then it wont be a problem and it will be very effective. Pierces feelings about the new changes were positive on the whole and he said, The major outcomes that I was looking for are accomplished, we could have done a little better with how the Senate is broken up, however, that is a Executive, Senate, Judicial, Student Activi- ties Commission (SAC) and the Inter Club Council (ICC). In the past, the Senate has made all decisions about approving new clubs and club budget requests. With the new changes, the ICC will have a student-electe- d president that will run the ICC with a board of five club heads and make all decisions about new clubs and club budget requests. minute detail. Students can view the revised constitution at www.myaswc. com by clicking on About and Governing Docs or by following the QR code below. Questions, comments and concerns about the constitution and the changes coming to ASWC can be brought to Teig in the Student Life Office or Pierce in the ASWC office. Both offices are located by the north entrance in Shaw. Another change to the constitution involves the SAC president position. In the past, the position was decided by a student vote. However, due to some difficulties this year and the large amount of responsibility this position holds, the advisors and past presidents feel the SAC president should be an application-base- d election process. After the advisors and past SAC presidents make a decision For a long time we have always thought, man our system is strange. --Jonathon 39 Pierce ASWC Student Body President Current Hierarchy Tyson Olcott Arts & Humanities Senator CSenate) ICC) (SAC) CjudiclaT) currently serving as Hall Coordinator (2011-201for the Freshmen Residence Hall and loves every minute of the job. Tyson is also partaking in an in- is 2) New Hierarchy ternship with Walt Disney Motion Pictures, acting as their college representative. In the past, Tyson has been involved in the Theatre Society ' j r: I : OudiciaP) Senate Follow The Forum on Twitter WestminForum to see live Tweet coverage of the Elections Forum Debate on Wednesday the 7th at 8 p.m. j JJ A U'j j J be campaigning from Wednesday the 7th to Tuesday the 13th for the 2012 positions. For details on the candidates and more information see pg. 14. Students will and many ing Program clubs other and organizations on campus. Tyson is currently a Presidential Ambassador through the Presidents Office and the Office of Advancement. As a Presidential Ambassador, Tyson has the opportunity to interact and share his story with alumni, donors and friends of Westminster College. Tyson has recently been appointed to the position of Public Relations Manager for the Forum, where he manages the Forums Facebook and Twitter accounts, along with getting the Forums name out in the public. Tyson decided to join ASWC because he really enjoys getting involved on campus. I felt like joining ASWC would not only help me get more involved, but I think I can help others see what fun things Westminster has to offer, said Olcott. I hope that my constituents feel like they can come to me and address their concerns with anything student government related. In his free time, Tyson enjoys watching movies, playing video games with his brother and travis a fun eling. Tyson loving person who enjoys getting to know people. (2010-201- 1) old - ttcif'.r)' the Alumni Mentor- (2009-Presen- t), Constitution 'X Tyson Olcott is a junior at Westminster studying communications with an emphasis in public relations. As well as studying communications, Tyson is a minor in theatre arts, due to his love of being on stage. This is his first year serving as a senator and he is very excited about the possibilities that the Arts and Humanities Senators can bring to their constituents. Besides being involved in ASWC, Tyson is also a Resident Advisor. He ) - 2013 open ASWC |