UAB’s USGA Senate convened for its first meeting of the fall semester last Tuesday in the Hill Student Center. Senators passed four resolutions, introduced one bill and passed another bill.
Senators first voted on two resolutions addressing LGBTQ+ issues on campus. The first resolution called for the installation of permanent pride flags on campus. “This sends a clear message to all LGBTQ+ students that they are welcome and protected on this campus, while also deterring anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech,” said Garrett Jones, a co-author of the resolution.
Raimi Liebel, another co-author of the resolution, recounted the University’s recent history of raising pride flags in front of the Hill Center during October, the month during which National Coming Out Day occurs.
“It took tremendous work from students to ensure the PVC-pole-and-concrete-bucket flags that we had MacGyvered together were not damaged, moved or stolen. That happened on a regular basis. There were flags that were stolen and moved weekly,” Liebel said. “But students loved them, and after the wake of street preachers and homophobia that came to our campus last November, the idea was born to install permanent pride flags on campus.” The resolution passed with no objections.
The second resolution, which was also co-authored by Jones and Liebel, requested that Student Affairs “condemn anti-LGBTQIA+ hate speech.” The resolution also passed with no objections.
Senators also passed a resolution to establish free black-and-white printing at campus printing stations, which currently charge nine cents per one-sided page and sixteen cents per double-sided page.
“To pay to be able to print, you have to first even have a Blazer Bucks balance. If you can’t, you have to make an existing transaction. Say you want to print one page, you would have to make an entire transaction just to get nine cents of paper. I don’t know about you, but that seems redundant, inefficient and wasteful,” said Harrison Strong, who authored the resolution.
The Senate introduced the Preparing Undergraduates for Testing Success (PUTS) Act, a bill which would take leftover funds from the USGA’s currently existing Textbook Award and use them to reimburse junior and senior-year students pay for the cost of post-undergraduate practice exams. The bill covers practice exams for tests including the LSAT, the MCAT, the PCAT and several others.
“I hope everyone sees why this bill is important,” said Eshan Pokhrel, who authored the bill. “It’s the very least we can do to help undergraduates out with their financial burden, especially during testing season.” The bill drew concerns over its usage of funds from the Textbook Award, and as a result was tabled for further debate until Tuesday, September 12.
A full recording of the meeting can be accessed here.
