ASLC Update

By Micah Leinbach

Following a discussion last week, the constituency reports focused on at the ASLC meeting were centered largely on the student body and it’s perceptions of the ASLC. Senators from several classes provided a range of perspectives, which included both positive and negative views. While constituency reports occur on a weekly basis, many senators sought out more specific feedback for student government in general from those they represent. A discussion in the previous week’s meeting is summarized in ASLC’s minutes and last week’s Pioneer Log.

Due to limited attendance at the meeting, the student government only barely made it to quorum following several late arrivals to the meeting. After establishing quorum, a bill originally proposed a week before regarding student created art at the Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) was brought up with several modifications.

It would allow students to use DSAs as art spaces after going through an approval process for the art. As the bill currently stands, the legislation would utilize the DSA behind Manzanita for a trial run before the program continues for the semester with the utilization of the rest of the DSAs for student artwork.

In order to address concerns brought up by the body last week, this week’s draft included significantly more details surrounding the process that art would go through to be approved. The name of the committee in charge of approving art for the DSAs  was also changed from “Art Committee” to “DSA Mural Committee.”
Primary parts of the discussion surrounded concerns about the meaning of some of the language contained in the bill, the bureaucracy surrounding the approval process for art and the degree to which the ASLC would be involved in the approval process. There was also discussion of possibly allowing more stakeholders onto the committee, including groundskeepers, due to their relevant work that they engage in to the upkeep the DSAs.

Logistical concerns about the artwork in the DSAs also abounded, down to the details about how long paint would take to dry relative to how long murals are expected to stay on DSAs. The bill was sponsored by Tyler Church (’14) and Isabella Fabens (’14). Ali Crowley (’12), a third sponsor, argued against the bill in its first appearance due to changes made without her consent, but was not present at this week’s meeting.  

The next ASLC meeting is March 1 at 7:00 p.m.in JR Howard 102.