Student Government is now Student Senate – Genboard Round-Up 2/12

Luke Young

He/Him

Managing Editor

2/15/24

The Plymouth State Student Government began their meeting on Monday, February 13th with the usual introductions by the Genboard. After this, they moved into reports, as is common practice. Jonah Rosenberg, USSB Representative, began with the announcement that Campus Affairs will be meeting every other Friday to reduce vandalism around campus. He specifically mentioned that it cost $26,000 to replace a window smashed during Pirate Party.

Erin Johnston, SGA Treasurer, reported that SGA approved two CEA requests from the American Meteorology Society and WPCR, which will have their reports published on The PAW by the end of the week.

Nicole Reynolds, Student Body Vice President, is helping a prospective crochet club, and working with SGA Secretary Liam Leavitt and Parliamentarian Jayden Candee to revive the Mentoring Enhances Student Achievement club, part of the English department. She is also working on drafting an invitation to see if our representatives will come to Plymouth, as per the request of Donald Birx, which would be “an opportunity for students to learn more about their civic duties as state stakeholders and discuss relevant issues in a meaningful dialogue.” 

Daniela Duque, IDEA Center Representative, reminded the room about Interfaith America’s visit, which will be “promoting religious diversity and celebrating religions from different cultures and backgrounds.” The IDEA center will be hosting Black History Month events later this month, and a newsletter with everything they offer was sent out on Feb. 1st in an email as well as being available on their Instagram. Duque also spoke at length about the Latina Empowerment and Development Ambassador Program for Harvard, which she attended with 11 other Latinas from Feb. 9th to 11th. For more information, read Frankie Colao-Pineyro’s article on her experience.

William Loughlin, SGA Speaker, reminded the room that he is still working on a bylaw rework to update positions within SGA, as “the bylaws are pretty outdated and don’t cover everything.” Briefly after this announcement, a fire alarm went off within the HUB, which forced everyone to evacuate. Rene Pinter, Intramural Supervisor, said that people in the gym were “just doing basketball, and [he] had everyone leave in an orderly fashion.” Other comments from members of SGA included Duque stating, “This fire is so silly goofy,” and Rosenberg explaining that, “looking at the alarm panel, it seems as if the kitchen set it off.” Others called it “the most exciting meeting of the year.”

After reconvening in the Student Senate room 26 minutes later, William Hicking, Class of ‘25 representative, presented a resolution that calls for PSU to enforce its current littering policies. Hicking suggested more access to trash bins, especially around the ice arena. He said that the waste bins are too far away and always full. Leavitt said that a constituent suggested litter pick-up community service as a punishment for campus rule violations, like drinking policies. Loughlin reminded the room that SGA does not have the authority to set fines themselves, but Emily Coutermarsh, USSB Representative, said she can recommend fines to an executive committee on 2/15. Jason Charette, Faculty Observer, suggested that SGA should try conducting a study on littering, to have data to support what they suggest. The resolution passed with Hicking abstaining.

The next motion was an amendment to change SGA’s name from Student Government Association to Student Senate, presented by Gilmore. Candee stated that “government” was confusing, as they do not govern, and the “Student Senate” aligns with the other USNH bodies. A small debate began on the acronym PSSS, as it looks vulgar, so the acronym was struck from the amendment, which then passed.

For constituent concerns, Quinn Hagerty, Class of ‘27 Representative, began by bringing forward that people are worried that trees on campus are dying. Skyler Hammes, Class of ‘27 Treasurer, suggested that a social media campaign could be helpful to remind people how to react to a fire alarm, as many people were confused when the alarm went off earlier, specifically when to reenter. Gilmore mentioned that finding the HUB Building Manager is getting more difficult, especially later at night. Coutermarsh suggested another active shooter training be offered, which Birx agreed with, as he would like to run another session after the previous one during Winter Break. Finally, Leavitt asked about a new Instagram handle, which led them to the decision of @psustudentsenate.

The meeting ended at 8:31, only 30 minutes after their proposed end time. PSSS hosts meetings at 7 pm on Mondays in the Student Senate room of the HUB.