The UW-Eau Claire Student Senate held their second meeting of the year on Monday, Oct. 10.

During the meeting, senators nominated and confirmed each other to commission director positions and condemned the university administration’s decision to reinstate the five football players who were involved in the racist Snapchat thread that leaked last November. 

Anna Ziebell, student body president, first discussed the city’s changes to public transit in Eau Claire, which will install the reintroduction of fares on buses in the city, meaning students will soon have to pay for bussing again.

Ziebell also said she and Vice President Joe Murphy would be meeting a finance chairman, as well as Ron Kind, a congressman, about these changes and how they will affect the student body. 

The Senate then moved on to discussing the first Senate Resolution of the year: 64-R1. This resolution was proposed and passed to condemn the university’s administration for their handling of the decision to reinstate the five UW-Eau Claire football players. 

The author of the resolution, Senator Alyssa Monson, was unavailable to comment on her motivation for writing the resolution. 

After the session, the Senate moved to confirmations of various commission directors. 

First was Brett Swanson, a third-year information systems student, who was confirmed to director of information technology. He stated that he would wait to see whether charging students to print would change the amount of printing taking place on campus.

He suggested that if people were required to pay for their printing, it might ensure students are conservative in their printing habits.

Students used to be able to print as much as they wanted because everyone contributed to printing costs through their dues. 

This semester students will be given $10 to print over the course of the semester and if they run over that limit, they will need to add money to their student account in order to print. 

Riley Rakowiecki, a fourth-year history and political science student, was then re-appointed to the role of parliamentarian. 

He pledged to expand his role and focus more on “Internal regulation as well as administrative management,” he said. 

When asked how he would manage the body potentially being moved exclusively online, Rakowiecki said it was something he was ready for.

“We’re ready to do that as soon as possible,” Rakowiecki said. “(I will) make sure we’re ready at a moment’s notice to transition.”

Brenden Hicks, a third-year political science student, was appointed to university activities director. After acknowledging the need for proper protocol to keep students safe and healthy, he said he hoped to find ways for students to meet and interact on campus. 

“It’s beneficial for students to meet face-to-face,” Hicks said.  

Appointed to the Student Office of Sustainability was Lauren Becker, a fourth-year environmental geography student. She said her desire was to focus on sustaining the progress the organization made last year.

“We will be able to rest easier knowing the administration will have more continuity,” Becker said. 

Finally, Avery Hartling, a third-year political science student, was appointed to university activities director. Hartling said that she would be open-minded to new ideas and suggestions on how to run the commission. 

Kristof can be reached at [email protected].