Student Senate dealt with several housekeeping topics at their Monday night meeting, approving new positions and appointees and new updates to the Mascot Committee.

Personnel

The personnel matters updated positions for several existing senators while adding two completely new members.

Senior public relations major Rebecca Jewell took over as the chair of the Intergovernmental Affairs Commission, dealing as the liaison between Student Senate and the university, local and state government.

Her sister, Director of the Public Relations Commission Amy Jewell, is also on Student Senate.

Rebecca Jewell said she is looking forward to working with the city government and increasing student involvement in city elections and local politics.

Part of that will be accomplished by helping students register to vote and understand how to use the new online registration website Student Senate made available for this year.

“It’s important that students realize how much effect they can have,” Rebecca Jewell said. “And that they realize how much of an effect city council can have on their lives.”

She said forwarding school-related issues in the city, with a concentration on the Confluence Project, will be another goal for her in the coming year.

The second new appointee was senior accounting major William Beckfield, as the Finance Commission intern.

In his position, Beckfield said he will be reviewing money allocated to organizations and how that money is spent within the organization.

He will report his findings to the Finance Commission, which are factored into the allocations for groups in future budgets.

Beckfield said he applied for the position because he is interested in auditing as a career, and would like to be involved in making sure that the money provided to the senate is spent appropriately.

“I want to make sure that the hard-got money, the money we work seven-dollar-per-hour jobs for, is used correctly and for what it is designed for,” Beckfield said. “This position is to make sure that the money given to these organizations is spent the way they say it will be spent.”

Beckfield said that he is interested in reviewing some of the larger organization budgets, including athletics and student health.

He said that with a decreased enrollment this year, the budget is stretched tighter for segregated fees, and that makes it all the more important to review where the money goes.

Blu

The senate approved updates to the Mascot Committee, giving the committee official definitions and procedures concerning the use and control of Blu the Blugold, the student mascot.

Jake Stendahl, the mascot coordinator, said when the committee’s original goal recommendations were created, Blu was still in the the planning stages.

“That document didn’t know what it (Blu) did,” Stendahl said. “They didn’t know what its name was or what it was.”

Since many of the original recommendations have been satisfied, the Senate needed to update the documentation for the committee, Stendahl said.

According to the new recommendations, the use of the mascot is free for Student Senate, University Centers and student organizations.

There is a fee for other university departments using the suit, unless the time comes when the university as a whole adopts the mascot.

The Public Relations Commission oversees the mascot, and it can be reserved for appearances by emailing [email protected].