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ASMSU holds first meeting of the semester

September 14, 2014

The Associated Students of Michigan State University general assembly met for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. , appointing representatives to schools that were unrepresented at the beginning of the semester.

The general assembly of ASMSU is made up of representatives from each college across campus as well as members of prominent student organizations, although any students with concerns or suggestions are encouraged to attend.

“Its a pretty good problem to have when we don’t have enough chairs for all our representatives,” ASMSU President James Conwell  said as roll call was taken.

The first presentation of the night detailed the D2L page for ASMSU members created to connect representatives and allow them to access important documents. The page allows representatives to consult the ASMSU manual and past budgets, to serve as a reference for new representatives to get familiar with the inner workings of ASMSU.

Rob Kent,  from the University’s Office of General Counsel  spoke next and explained to the general assembly he was “here to help make sure (they) don’t get sued.”

The Office of General Counsel helps to keep track of the funding being allocated and spent by ASMSU, as well as other student organizations.

Student groups are required to keep records of their meetings, to prevent conflicts regarding funding and viewpoint neutrality. The changes presented included a review of how the organization will fund other student groups without being biased by their viewpoints or opinions.

The Office of the President then gave reports to the general assembly about what has already happened this semester as well as upcoming plans, including Sparticipation and voter outreach.

The voter registration program began on Friday, Sept. 12, with representatives gathering in Brody’s dining hall to help students get registered to vote in the upcoming elections. ASMSU representatives will be at various locations across campus registering voters until Oct. 6.

ASMSU will be holding elections for vice president of special projects and vice president of academic affairs on Sept. 25.

The general assembly then voted on a series of bills.

First, several college representatives were appointed to the general assembly. The new members represented the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources, Eli Broad College of Business and Lyman Briggs College.

The next bill approved 17 new members to the Allocation Board, led by Vice President of Student Allocations Dominique Clemons.

The final bill introduced amendments to the Student Allocation Board Code of Operations, regarding important changes to reflect the new policies of the Office of General Counsel. All three bills passed following discussion among members.

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