The 47th Legislature of the Student Government Association (SGA) convened to revise the standing rules that determine how many members of the Legislature must vote to suspend the bylaws.
The existing SGA standing rules state the bylaws can only be suspended by a majority vote of the 39-member Legislature – at least 20 votes – or a vote of two-thirds of those present at the meeting, according to the bill.
SGA voted unanimously to remove the part of the bill that requires a two-thirds majority of the present Legislature.
SGA Speaker of the Legislature and College sophomore Kimberly Varadi said this would make the process of suspending bylaws simpler.
Additionally, SGA Vice President for Communications and College sophomore Jon Darby presented a bill to amend the SGA monetary code to require the financial impact of bills to be added as an addendum at the end of agendas.
If passed, the bill would require the SGA Finance Committee Chair to specify how much money is left in each of SGA’s accounts as a result of a bill.
However, the Legislature could not vote on the bill because the monetary code is a part of the SGA Constitution, which requires at least 26 members to vote to approve a change. Twenty-six members of the SGA were not present at the meeting.
The Legislature also unanimously voted to maintain its website under a separate domain rather than one under the University. The domain is called EmoryLife.org. The bill recommended the purchase of the domains EmoryLife.org, EmoryLife.com and EmoryLife.net, all of which are under the EmoryLife Network.
SGA also voted to fund a TEDxEmory speaker event. TED is a nonprofit organization that fuses innovation in technology, entertainment and design and holds speaker events worldwide. The chapter at Emory seeks to simulate these experiences, according to the bill.
TEDxEmory will host Hassanatu Blake, a White House honoree as a Champion for Change. TEDxEmory predicts 200 students will attend the event, which will be on Nov. 7 in the New Psychology Building 290, according to the bill.
The Legislature voted unanimously to give TEDxEmory $210 for the event.
– By Rupsha Basu
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
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