Student Congress vetoes hardship parking bill

Hardship parking and the possibility of rewriting the Student Code dominated Student Congress’ last meeting of the semester Tuesday.

Shelby Dawkins-Law, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation, discussed the recent vote by the graduate senate to rewrite the Student Code.

“The code is in desperate need of rewriting,” she said. “My position is referred to in three different ways in the Student Code.”

Speaker Ivy Hardy expressed some concerns with the proposal.

First, she brought up the fact that the Student Code was completely rewritten three years ago and in her opinion does not need an overhaul.

The second point of contention was over the possibility of a referendum to allow students to decide on changes to the code.

Hardy expressed fears of allowing students who may not be knowledgable on the topic to make such a major decision.

“What I am afraid of is that people will just check yes and not even know what it is about,” she said.

Dawkins-Law said she is confident in the student body and Congress’ ability to educate the populace.

“We are making a lot of assumptions about the naivety of our student body and their willingness to engage,” she said.

The Congress then moved on to discuss a recent bill proposed by Representative Maria Moore that would require all Student Congress members to attend One Act training.

“We are having a huge scandal, and I think it would look very good that Congress is taking decisive steps,” she said.

Hardy does not believe the bill is necessary for Congress members to do their jobs.

“One Act training is very good, but it is not necessary to be in Congress,” she said.

The bill was tabled and will be voted on next semester.

The final speaker of the night was Student Body Vice President Kyle Villemain, who had to present his bill on hardship parking.

Hardship parking provides parking spots to students who need to have a car on campus for medical, family or working conditions.

Villemain wants to address inefficiencies and improve the current system.

“It is not a system that is good for students and it is not a system good for this University,” he said.

Villemain said he hopes to streamline the process so that anyone with a displayed need can get a parking pass, even if they are not the actual owner of the car.

Instead, he proposed that as long as you are able to drive, it does not matter if the person parking necessarily owns the car.

Congress had many points of contention with Villemain’s proposal, including concerns about the involvement of faculty in student government.

The original bill said two faculty advisors would sit on the committee that decides who receives passes.

Speaker Pro Tempore Peter McClelland said allowing advisors in student government would set a massive precedent that could devalue student government’s autonomy.

“I think it would be a huge mistake,” he said.

The bill was voted down, but Villemain said student government will need to work with faculty in the future.

“Going forward, we should really think about what shared governance means,” he said.

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