This past week in the Senate included several huge accomplishments by Senators, in addition to several changes for the SGA itself. To start off, the Senate has five committees each dedicated to improving different aspects of Colgate life. The recent achievements of these committees are listed as follows:

Student Affairs Committee: Last week, the SAC rewarded all of those who marched in the Unity March against intolerance on our campus this past November with white and maroon Unity T-Shirts. These shirts reflect in bold letters the message the SAC was attempting to reinforce: “NO Hate at Gate!” The SAC is currently working on getting a DVD rental system at the Coop as well as publicizing the little known movie rental system that already exists at the library. The next project on the agenda for the SAC is handling parking space complaints and investigating possible avenues to mitigate parking problems on campus.

Academic Affairs Committee: The AAC has been diligently working on getting Case library open all day and all week especially for the last two weeks of the semester. Progress has been made, slowly but surely, and hopefully by the end of this semester the hours will be extended. The AAC has also been involved in the creation of the Colgate Creed, which helps to give more definition to the character and spirit of Colgate and will be introduced to the incoming classes. Another project that the AAC is spearheading involves getting syllabi posted under course listing in order to aid students in course selection.

Governmental Affairs Committee: The GAC has been working all semester to clarify current bylaws and provide new ones to govern this year’s presidential election for Colgate Student Government. Their persistent and concerted efforts have culminated in the passage of the new election bylaws last Senate session, which effectively rewrote one-third of the bylaws that govern SGA. Since this huge undertaking has just recently finished, the GAC is shifting its focus to stimulate SGA interaction with student groups. In this manner, the GAC is looking to investigate and improve the current structure regarding allocation of funding for student groups, the imposition of sanctions and post-event evaluation forms

Student Organizations Committee: The SOC has continued to work very closely with students and student groups on campus to help new groups get recognized by the SGA and enable them to acquire funding for events from the BAC. While the SOC has kept busy managing all of the student organizations, they are currently working on clarifying the bylaws that govern groups in the hope of making student-sponsored events run more smoothly, and of helping groups get the funding they need.

External Affairs Committee: The EAC just finished a very extensive project with the Hamilton Central High School. The Tolerance creativity contest just ended and monetary awards as well as iPod Shuffles were awarded to the high school students who submitted the best pieces of art designed to examine the issue of intolerance and how to rid intolerance from our communities. The prizes were awarded in an early morning ceremony at the high school and another ceremony will be held on Colgate campus later in the semester to honor these young students.