Wednesday night’s ASG meeting saw substantial division over a bill presented on behalf of the Sociology Club, which was eventually voted down in an 11-7 vote.

Bill 13-13 reflected a $1,500 request by the Sociology Club to cover travel, lodging and booking expenses associated with bringing a guest speaker to campus in the hopes that CMU would be the site of the Spring 2014 Western Colorado Undergraduate Sociology Conference.

Although Sociology Club members have already secured a guest speaker, the participation of other schools in the conference has yet to be confirmed, a fact that made many senators wary of approving funds for the event.

Senate Leader Connor Boe suggested that Sociology Club present the bill again to ASG in the spring after registration for the conference is underway to ensure that a large enough number of students are participating to make funding for the event’s guest speaker worthwhile and “so we can make sure there’s academic achievement going on.”

While At-Large Senator Adrienne Barlow disagreed, saying “I don’t see any reason to make them come back here [to present again in the spring.”

Bill 13-13 was rejected in a quick 11-7 vote and will be sent to Conference Committee.

One bill, however, managed to make it through the Senate unanimously: Bill 13-12 received the third round of voting necessary to change ASG bylaws in order to grant proxy voting to WCCC and Montrose senators. The bill stipulates that “a proxy vote must consist of a voting statement signed by the [absent] senator(s) and be submitted to the senate leader prior to the general assembly meeting in which the legislation will be considered.”

cblackme@mavs.coloradomesa.edu