The ASWSU Senate voted unanimously to grant the Honors College a non-voting seat on next year’s college-based senate Wednesday night.

The proposed legislation is the second bill that attempts to solidify last year’s constitutional amendment, which allocates senate seats according to colleges instead of living areas. The amendment will go into effect this spring, when general elections are held.

The first bill that aimed to define the amendment within the ASWSU bylaws denied the Honors College a seat, but it did not pass.

The newest bill, which was introduced after senators convened in an ad hoc committee during the past week, assigns one seat to the Honors College and two seats to freshmen representatives. These three delegates will not be able to vote or be counted toward a quorum, but will have the same speaking rights as senators.

The Honors College delegate will be elected by Honors students in the general election, along with other senators.

Members of the Honors Student Advisory Council (HSAC) were present at the senate meeting, and the group’s vice president, Tyler Claus, said though the ruling was not perfect, he was pleased with the senate’s willingness to compromise.

Claus said HSAC members were glad they had been given a voice in the senate, though the delegate’s powers will be limited.

“It wasn't exactly how we wanted it to be, but we were happy we could find middle ground with the senate,” he said.

District 6 Sen. Joey Pacific said the senators had a great discussion while drafting the bill and said its passage will make for an interesting semester. Before voting took place, he urged all senators to support the legislation.

“This bill is by no means perfect, but I am satisfied that it goes really far towards my goal in trying to represent all the students here,” he said.

Prior to the vote, Alex Smith, district 10 senator, agreed with Pacific and also urged all senators to approve the bill.

“I think we all worked pretty hard on this bill,” he said. “The ad hoc committee I think was a great success, and I would love to see if the entire senate can vote for this unanimously.”

Senate Pro-Tempore Derrick Skaug said he was proud of the senate’s ability to come together and think critically to reach the compromise.

IN OTHER ASWSU NEWS

Because the current director of legislative affairs, Josh Hart, will be graduating this month, Associate Director of Legislative Affairs Tristan Hanon has been approved to take the position. The job includes maintaining relationships with his counterparts on the WSU branch campuses and working to build the influence of the Cougar Coalition, a WSU lobbying group.

Senators unanimously confirmed a new associate director of legislative affairs Tuesday night to take Hanon’s place. Freshman communication and French major Devon Seymour will begin tackling her duties at the beginning of the spring semester.

“I’m really excited to have her officially on the legislative affairs staff now,” Hanon said. “It’s going to be really helpful to have everything set up for when we start next semester.”

GET TO KNOW YOUR SENATORS:

Name: Romeo Canada

Year: junior

Major: Architecture

Hometown: Kennewick, Wash.

Occupation: ASWSU District 1 senator, senator on the Architecture + Construction Management Student Senate

Favorite movie: Pineapple Express

Heroes: His friends and family

Goal for the year: “As a new senator I want to learn all the policies and rules to be a good advocate for the committees.”