At this semester’s penultimate meeting, ASWSU Senators passed bills 53-16 and 53-17 as well as heard progress updates from various ASWSU executives.

President Luke Deschenes presented updates first to the senators, starting off by saying that the ASWSU collaborative town hall earlier this month did not have as much attendance as he had hoped, and that he will be in efforts to rework the meeting in order to encourage students and senators to attend.

The Ruby Street Park project has also officially begun, he said, with a brainstorm session being hosted with WSU’s landscape architecture department during which he, as well as the Community Affairs Director and Campus Sustainability Director were able to share their ideas for the park.

On Dec. 6th at 2:30 p.m. in the CUB 204, the final drafts for the park improvement project will be presented to ASWSU by representatives from the landscape architecture department, Deschenes said.

Deschenes also attended an emergency meeting with the student government council regarding the proposed 3% tuition increase for the 2024-2025 school year, he said.

Along with Senate Pro Tempore Tania Henriques, Deschenes said he also tabled at Chief Joseph’s Village earlier this month.

“I like the idea of getting involved with off-campus housing, so that’s something that could be improved in the future,” Deschenes said.

Finally, Deschenes said the calendar for ASWSU elections will be presented next week, with elections taking place at the beginning of spring semester after returning from winter break.

The Senators then heard progress updates from Staff and Finance Chief Bailey Berger, as well as her goals for the next semester.

“My biggest focus right now is really making sure that we’re on top of the budget to make sure that we are able to hit the ground running for next semester,” she said.

Berger also said she met with Ellen Taylor, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, along with ASWSU Vice President Maccabbee Werndorf and Bryce Becker, Health and Safety Director, in order to discuss mental health resources for students on campus.

Sydney Ueda, Asian Pacific American Students Coalition chair, then presented the club’s progress updates to the senators.

Ueda said APASC has held 12 general meetings for its members this semester, as well as successfully hosted its annual AAPI welcome back barbecue in collaboration with the AAPI student center.

APASC also hosted an event in collaboration with NAWA, the Native American Women’s Association, for their “Culture not Costume” programming event, which outlined the differences between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, Ueda said.

Lastly, senators heard updates from chair Ermia Butler and vice-chair Gerra Shock of Ku-Ah-Mah, the Native American student organization on campus.

Butler said that Ku-Ah-Mah was able to start off Native American heritage month with a large turnout at their event, and collaborated with NAWA for a few other events in the following weeks.

The senators unanimously passed Senate Bills 53-16 and 53-17, both of which were penned by Senator Yanega, Both bills supported the striking of two items from the ASWSU bylaws regarding campaigning rules.

Bill 53-16 suggested striking a rule about campaigning in the Compton Union Building specifically, which stated that candidates were prohibited from wearing campaign memorabilia in the building. Bill 53-17, similarly suggested striking a rule preventing candidates from wearing campaign memorabilia in academic buildings on campus.

ASWSU meets at 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday in CUB 204.