USC versus Georgia tailgate viewing party also organized
Austin Jackson was elected president pro tempore of the Student Senate in a 17-14 vote during the body’s meeting Wednesday night.
In his new position, Jackson will head the rules committee and succeed to vice president of the student body in case of the president or vice president’s resignation. The president pro tempore position was left vacant last week upon Emily Saleeby’s succession to vice president following Katie Thompson’s resignation.
Jackson presented a bill stating that the Senate has to give its approval of committees created by the vice president. The bill passed its first reading and will be up for a final vote next week. Thompson stepped down in the wake of criticism over her handling of the fraternity Bid Day controversy and accusations that she had created a Greek Reform Committee without Senate approval.
Thompson attended Wednesday’s meeting and commented on how Saleeby is filling her shoes.
“I think Emily’s doing a great job, and we’ve worked together so well since the beginning of my term,” Thompson said. “I honestly couldn’t pick a better person to continue leading the Senate. I think today she was a little nervous, but I’m very proud of her.”
Chris Campbell was appointed chief justice of the Constitutional Council of Student Government, and Jessica Kaczmarek became secretary of academics.
The athletics committee announced that the university tailgate viewing party for the Georgia game would begin at 2 p.m. Sept. 10. Carolina Dining will provide hamburgers and hotdogs, a deejay will entertain at the Russell House patio and there will be football throwing contests and intramural touch football games on Davis Field. The actual viewing will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Russell House Theater.
The student services committee said it was working on providing financial workshops that would teach students such skills as how to file taxes and how to deal with leases and other contracts. The committee is also working on a Greek shuttle and parking issues and providing legal services to students for a small fee.
Student Body President Joe Wright said SG’s 5-year-old Textbook Turnstile program had seen great success. The program, which provides a textbook for library checkout for classes with over 150 students, saw 7,000 checkouts in 2009-2010 and 13,000 checkouts in 2010-2011, accounting for 3.4 percent of all library checkouts that academic year. Wright said SG has around $15,000 from the library to help revamp the program.
Wright said only one company, which he could not name, bid for the restructured Carolina Cab program. He said this was a “good thing” because it lowered the chance of an appeal. The free Five Points student taxi service that began last fall has been stalled by bureaucracy until at least the end of September, according to SG officials.
Wright also announced plans to place a large block “C” or Gamecock spur on George Rogers Boulevard across from Williams-Brice Stadium to increase school spirit.
Five seats in Senate still need to be filled. Two seats are open in the College of Education, one in the business school, one in the College of Engineering and Computing, and one in the law school. Currently, the multicultural affairs and environmental committees only have two members.