Bylaw revision to institute change for GSB

Ross Boettcher

The Government of the Student Body met Wednesday to hear the first reading of three bylaw revisions, but all attending members were focused on projects that will be rearing their heads in the near future.

Charles Wakefield, GSB senator and senior in computer engineering, introduced the revisions and felt strongly that the direct impact of the changes would be felt by GSB and, in turn, the student body.

Currently, the bylaw that will direct the biggest change will hold all senate committees accountable for attendance, not just members of the university affairs and public relations committees.

Wakefield said that while the revisions shouldn’t have a problem passing during their second read next week, the attendance policy may invoke some question marks.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a large amount of debate,” Wakefield said. “The only thing that is going to require a large amount of debate [that bylaw].”

Although bylaws were the official topic of business, members of the GSB elaborated on future projects including special allocations for campus organizations and a campus safety walk that will include participation from Ames Police and the greek community.

Ryan Myers, GSB finance director and graduate student in finance, said the first organization to break the ice for special allocations was the Asian Pacific American Awareness Coalition.

“I just agreed on a contract with APAAC, who will be requesting a loan during the special allocations process,” Myers said. “The details will be ironed out in the next day or two.”

While the special allocations process has its course set, the greek system and the Ames city police are looking to coordinate a safe perimeter for citizens.

“The city police department is interested in coordinating the city safety walk so that there is a safety walk in the Campustown area,” said Brian Phillips, GSB president and senior in political science. “There will be more details in the near future.”

GSB received what Phillips considered “pretty fantastic news” when the University of Northern Iowa agreed to initiate a student liaison position that was directly modeled after Iowa State’s. The University of Iowa was the second of the three institutions to create the student position, which is in correlation with the City Council.