Student Government Association vice president Beau Pemberton expressed his displeasure at the lack of new business at Thursday night’s meeting of the SGA Senate.

“How can we properly represent the student body without ever bringing new legislation?” he asked of those assembled.
Pemberton reminded them that the SGA Constitution, under Article X, Section 11, requires all standing committees to bring at least one form of legislation before the Senate each year, which can include proposals, recommendations, resolutions and bills.

He also encouraged senators to get involved with Freshman Council. When reached for comment, Sen. Matt Elsroad said, “There’s a phenomenally huge lack of respect for the SGA itself as a whole, which is the only explanation for the disorganization of the meeting tonight.

“The members of the SGA, as representatives, and the governing body for and of the students, should have, above all, respect for the association and for what it was created to do. This is simply not present, as the meeting proved.”

The meeting was unusually brief otherwise, in part because president Jennifer Ogg, executive assistant Brian Davis, and Sen. Dusty Dean are in Knoxville for a meeting of the UT Board of Trustees.

Earlier in the week, during a meeting of the SGA Executive Council, Campus Observation chair Joey Pierce informed the EC that an “internal housekeeping bill” that eliminated the stipend for executive assistants and the chief justice had been filed and sent to committee.

In announcements, presidential assistant Kevin Anderson informed senators that the SGA co-ed intramural team had defaulted its first two games because of lack of sufficient number of players.

The SGA will convene at 9 p.m. Oct. 23 in 111 UC. Members of the campus community are invited to attend.