The last Associated Students, Inc. Senate meeting of the semester on Wednesday was void of any public comments and senator nametags, but fully stocked with holiday sentiments and sugary treats.
Immediately after approving last week’s minutes, choosing Sen. Jeff Yutrzenka as senator of the month for November and the realization by ASI Chairwoman and Vice President Lucy Montano that ASI President Mark Andrews was absent for the reading of his report, the director of the Women’s Resource Center Marcela Chavez addressed the Senate in a time-certain presentation regarding “Project Safe.”
The project is funded by a grant from the Department of Justice’s office on Violence Against Women, and is a resource for understanding and preventing relationship violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campus, according to Chavez.
“We are really bonded to educate our student body, from students all the way to the president, about personal responsibility and how we address the issue about rape by an acquaintance,” Chavez said.
Chavez also presented a new, but unapproved, brochure specifically geared toward faculty and staff.
“We find that a lot of faculty do not know what their resources are on campus,” Chavez said. “We’re trying to get faculty to do more. The brochure will be dispersed once it is finalized.”
The brochure also states that all Project Safe services are free and all direct services are confidential and culturally sensitive.
In other Senate news, ASI Executive Director Richard Haller read a report that included the rationale behind withholding information from the Daily Forty-Niner regarding the acquisition of correspondence on BlackBerries used by ASI officials.
Haller said legal counsel was sought before the decision was made to withhold information, and after legal consultation there were concerns that the release of certain information, like e-mails and phone numbers, violated privacy rights.
“Plus, I don’t have access to all the information that was requested,” said Haller, following the adjournment. “All we get is the billing statement from Verizon.”
