TCU Senate Update

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate held its weekly meeting this past Sunday, March 1, in which it sorted through appeals and fund requests from campus groups and debated a new resolution to increase housing support for undergraduate summer research.

TCU Treasurer Adam Kochman opened the meeting with the Treasury Report, which featured appeals from Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA) and Torn Ticket II.

TASA, a collective of various subgroups dedicated to South Asian culture and politics, opened the Allocations Board (ALBO) requests with a request of $2,860. TASA’s Bhangra dance team, recently invited to participate in the Boiler Bhangra Competition at Purdue University, specifically appealed for transportation costs and hotel fees.

The Senate, however, cited its policy of not funding transportation for more than one competition per group per year. As the Boiler Bhangra Competition is the team's second competition this year, the Senate agreed to only fund registration and hotel fees.

After overturning the Allocations Board’s originally recommended $2,159, the Senate approved a new amount of $2,860 by a vote of 15-3-2.

Torn Ticket II, Tufts' student-run musical theatre organization, appealed next. The group argued that it needed eight new performance microphones for upcoming shows and for future years. Though the Allocations Board originally recommended funding for only five of the microphones, the Senate eventually decided to fund $1,592 for all eight microphones by a vote of 18-1-0.

Aside from appeals, the Senate approved funding requests of $80 for Country Swing Dance, $2,907.09 for Tufts Wind Ensemble, $538 for Psychology Society, $171.25 and $585 for SURGE’s two separate requests, $530 for PostScript, $2,000 for Tufts Burlesque Troupe and $1,000 for Tufts Labor Coalition. All of the approved funds were decided by acclimation or majority vote.

After the conclusion of the Treasury Report, TCU Parliamentarian Gauri Seth opened the floor for a resolution urging increased housing support for undergraduate summer research at Tufts. The resolution, in its efforts to expand the Undergraduate Research Fund, stems partly from Tufts Synthetic Biology’s request for further funding for students trying to research at Tufts during the summer.

Some senators, however, felt uncomfortable, as the presenters of the resolution could not yet present concrete numbers as to how many students would be interested in an expanded Undergraduate Research Fund, which currently only provides $450 for summer researchers at Tufts. Further, many Senate members cited that because they did not know where the extra funding would come from, it would be too hasty to approve the resolution.

The Senate recommended sticking to just expanding the Summer Scholarsprogram, a research fund for rising juniors and seniors. The presenters disagreed with this recommendation, arguing that the program specifically caters to upperclassmen.

Due to insufficient data, the resolution was eventually tabled by a vote of 13-6-1.

Next, Seth addressed recent bylaw changes, which come from recent efforts of both the TCU Senate and Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ) to strengthen their relationship. Bylaw 4A, which requires the TCU Senate President to meet biweekly with the Chair of the TCUJ, passed by acclimation. Bylaw 7, which changed wording on duties of certain members of the TCU, passed by 17-1-3.

After the TCU Vice President Matt Roy presented the committee and trustee reports, TCU Senate President Robert Joseph rounded the Senate agenda with a recap on the NESCACStudent Government Conference.