Update: Minutes from last week (March 21). Includes this jem from 3 am: Senator Baker congratulated and thanked everyone who ran as candidates. He reminded everyone to not go to Swamp tonight.

On R&A, I voted for Laura Gonzalez for Allocations chair (7-0) and against Bob Agrusa for Judiciary chair (4-3). Ryan Nelson has significantly more judiciary-related experience and has served in the Senate for a full year longer than Bob.

I was wrong about the District B seat — open seats must be announced twice before appointments can be made. We’ll hear applicants for the seat next week.

The agenda for Senate was slim: the R&A recommendations, and a resolution proposed from the floor.

I was out of the room for R&A — I had to leave to take a statistics exam. However, the committee’s recommendations were approved. I’m sure they’ll both do a good job.

About the resolution: around 5:30 pm, I went to the SG offices to drop some flyers (for UAEM) in Senators’ mailboxes. I ran into former Judiciary chairwoman Becca Guerra, typing a resolution. She asked if I would sponsor it, and explained it was a resolution stating that students attending the Final Four basketball game next week should be allowed to re-schedule exams that they miss. I agreed to sponsor it. It’s not that often that the Gators make it to the Final Four; if a student manages to get a ticket and make it all the way to Indianapolis to support our boys, I feel the circumstances are extenuating enough that they should be allowed a make-up exam. So I sponsored a bill my second week in Senate — which makes me the first new Senator to sponsor a bill.

On the floor, people criticized it for a variety of reasons which I can’t really remember. I obviously voted for it; it didn’t pass. That’s the way it works some times.

Update: Alligator article, Gainesville Sun article on the resolution.

One item of note is Pro Tempore Josh Weiss’ announcement that he wants to publish Senate agendas online in advance of Senate meetings. That was a Unite platform goal, and I think it’s pretty much a no-brainer. If we can publish each week’s agenda a day in advance, that gives Senators and students a full day to prepare; there’s not really any reason not to do it. I hope to see it happen, and will be glad to do anything I can to make sure it does.

After Senate, I went to Swamp. (For the uninitiated: there is a longstanding tradition of Senators going to the Swamp Restaurant after Senate.) As partisan as Senate can be, it was pretty bipartisan at Swamp tonight. That Ryland Rogers was the hottest guy in the room, for some reason I’m not entirely sure of yet.

In R&A this week, we’ll hear applications for open committee seats; there are open seats on every committee. It’ll be a lot of interviews, but hopefully we’ll find all the best candidates. Additionally, we’ll interview for the open District B seat. Applications for committees as well as the open Senate seat in District B are due by 5 pm Thursday to the Pro Temp. Applications are available in the SG offices on the 3rd floor of the Reitz Union. Anyone who lives in District B (zip codes 32603, 32604, 32605, and 32606) can apply for the open Senate seat. Apply!