As it installed new legislative officers and began to select committees at its meeting Wednesday night, the 37th LSU Student Senate showed solidarity after an intense campaign semester in the spring.
The Student Senate held its first meeting of the semester in the Capital Chamber of the Student Union. Though the senators came from different tickets, speaker Adam Grashoff said there are no hard feelings left over from last semester’s election.
“Before campaigning actively starts, we have every senator who’s running come to an info session with the speaker pro tempore and I, and we very much stress that once you’re a member of Senate, the tickets go behind you,” Grashoff said.
Last semester, the Senate passed bills allocating funds for a variety of topics, including $10,000 for an e-textbook platform and $7,757 for 30 new seats in the Student Union. Senators also allotted $420 to buy clickers for Senate meetings, which were used for the first time Wednesday.
Though the first meeting was primarily used to place new officers and explain the committees, campus issues were also discussed. UREC director
Laurie Braden updated the senators on the ongoing construction, and senators discussed creating Faculty Senate and Staff Senate liaisons.
Student Government Finance Bill 1, which would allocate a maximum of $4,000 to LSUPD to provide power operations and a security camera for the Parade Ground, was referred to the Committee on Budget and Appropriations.
One focus of this semester will be the academic review policy initiative, Grashoff said. The initiative’s committee was formed to look at some of the most contested academic policies around campus and make suggestions to deans on how they could be improved.
It’s difficult to see which other semester goals will take shape this early on, as most legislation stems from issues students raise, Speaker pro tempore Andrew Mullet said.
“The big bulk of our stuff is going to be generated with new initiatives throughout the semester,” Mullet said.
Other legislation will be carried over from previous semesters, Mullet said.
The Senate will also be aiding SG President Andrew Mahtook and SG Vice President Hannah Knight on their initiatives, Grashoff said.
Even though SG emulates the real-world political system, Grashoff said he does not anticipate any tension between the two tickets — Here & Now and Make it Matter — that make up the new crop of senators.
“In the U.S. government you have Democrats and Republicans, but for us, we’re one senate,” Grashoff said. “We’re more focused on being one senate rather than two parties.”

Gallery • 6 Photos

Ari Ross

Speaker pro tempore Andrew Mullet walks down the aisle Wednesday, Aug. 26, during the Student Government meeting in the Student Union.