Ben Starsky, a graduate academic extern, surprised many Temple Student Government members at Monday’s meeting when he announced that General Assembly meetings will not continue next year.
The bimonthly TSG Senate meetings will replace the weekly GA meetings. There will also be a State of the Campus address that will occur either every month or every semester.
Many students who had not attended the Constitutional Convention on March 2 were not aware of this development. Many expressed their concerns that the dissolution would make it harder for students to get involved.
Starsky and TSG President Juan Galeano explained that the new Senate will actually provoke more involvement. The Senate meetings will be open for anyone to attend and voice their concerns. There is a permanent open forum feature in the agenda for just this purpose. They argued that the Senate will make TSG more organized and capable to address the needs of the students.
“It makes TSG better, it makes the organizations better and it makes Temple better,” Starsky said.
The official copy of the new constitution will be unveiled on March 24, and it will outline the responsibilities of the Senate and the TSG executive board.
TSG elections are also coming up soon. Alex Barnett, Elections Commissioner, announced that there will be an elections interest meeting on March 19 in room 200A in the Student Center at 8 p.m. All interested in running for an office should attend the meeting.
L. Harrison Jay, from the office of community relations, asked students to participate in the citywide community service day on April 5. Students will clean up trash and sweep parts of the city.
“We can show why Temple students are here, not just for academics or sports, but also for community service,” Jay said.
Galeano is also working with the project and encouraged students to get involved.
Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu
