Nearing election season, former SGA Vice President Jonathan Edwards has assumed the position of elections commissioner that was originally under the job description of Parliamentarian Zwiesineyi Chindori- Chininga.

Senators voted the bill, authored by Chindori- Chininga, through final passage at the formal senate meeting Feb 2. The bill will divide the roles of elections commissioner and parliamentarian.

“They [the elections commissioner] need that objectivity– they need that sort of separation from the conflict of interest in the business of the association to do their job well,” said Chindori- Chininga. “So essentially they have to keep to the codes like everybody else in the association, but they function as their own entity.”

Last semester, an application was available for the position of elections commissioner, and President Jamie Cardenas chose a candidate to fill the position in preparation of the bill passing.

Another bill addressed during the meeting also dealt with internal concerns. S.B. 10, “It’s an Election,” was authored by Elections Commissioner Jonathan Edward’s and raised the GPA requirement of students running for a position in SGA from 2.0 to 2.5.

Though SGA falls under Student Life, the newly instituted GPA bump is in compliance with the rules that student life enforces.

“A 2.0 is pretty low, and between academics and SGA, SGA should be a secondary concern,” Edwards said.

Senators voted in favor of S.B. 10 except for Sen. Oliver Guerra, and the bill went through first passage.

Chindori- Chininga wanted time to review the bill before it was considered for final passage. In a move that overrided the parliamentarian, Sen. Carlos Alpuche requested to temporarily suspend the rules so that senators could consider the bill for final passage. The bill passed, with all but three senators voting in favor of it.

Also addressed at the meeting was S.R. 6, “Ease of Navigation: Student Apartments.”

Citing that Maryhill and Hilltopper Heights apartments can be difficult to maneuver, Sen. Jade Patterson called to have signs put up in the apartments to indicate where each of the buildings are located.

Though Patterson has not consulted with university officials, she does not want students to pay for the signs. “I feel like this is kind of their fault for making it so complex in the complexes,” said Patterson.

S.R. 6 was approved through first passage.

Former SGA associates and newly inducted senators Miguel Escoto and Leslie Rios shared their ideas on what they hope to accomplish during their time serving.

Sen. Escoto has ideas for sustainability on campus.

“I think a long-term goal that I’m very interested in pursuing is the installment of solar panels to power at least one building in this school,” Escoto said. “I feel like it would be a message to people who are looking for a university that this is committed to social justice, at least environmentally.”

He added that his goal is to bring the conversation about solar powering a building to campus this semester but not necessarily to bring the solar panels to campus yet.

Rios, meanwhile, wants to address the issue of poor lighting on campus.