by Jim Parsons
Campus News Editor
Wednesday's meeting of the 34th Students' Association Senate was the third in a row this summer to make quorum, albeit barely.
Eight senators had taken seats in the University Center's Pacific Room by 7:10, when the meeting was called to order.
Much of the 20-minute meeting was spent on reports from SA President Natalie Merritt and Speaker of the Senate Nathan Wittman. Merritt announced that the Senate's trip to visit with state legislators in Austin would be postponed.
"We decided it might be more beneficial to our students if we postpone the trip," she said. Instead of traveling to Austin, Merritt announced a plan to hold a "Legislators' Day" on campus when legislators would visit the University of Houston to speak with students.
Wittman commented on the relations between SA members and the Faculty Senate. "We're going to continue our efforts to contact them and go to their meetings," he said.
He added that some Faculty Senate members had expressed interest in receiving copies of the SA's meeting agendas and minutes.
Wittman also reported that he and Merritt had been able to meet with UH System Chancellor/UH President Arthur Smith. "(Smith) expressed interest in attending a Senate meeting in the fall," he said.
The legislative portion of the meeting saw a bill, calling for class times in the printed class schedule to reflect the "true length of classes" by shortening printed class lengths to 50 minutes from one hour and to 80 minutes from 90 minutes introduced early in the summer, come up for vote.
"It is (documented) in the class schedule that classes are 50 minutes long," said Social Sciences Sen. Dawn Frazier. Frazier called the bill "a waste of our time," since "professors are going to do what they are going to do anyway."
Wittman agreed. "Students are already aware," he said. The bill was defeated unanimously.
New legislation included a bill outlining a change in the university grading system, which would take effect in the 1998-99 school year, and another that would require all SA senators to serve on an SA committee.
Both pieces of legislation were sent to committee for review.