Friday, April 25, 2008

Senate adds VP of International Affairs position

By Tamika Robinson
Cardinal Staff

The Saint Mary’s University Student Senate will be introducing a new position next fall to serve as a link between the senate and the Office of International Admission.

Scott (Zhe Song) was recently elected by SMU students as vice president of international affairs, a role created because of the increase in international students on campus.
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“[He] will be the voice for all of the international students,” said Student Senate President John Freeman. “[He] will be open to hearing the opinions and the thoughts of the international students and then bring those to the senate meetings and express those opinions and beliefs. They are going to have a stronger voice on campus as far as what they would like to see done.”

Currently, there are 100 international students on campus. Of those students, 23 came from Nepal to the SMU campus this semester.

Adding this role could bring some challenges, however. Freeman realizes that this is “a brand new position that [student senate] is starting, and we don’t know exactly how it’s going to work out.”

The student elected to the position each year will be in charge of building a relationship between the Office of International Admission and student senate that will be for the good of all SMU students.

“I think that this is a really positive step for the Saint Mary’s student body,” said Freeman. “It’s just going to be a positive thing for everyone involved.”

According to Freeman, the student senate is in charge of all student clubs and organizations on campus. Students must go to the student senate when starting a new club or organization, making changes to the current constitution of the club, or when making changes in the way the club or organization functions.

The student senate is also in charge of configuring the budgets for each club and organization on campus.

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