New bills and fresh faces: ASB holds first senate of semester

The Associated Student Body held its first senate assembly of the semester on Tuesday, Feb. 7. In the senate meeting, eight open senate seats were filled and two bills were unanimously passed.

Larson Looney, Rachel Young, Jeremy Gauthier, Sean Boney, Lars Andersen, Nicholas Masella, McKay Orwig and Ryleigh Anne Felty all won seats and joined the main body. A total of 27 students competed for the senate seats by giving a short speech in front of the assembly before the senate debated and voted on which students to accept.

Felty, a sophomore English education major, plans to encourage drug overdose preparedness on campus to save lives.

“I would like to advocate for required Narcan training for all leaders in student organizations. I feel it is vitally important because of the rising number of drug overdoses across campus,” Felty said.

Boney is a sophomore political science and writing and rhetoric major that proposed several “life upgrades” he wants to enact on campus in his speech.

continued from page 1 police is nothing new, but the way they beat him because of their own inexperience and humiliation was horrifying to see. It reminded me of the Mafia and how they beat the life out of people to get answers they want,” Sullivan said.

The officers were immediately fired from their department and charged with second-degree murder. While only five were given the mur-

“Mold in a lot of the older dorms -- that should be fixed. I feel like we can do better with wheelchair accessibility with a lot of the buildings around campus. Sexual health products being sold in the pods and quickly accessible to freshmen in dorms would also be a valuable addition to this campus,” Boney said.

Wheelchair accessibility was Boney’s main point, however: “The elevator in Bishop Hall does not currently go to the third floor, the only way you can access the third floor is through the stairs,” Boney said.

Senate Bill 22-18

The first bill, SB 22-18, outlined a revision to the ASB code to allow for the Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee to serve as defense counsel for candidates brought to stand trial for campaign violations during campus-wide elections.

The bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 23-1

The second bill, SB 23-1, added a new official requirement for elected homecoming queen and homecoming king.

In addition to having 60 completed course hours and a minimum 3.0 GPA, homecoming royalty are now, as the bill reads, “encouraged to work in collaboration with the der charge, seven more police officers may face disciplinary action for breaking policy violations during the Nichols case, according to CBS News.

Junior Keshun Gunn, a sports and recreation major, believes this case should remind people of the severity of police brutality and how policing needs to be reformed.

“I hate hearing about anyone getting their life taken from them, and at some point, we have to do more to prevent police brutality. I think we as a whole nation should address the issues of police brutality and how it’s becoming a com-

ASB Principal of Philanthropy to serve in the Lafayette-Oxford-University community.”

Current homecoming queen and senior journalism and writing and rhetoric major Eli- mon problem. As far as combating it, I think more training and having more police officers go through more psychological training will help with (cases of police brutality),” Gunn said.

A police incident on Jan. 17 in Oxford also caught media attention when a video surfaced on social media of a deputy from the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department putting his knee on a suspect’s neck and punching him on the ground.

Many instances of excessive force by police across the country have involved white officers and Black suspects. However, more re- have lots to choose from for your special someone –fresh cut flowers, beautiful arrangements, roses, balloons, and more. We are open and delivering on Feb. 13 and 14! 1905 University Ave. (by Oby’s) 662.234.6044 | www.euniversityflorist.com All major credit cards accepted za Peters co authored the bill.

“I really believe in the power of being in the big four, Mr. and Miss Ole Miss and homecoming king and queen, and the opportunities you have to cent acts of violence have led people to acknowledge that police brutality can be committed by officers of any race.

“Whether they’re Black, white, Asian, etc., a cop is a cop. Even if they weren’t cops, those African American ‘brothers’ are, personally, no brothers to me — just the police,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is the president of Men of Excellence, a student organization that aims to, “use mentoring to abridge the opportunity/achievement gap for men of color at the University of Mississippi.”

He believes the Tyre Nichols grow and reach more people in our community,” Peters said. “I think it’s really important that we dive in where we are and be present where your feet are.” The bill passed unanimously. killing and instances of brutality like it should not be normalized in the Black community.

“We are talking about fixing a generational corruption for centuries. That doesn’t mean we stop, though. We continue to teach and inspire the next generation in hopes that one day, the gap is fixed,” Sullivan said.

The Daily Mississippian asked the Oxford Police Department for comment and was instructed to set up an appointment, which could not be obtained prior to publication.

While voter turnout rates for young people nationwide are increasing, overall voter turnout in Mississippi remains low.

On campus polling locations have been touted as a way to increase voter turnout among college students. Unfortunately, according to local officials, the implementation of on campus polling locations at the University of Mississippi borders on impossible.

In a survey conducted last year, nearly half of students said having ballot drop boxes or a voting site on campus would be the most helpful resource to overcome obstacles to voting, according to Campus Vote Project.

CVP is a national, nonpartisan organization that aims to increase the participation of young adults, who historically vote at lower rates, in the elections process by working closely with college communities. According to the U.S. Census, 76% of voters aged 65 to 74 cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Among voters aged 18 to 24, only 51.4% voted.

“Contrary to the belief of many, young people want to be involved in our nation’s electoral process,” Jane Johnston, communications associate for CVP, said. “They want to make their voices heard by casting a ballot, yet still, election after election, 18- 29-year-olds face many barriers that ultimately lead to lower voting rates.”

Traytareika Gordon, an Allied Health Studies major, did not vote during the last election cycle in November 2022. She attributed her decision not to vote to a mixture of transportation barriers and a general disenchantment with the results of elections past.

“I don’t have a car, so I’m not going to leave campus to vote. And for me, I just don’t see the point sometimes. The people we vote into office don’t do any better than the people we didn’t want in office,” she said.