Volume 119, Issue 16
the
VISTA “Our Words, Your Voice.”
vistanews1903 @thevista1903 @thevista1903 The Vista ucentralmedia.com Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022
UCOSA attempts spring cleaning
Student association votes on four bills removing senators for lack of involvement and participation Emily Grim
Contributing Writer
The UCO Student Association began its congressional session Jan. 24 in the Will Rogers Room at the Nigh University Center. Four pieces of legislation were voted on by UCOSA, with two passing and two failing, including an attempt to remove a committee vice chair. The first bill, CR21-201, proposed to remove three senators for failing to attend the required number of meetings per semester. The follow-up bill, CR21-202, would remove two senators from office at their own request. Both were approved by 37 and 36 votes, respectively. But CB21-201, “An act amending the UCO Student Association Bylaws to enforce active participation of Senators,” on the other hand, did not pass. The bill would have required all 48 senators to author one piece of legislation each year or be barred from being a senator in UCOSA for the following year. After the allotted period for questioning was extended repeatedly and the bill was debated, it failed with 34 votes in the negative and 6 votes in the affirmative. The final bill heard was CR21-203,
“A resolution by the authority bestowed in the UCOSA bylaws, removing and replacing the Vice Chair of the Ways & Means committee.” The resolution,authored by the Chair of the Ways and Means committee, Sen. Hannah Scarberry, said that her vice chair, Jakob Carlson, failed to keep minutes and had neglected his duties. Scarberry said that she had met with both Carlson and the UCOSA executive committee concerning these issues prior to writing legislation to remove Carlson. During the debate, Carlson proceeded to go through each line of the bill while issuing rebuttals. Carlson claimed that he was not made aware of the issues taken with him or that this legislation existed before the session. He also said that Scarberry “falsified information,” saying that he had in fact kept an accurate record of the committee. After over 30 minutes of questioning and debate, the bill failed with 24 votes in the negative and 5 in the affirmative. Additionally, Chair of Congress Josh Chao announced the election commission that would oversee the upcoming 2022-2023 Student Body President and Vice President elec-
After over 30 minutes of questioning and debate, the bill failed with 24 votes in the negative and 5 in the affirmative. (The Vista/Archives)
tions. The committee consists of Senators Sakinah Smith, Jerzi Hawkins, Lauren Berry, Saul Perezand, and Jessica Addai. Any full-time student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher is eligible to run for office,and those elected will serve throughout the full following academ-
ic year. UCOSA Advisor Cole Stanley also announced that UCOSA will be providing funding to the Center for Counseling and Well Being to provide more resources and allow more students to provide access to counselors.
Cheer and dance competition is set for a big return Lauren Henry
Contributing Writer
This year, UCO sororities and fraternities will be competing in the cheer and dance competition by displaying skills including stunting, jumping, tumbling, and dancing. The competition will take place March 3-4 in Hamilton Field House. Due to COVID-19, athletes had to wear masks while practicing and competing and were not allowed to perform stunting skills due to the close contact requirements. The number of spectators attending the performance was also limited. This year, athletes are allowed to
practice and perform without masks and there have been no limitations announced regarding the number of in-person attendees allowed at the performance. Zoe Cardenas, coach for Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) fraternity, coached during the COVID-19 restrictions last year and shared her excitement for the upcoming competition. “This group of guys is great and they’re optimistic and they love cheer and dance, so it makes it more enjoyable. They put a lot of work and dedication into it so it’s exciting,” Cardenas said. Continued on Pg. 3
Sigma Tau Gamma’s cheer and dance routine went viral in 2017. (Provided/ UCO Sigma Tau Gamma Facebook page)