The Senate had a productive night on Sunday, on the eve of Hurricane Sandy's arrival, voting on three Senate Money Resolutions and four amendments to the Student Union Constitution.

Before talking about official business, Executive Senator Ricky Rosen '14 told senators that general attendance had been unacceptably low and that he planned to bring forward an amendment addressing the issue, which he did later in the meeting.

The first SMR, for $300, was brought forward by Class of 2016 Senator Andrew Chang and involved a Halloween getaway to Salem, Mass. for the student body. The resolution, which was approved unanimously, will pay for a school bus for transportation to and from Salem.

The next SMR, which was also passed with no objections, allocated $350 for an election night event which will be cosponsored by Student Events and several political clubs on campus. The resolution was brought forward by Class of 2015 Senator Sneha Walia and dictated that the Union will supply pizza. "This election poses a unique opportunity to Brandeis students because most students who will be able to vote in this election are able voting for the first time," read the SMR.               

The final money resolution discussed at the meeting was a proposal that the Senate cosponsor Triskelion's Transgender Awareness Week. The proposal for $900, also put forward by Walia, would help Triskelion bring a transgender Jewish band called Schmeckel to perform during the awareness week.

 The Senate decided to table this resolution, to allow Triskelion to look for other options, as senators raised objections to the large amount of money called for in the resolution.

The Senate also voted on and passed four amendments to the Student Union Constitution put forward by Rosen.

The first two amendments pertained to attendance and voting of senators at senate meetings. The first amendment called for the removal of any senator with more than three unexcused absences in a semester.

In such an event, the student with the second-most votes in the election for that senator's seat would be given a chance to join the Senate.

The second amendment called for allowing senators to vote by proxy, either by video-chat during the meeting or by emailing the Senate president the day of the meeting.

Both of these amendments were approved, with little objection from the Senate.

The third amendment involved the procedure for voting on recognition and charter of clubs. The amendment stated that club representatives will have to step outside while the Senate votes on their request for recognition or charter. This amendment was quickly approved.

The final amendment involved the Campus Operations Work Group Committee, a Senate committee that works with the Campus Operations Work Group to "restore Brandeis facilities to their original beauty," according to the constitution.

The amendment called for all quad senators to be mandatorily included in the committee. This amendment generated the most discussion, but was eventually passed as well.            

-Tate Herbert and Sam Mintz