In its last meeting before Thanksgiving break, the Senate recognized two new clubs and chartered the Brandeis chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance on its return trip to the Senate after being denied this status at the meeting two weeks ago. There were 16 senators present at the start of the meeting.

To start out the meeting, Executive Senator Ricky Rosen '14 addressed the Senate on the progress of ongoing projects including the Turkey Shuttles and planning for Midnight Buffet. Rosen reported that many students were taking advantage of the shuttles, and he was hopeful that they would turn a profit.

The Science Club for Girls was first up for recognition and passed by a margin of 14 in favor to two abstentions. According to leaders who presented at the meeting, the club seeks to provide positive experiences and mentoring to girls in grades K-12 to encourage them to get involved in science and science-related careers. The club is open to both male and female student mentors. The group did not request charter, as it is sponsored by a national parent organization.

After much debate, the Senate also recognized, but denied charter to, the Brandeis Technical Traders Society. The club, which is interested in financial trading based on "technical analysis," is geared toward bringing experts in the field to speak on campus, as well as training students to take a technical analyst certification exam.

Many senators were not convinced that the club did not have duality of purpose, citing similarities with umbrella groups such as Business Club and Economics Society. BTTS was ultimately recognized but not chartered.

The Harry Potter Alliance, which was recognized two weeks ago and had returned to seek charter, was the final club to appear before the Senate this week. The club, which aims to further social justice projects through campaigns related to themes of the popular Harry Potter books, emphasized in its presentation that the founder of the national organization, Andrew Slack '02, "really wants [Brandeis] to have a chapter." The club leaders sought charter so that they could request money from the Finance Board for administrative costs for their events.

In its initial vote, the Senate did not meet the quorum of eligible voters, as some senators had left the meeting and a few abstained from the vote. After considering inviting HPA vice president and Class of 2015 Senator Sneha Walia to be the deciding vote, the Senate ultimately held a revote and chartered the club.

In other business, the Senate turned down a proposed Senate Money Resolution from North Quad Senator Alex Burger '16. The SMR would have allocated $59.50 for game supplies for Polaris Lounge. Senators were wary of setting precedent for funding minor Quad projects such as this. Earlier in the semester, the Senate also rejected an SMR to buy hammocks for Massell Quad.

Club Support Committee chair and Senator at Large Charlotte Franco '15 reported that Club Support had met with Student Activities director Stephanie Grimes, club leaders, other senators and union members two weeks ago to discuss club and general organizational problems throughout the Union. Franco said she expects constitutional and procedural changes to follow.

-Tate Herbert