The Senate met on Sunday to vote on the recognition of several clubs and the amendment of one club's constitution, as well as to determine their support for designating specific smoking areas on campus, among several other initiatives.

East Quad Senator Andrew Savage '16 presented on the de-recognition and de-chartering of clubs that are defunct. The Senate voted unanimously to de-recognition of the Brandeis Aviation Club, which has not responded to email and has not been active on Facebook.

Next, the Deis Kernel Club approached the Senate for recognition. This club would be a computer science club aimed at providing a platform for talks by students, following the style of TED Talks. Its purpose would be to teach about the abstract side of computer science, which they argued was fundamentally different from the goal of the Brandeis Initiative for Technology Machine and Programming, the reincarnation of the Computer Operators Group. The other group seeks to explain how programs work; this group would aim to talk about academic computer science. Deis Kernel was recognized with 12 in favor, two abstentions and one dissent.

Next, the Chamber of Music Club approached the Senate, seeking recognition. The club plans to perform music at nearby locations, including nursing homes. Senators were concerned that the club was run mostly by students from one class and would not continue in future semesters. However, senators arguing in favor noted that the club wanted recognition to have access to practice spaces. They also noted that the club had already held one successful event. Several senators were concerned that this club should initially place itself within Waltham Group so it could gain from their resources. Eventually the Senate came to a consensus that the club had the right to choose whether to be a part of Waltham Group, so they only suggested it as a resource to which the club could turn. The club was recognized with 14 in favor and one abstention.

Next, one student presented on behalf of the chartered African Dance Club to amend its constitution to allow for the incorporation of drumming. The amendment was passed with 14 in favor and one abstention.

The Senate then reconvened on an issue that had been tabled two weeks prior regarding its support for the demarcation of specific smoking areas on campus. Members of the Colleges Against Cancer group on campus sought support from the Senate for their initiative. The Senate chose not to support the initiative, recommending instead the demarcation of specific non-smoking areas. Several senators said they would support the initiative personally, but the Senate agreed that they could not support it as representatives, because they had constituents that disagreed with the initiative.

In her report, Executive Senator Annie Chen '14 reminded senators that, yesterday, a rebranding meeting would be taking place. Chen reported that the meeting would cover how Brandeis represents itself, including a decision between being the "judges" or the "owls."

Following these announcements, the Senate began executive senator nominations for the semester-long position that Chen currently holds. Chen, Senator-at-Large Daniel Schwab '14 and Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf were all nominated and accepted. A vote will occur to fill the position during the Senate's final meeting this semester on Dec. 8.

Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina '16 said in the Social Justice and Diversity Committee report that Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel asked that the Senate help in his effort to improve the Brandeis website by gathering examples of successful websites from other colleges. DePina also reported that the committee decided to postpone the poetry slam to next semester, following issues booking a location this semester.

The Sustainability Committee reported that it was approved for a Brandeis Sustainability Fund grant to install 60 toilets with dual-flush capability. The committee is also working to have a sustainability coordinator hired to fill the vacant position, for which there is a salary allotted but no employee.


-Sarah Rontal