SGA officially withdraws proposed unicameral changes, introduces new house rules

The Student Government Association publicly withdrew the unicameral proposal Monday night and instead introduced stricter regulations for participation in the House of Representatives.

"When we came up with Proposal 1, we didn't expect this much feedback," said Shelby Township senior and SGA President Vince Cavataio. "And now that we know that we can get feedback, we can now pursue having a proposal that reflects the wishes of the student body."

Cavataio said while his administration is open to discussion on the future reformed proposal, the unicameral proposal will not be put on the ballot. To do so would distract the SGA from its role on campus, he said.

"We would have had to focus so much of our resources in passing the unicameral if we chose to put it on the ballot," Cavataio said. "With the proposal out of the way, we can focus on doing other things."

New rules were introduced Monday night to reform the House. Student representatives can no longer bring laptop computers to the House meetings, even for note-taking. A new business casual dress code was also introduced, which bans torn jeans, sweat pants, yoga pants or other questionable attire to meetings.

Lastly, a no-tolerance policy for disorder was introduced. Interrupting the speaker or speaking out of turn will result first in a warning, and if the behavior continues, will result in dismissal. In the case of dismissal, the offending RSO would be in danger of losing good standing with the SGA.

Students had mixed reactions to the new policy. Louis Weems, a Saginaw senior representing Universities Allied For Essential Medicine, said he did not agree with the new regulations.

"I'm laid back and I don't really like them. I don't think they were necessary," Weems said. "We've had no problems with being professional."

Andrew Gac, a representative of the fraternity Sigma Tau Gamma and Troy senior, disagreed with Weems. Gac said he thought the new regulations would be a positive change.

"The regulations are a good thing," Gac said. "They promote professional conduct in the house, which should always be supported and encouraged"