Senate approves Judicial Board appointments, seeks new treasurer

The Student Senate approved new Judicial Board appointments on October 19. The J-Board oversees “a huge variety” of cases, ranging from reckless driving to suspending fraternities. The members appointed at this meeting will eventually make the decisions for future cases.

The appointments of Jonathan Batiste ’23, Liam Makosky ’22, Anya Jewell ’24, and graduate student Peter Brian passed unanimously. The appointment of William Allen ’24 to the J-Board passed 18-1-0. Talulah Patch ’24, who voted against Allen’s appointment, told The Polytechnic: “I think he is a great guy, but he was very rule-oriented and seemed to lack a certain compassion for student mistakes. He will be a fantastic member of the board nonetheless.”

To remind students to complete their weekly COVID-19 testing, emails with startling phrasing have been sent out every Wednesday night. An example email from the week of October 14 reads:

“You are receiving this notice because you failed to complete your mandatory on-campus weekly COVID-19 test at The Armory. You must test tomorrow to remain in good standing with Rensselaer Health and Safety Policies and Protocols and to maintain campus building access. If you have an on-campus COVID-19 test already scheduled in DIAL for Thursday, October 14th, please keep that appointment and disregard this message.”

Grand Marshal Cait Bennett ’22 reported “fixing those COVID emails,” so they are not as alarming. “The urgent ones should now be a little less scary when you get them...more like, ‘here’s a reminder that you’re supposed to do this.’” Bennett cannot change when these emails are sent out, so for the time being, those who get tested on Thursdays should disregard the reminder emails that roll out on the Wednesday night before.

Bennett also gave some insight on the Senate’s treasurer position. She elaborated that Jeffrey Chai ’22 has been standing in for treasurer, as he had previously held the position, but “once the Freshman elections happen, we’re going to start looking for somebody to fill the role for the next coming year.” Bennett added that a pair of “new eyes” would get to experience what the Senate is like and stay in the position longer than a senior would be able.