Student Senate recognizes 500 Family, Students for a More Accessible Campus

11/13/08 - The University of Rhode Island Student Senate voted last night to recognize two new student organizations. The 500 Family was approved in a mixed vote following a brief discussion of the group's mission statement.

The goal of the 500 Family is to promote diversity on campus by closing the gap between broad and narrow interest groups through a variety of activities, including programming.

The senate shot down a bill calling for approval of the organization two weeks ago following protracted debate. Opposition to the group centered on whether its mission statement conflicted with senate bylaws.

The 500 Family returned to the table with a reworked mission statement and explanations of the benefits the group will provide to the URI community.

"For the past week, I have been thinking to myself, 'How does this organization negatively affect the community?' and if it doesn't negatively affect the community, the only thing that remains is to benefit," said sophomore Lowell Williams, the group's president.

Student Organization Advisory and Review Committee (SOARC) chairwoman Amanda Clarke explained the vote after the meeting.

"I just think people had a problem with specifics, very specific, their mission statement didn't really portray what they wanted to do and it was confusing to some people," Clarke said. "I think that the new one really encompasses what they want to do and it's a lot more clear."

A number of senators spoke on behalf of the group, including President Tom Ahrens.

"The point of the whole group is ... they want to help bring people together who in the past don't even feel appropriate having the conversation start," Ahrens said.

He added it is a service the university currently lacks.

The group was recognized as a Level III organization, meaning that it will not receive a regular senate budget, but will be eligible to apply for contingency grants.

The second organization to be recognized by the senate was the Students for a More Accessible Campus, or SFAMAC.

SFAMAC intends to increase awareness of accessibility issues on campus for persons with disabilities.

President Krista Simeone, a sophomore, said the group seeks to incorporate both disabled and non-disabled students as members in an attempt to broaden the group's effectiveness.

A similar organization at URI, Students for Accessibility, failed in the past because it limited membership to students with disabilities, who comprise only 1 percent of the student population, Simeone said.

The group will focus both on accessibility issues for members of the URI community with permanent disabilities and those whose mobility has been limited by a temporary injury.

"Everybody in SFAMAC knows that accessibility is important because this campus could be [inaccessible] to them one day," Simeone said. "They could hurt themselves and have to be on crutches in the dead of winter, and then they'll see how [inaccessible] it is."

Simeone said the group plans to spread awareness and raise money for Disability Services through a variety of events.

One event currently in the planning stages would involve making wheelchairs available to students interested in experiencing the challenges facing those with disabilities for a day.

Another issue Simeone said the group hopes to address is the problem of students with disabilities who have not registered with Disability Services.

Whether because they do not know or they do not feel comfortable associating themselves with Disability Services, two thirds of disabled students on campus are not registered, Simeone said.

Simeone said this prevents Disability Services from providing the necessary accommodations.

Among the senators who spoke on the group's behalf was Anthony Sinapi.

"Disability Services, most people don't know about this until it's too late," Sinapi said. "Disability Services needs a voice, because right now, if they're advertising, no one's hearing it."

SFAMAC was recognized at Level IV, which means that it will not be eligible for any funding under senate bylaws.



In other news:

Ahrens announced Chief Operations Officer (COO) Josh Feinberg had stepped down from senate due to complications in his schedule. The senate voted to amend its bylaws to eliminate the COO position, citing the position's inefficiency. Feinberg was to continue to serve out his term before the amendments would come into effect.

Ahrens announced the monthly meeting of the Narragansett URI Coalition will be held Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. He said he was unsure about the location, but that it would probably be held at the town hall. The goal of the coalition is to build community bonds between the town and URI. The meeting will be open to the public.