induction Friday October 23, the salsu officers along with President Wisbey and members Student Life gathered in the Cactus Room for the first ever salsu senate induction. Nineteen of the twenty newly elected senators were in attendance. Five of the senators were appointed during club council; the other fifteen were elected the previous day. This year’s freshmen class is extremely well represented. Each committee has a seat reserved for freshmen (5 seats out of 20 available), but this year three committees have multiple freshmen (9 seats taken out of 20 total). salsu Executive Vice President Jonathan Finau began the ceremony by welcoming everyone to the first ever salsu senate induction. In previous years senators have been elected and immediately got started on their work with their committee. This year Finau wanted to let the senators know how special they are and important their job is. By being sworn into office the senators are making a promise to the students of La Sierra. They will keep the best interests of the students in mind while protecting, preserving, and defending the constitution of La Sierra University. Finau hopes that this will become a tradition in order to emphasize the importance of senators. Religious Vice President J. Murdock opened with prayer.
After an introduction by salsu President Samuel Limbong, University President Randal Wisbey got up to address the new senators. In his message Wisbey read a passage from 1 Thessalonians 2. He challenged the senators to follow Paul’s words from verses 6-8: “ We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” 6
reference as they made decisions throughout the year. Even the salsu officers who aren’t committee chairs emphasized the importance of senators. Alix Lopez emphasized that there are only ten salsu officers, only twenty hands and twenty ears. But having twenty senators triples the number of voices heard and the amount of work that can be done. Financial Vice President Cindy Sihotang remembered getting her start as a freshmen senator on the judicial committee two years ago. She remembers not only changing the balance of power among salsu officers, but also being introduced to what salsu does. At the end of the year she decided to run for office and has been FVP ever since. The senators were seated by committee. They didn’t waste any time getting to work. As they ate lunch they set up meeting times, exchanged contact information, and began brainstorming about what they wanted to do. Religious committee senators Germeen Yousry and Christy Solis have been hard at work helping to organize 4th Down. salsu Social Vice President Kendall Hester immediately put the Social Committee to work. In their short time in office, the senators have already helped out at multiple salsu events, made calls to people about the talent show, and starred in a PR video for Costume Skate Night (youtube.com/salsupr). The other committees have been meeting and discussing their plans to make this year the best possible. salsu Senators 2009-2010
Judicial Committee Seat # 1: Israel Carreon* Seat # 2: Natalie Sayegh* Seat # 3: Jason Slater
Seat # 4: Monique Gramling Seat # 5: Jesus Rodriguez
Emerging Issues Committee Sharing the good news and life as well as being open and availabletostudentsiswhatbeingasenatorisallabout. Wisbey encouraged the new senators to take a cue from last year’s group. They did an excellent job at collaborating with other groups on campus (i.e. working with security to get the fence aroundcampus)anddelegatingtheresponsibilitiesfairly. Then President Limbong and the Committee chairs each had a quick message for the new senators. They all thanked the senators for their commitment. They also made sure the senators knew that they would work. The senators were challenged to amplify the voices of the student body so appropriate changes could be made. After the senators collectively took the oath of office, they got up, one by one, to shake hands with their committee chair, President Wisbey, Yami Bazan, and President Limbong. Each senator received a personalized folder with their name and seat number. The folder contained a copy of the university constitution, so the senators would have a point of
Seat # 6: Kaleb Lane Seat # 7: Ivan Rybkin* Seat # 8: Jestine Le
Seat # 9: Christopher Kaatz Seat # 10: Jennifer Orrala
Social Committee Seat # 11: Brianna Jones Seat # 14: Kyim Mung Seat # 12: Carl Nolasco* Seat # 15: Aubrey Ferguson Seat # 13: Courtney Young Wellness Committee Seat # 16: Charles Meighan Seat # 17: Jeremy Baroi* Seat # 18: Joanna Tampubolon Religious Committee Seat # 19: Christy Solis Seat # 20: Germeen Yousry *senator was selected during club council CRITERION _ Fall 2009 _ 21