The ASSU Undergraduate Senate adjourned Tuesday evening after approving funding for Full Moon on the Quad, discussing Nominations Commission openings and several bills on previous notice and passing the week’s funding bills.

Full Moon

Sophomore Class Presidents Misha Nasro and Maxine Litre requested funding for Full Moon on the Quad from the ASSU traditions fund, money set aside last year by the 11th Undergraduate Senate for campus-wide traditions.

On Tuesday, the Senate re-approved $5,000 for Full Moon on the Quad, which will be supplemented by funding from Stanford Concert Network and the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs.

The event, which was officially cancelled last year due to swine flu (H1N1) concerns, has been planned for Oct. 25 by a sophomore class yet to experience the festivities in full.

This year’s Full Moon celebrations fall on a Monday night and will begin at Old Union due to noise concerns in the Quad, after which the Band will escort partygoers to the Quad for the countdown to midnight.

Nominations Commission

Stephanie Garrett ’12, chair of the Nominations Commission, briefed the Senate on problems the commission has been facing in filling positions on its various committees.

It also came to Garrett’s attention this week that the organization’s website is not functioning. Garrett urged those who have applied or still wish to apply for a position to e-mail the Nominations Commission directly.

Appropriations

Appropriations Committee Chair Rafael Vasquez ’12 reported Tuesday on the committee’s lengthy Friday evening meeting, during which senators completed a review of all general-fees policies. A similar review process, the results of which will affect the 2011-2012 academic year, will take place for special fees in the coming weeks.

Vasquez described the general fees review process and said that funding for student groups this year will be “very data-driven” as part of an effort to make the process more clear to financial officers.

“Every single line item will be explained this year,” Vasquez said.

Friday’s Appropriations Committee meeting also included interviews with financial officers seeking budget approval for their volunteer student organizations.

Juany Torres ’13 said of the committee meeting, “We got very positive feedback from the groups that came to see us.”

Senate Treasurer Stewart Macgregor-Dennis ’13 reported Tuesday on the Senate’s “take-back rate,” the amount of money unspent each year by undergraduate student groups and returned to the Appropriations Committee.

Macgregor-Dennis reported last year’s rate as around $27,000, which, after further investigation, the Appropriations Committee may be permitted to dispense along with its normal budget this year.

The Senate discussed several bills on previous notice, including the first part of a fiscal reform package, a bill to establish standardized bill nomenclature, a bill to schedule Senate office hours and a bill to encourage the creation of a digital Senate archive.

Funding bills of the evening were approved for the following student groups: Pakistanis at Stanford, Orientacion, Spicmacay and Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND).