Ledger

Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News

After a rough term, student government now has three more senators - and a more diverse representation of the student body.
The senate approved Dawna Bryant, Frank Preckel and Bonnie Rico to the senate on Dec. 7 and the new senators assumed duties at the beginning of winter quarter. The two women and one graduate student add more diversity to the previously male-dominated senate.

Rico is a senior in the IAS program with a concentration in Politics and Values. She is part of the ACLU and decided to apply for the senator position after goading from a friend, the president of ACLU.

"I don't necessarily get things done, but I stir people up. If I can't start the fire, I'll get someone else to start the fire," Rico said. Part of Rico's interest in the senate position began after the impeachment of Tommy Bauer.

"I wasn't necessarily against Tommy Bauer being impeached. It's the way they went about it that wasn't legitimate," Rico said.
Rico would like to see improvements in childcare on campus and hopes to start a childcare program on campus at UWT where the children of students, staff and faculty can be looked after during classes or work days.
Wil Johnson, president of the Associated Students of University of Washington Tacoma, is glad the new senators come from different backgrounds.

"We have more boots in the sand," said Johnson. "It means we have more senatorthat can be involved in more places around campus."

Johnson hopes the new senators will help ASUWT better represent the campus as a whole since one of the new senators is a graduate student and the others are female.
Frank Preckel is the first graduate student to serve as a senator on ASUWT this year.
"[Preckel] brings a certain depth of experience, what he adds to the team is great," said Johnson.

The last of the new senators is Dawna Bryant. She is a junior in the Social Welfare concentration at UWT and has a background in student organizations, according to Johnson who worked with Bryant at Pierce College.

"A lot of people would benefit from being involved," Bryant said. Her goal is to get more people involved on campus.

Five students applied to the ASUWT senate positions. They were interviewed by a three-member panel, in accordance with ASUWT bylaws. The panel included Johnson, ASUWT Senator Richard Cardenas, and Cheryl Coates, who is the Vice President of the Association of Student Accountants.

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