The Seventh ASSU Undergraduate Senate met last night to discuss changes to publication distribution policy, ease the transfer of power to recently elected ASSU leaders and approve funding bills for various student groups. The newly elected Eighth Undergraduate Senate, slated to take power on May 16, elected incumbent Senator Hershey Avula, a sophomore, as the future Chair of the Eighth Senate.

The meeting opened with a comment from ASSU Financial Manager Justin Fishner-Wolfson concerning the ASSU’s 2007 fiscal year budget.

According to Fishner-Wolfson, the budget increased from $194,000 this year to $214,000 as a result of a larger endowment payout.

“This larger payout is based on a larger endowment, which is a function of business and investment returns,” he said.

The Senate passed this budget pending action by the Graduate Student Council (GSC).

Newly elected ASSU President Elizabeth Heng, a junior, updated the Senate on the Executive Committee’s progress.

“[Vice President Lauren Graham, a junior] and I have spoken to the administration and the ASSU publications director to help implement a standard democratic process for door-to-door distribution,” Heng said. “Next year, each residence will have an online balloting system that will give them four options: door-to-door distribution, no door-to-door distribution, distribution in the resident mailboxes (to be installed over the summer), and door-to-door distribution with distribution in mailboxes.”

In an email to The Daily, Heng also described efforts to reform the Absolute Fun program and also make “Dead Week dead.”

“Instead of having Absolute Fun as a separate programming group that

plans major events, we want to use Absolute Fun as a way to obtain funding for large scale events such as Full Moon on the Quad, Mausoleum Party, the Movie Express, Stanford Idol and Erotic Hypnotist,” Heng wrote. “We want to institutionalize these events with different student groups and leaders on campus so that there is a designated group who oversees that these traditions carry on each year.”

Concerning the future of Dead Week, Heng wrote, “We’ve identified key faculty members that we have and will be approaching to push for this agenda. We are currently drafting a proposal and will present it to the Faculty Senate.”

The Senate then approved a Publications Funding Bill for Prism-Book & Art Review to publish an issue completed during winter quarter and also an issue to be completed this spring.

The recently-elected Eighth Undergraduate Senate chose by secret ballot Avula to be chair, effective May 16.

Avula, a sophomore and member of the Appropriations and Campus Advocacy Committees, described his goals for his term as Senate Chair.

“I would like our primary goal to be expanding our communication,” Avula said. “Last year we had excellent communication with the GSC and the Executive Committee, and I would like to communicate effectively with other groups and be personable with other groups.”

Avula also outlined his personal goals as senate chair.

“Having another year on the Senate will be a whole new learning experience for me,” he said, “because this year I learned the administrative skills, for example learning how to write bills, and next year I hope to develop the personal skills and relationships to help other Senators and student groups succeed.”

One idea Avula proposed is a mobile Senate, which would “periodically move the Senate location to residences and dining halls across campus to reach students who aren’t the usual audience for our meetings.

“This would improve the communication with the student body which would be great because I want more students to know what the ASSU does,” he added.

In the meeting’s funding bills, the Senate approved budget modification for Muslim Student Awareness Network, the Pilipino American Student Union, Stanford Cardinal Broadcasting Network, Stanford Alpine Ski Team, Stanford Cycling Team, Student Initiated Courses, Club Sports, Stanford Capoeira, Volunteers in Latin America, Stanford Martial Arts Program, ASSU Speakers Bureau (pending GSC vote) and the Stanford Band.

The legislative body also approved reserve transfer bills to support the Stanford Organizing Committee for the Arts, the Muslim Student Awareness Network and the ASSU Concert Network.