The Student Union Senate this week chartered the Queer Policy Alliance and continued discussing an amendment to the Senate's bylaws, which would alter the process for chartering and recognizing clubs.

The Senate unanimously recognized and chartered the Queer Policy Alliance, which said its main goal is to advocate for LGBTQ rights by lobbying local, state and national government officials. The club is intended to be bipartisan and publish a newsletter to help inform the Brandeis community about LGBTQ political issues. The club representatives said they could not join Triskelion-an issue brought up by several senators-because of the new club's clear political focus.

The Senate then moved on to Senate committee reports, of which only one--the Club Support Committee-met this week.

The Senate passed a Senate Money Resolution totaling $66 to provide for printing supplies to post the photos of Student Union members on the bulletin board in Usdan, near the mailroom.

Massell Quad Senator Jonathan Jacob '16 proposed a SMR totaling $404 for new hammocks and picnic tables in Massell Quad. Jacob said that he consulted with his Community Development Coordinator and discovered that the University would not sponsor hammocks because they are a potential "safety hazard." The Senate unanimously agreed to table the SMR "until further notice," because many senators thought other methods of funding the furniture could be explored.

The Senate also discussed a bylaw amendment that had been proposed at last week's senate meeting. Executive Senator and Senator for the Class of 2014 Ricky Rosen, Senator for the Class of 2013 David Fisch and Senator at Large Charlotte Franco '15 presented the amendment, which aims to alter the club chartering and recognition process.

The amendment would consolidate the process so that all votes on recognition would occur on the first Sunday of every month, while all votes on chartering would take place on the third Sunday of every month.

This week, several senators voiced opposition to this part of the amendment because they said it would make the system too rigid and make the process more inconvenient for students.

The amendment also added a requirement of 100 signatures of interested students in order for a club to be recognized, while none would be needed to charter a club.

Clubs currently need signatures of 10 prospective members and no student supporters to be considered for recognition. Signatures of 15 prospective members and 135 student supporters are needed to be chartered. A chartered club can request funds from the Finance Board while a recognized one cannot.

The Senate bylaws do not require that a club be recognized before it is chartered, although that has been the practice of the Senate over the past year.

Senators also objected to this section of the amendment, saying that chartered clubs should be required to obtain signatures because they are able to request money from the F-Board and thus should need to show continued student support.

Sunny Aidasani '14 was also sworn in as Off-Campus Senator, a position fraught with questions since Dean Kaplan '15 was erroneously sworn into the position on Sept. 23. Kaplan has since challenged his removal from office and been denied on appeal by the student judiciary.

-Andrew Wingens