Following hours of debate, one recess, and a senator exodus from the library conference room to Weter Lounge, Senate voted at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday to overturn an appeal decision of the Election Task Force (ETF) committee. In turn, this decision also led to another vote to push back the date of the 2008-2009 Senate elections until next Thursday, May 15.

The appeal, brought forth by senator candidate Brice Budke, occurred because of a miscommunication problem between himself, ASSP Vice President Andrew Huskamp and ETF, Budke said.

Wanting to run unopposed for personal reasons, Budke had initially stated that he would be running for Senator of the School of Business and Economics, he said. Later, he wanted to switch to Senator-at-large and was told by ETF that according to procedural guidelines, he could no longer do so, he said.

Budke said he appealed the decision because of unclear procedure guidelines. This year, the guidelines had not been submitted to Senate by ETF as asked for in the constitution because the committee had not known about this requirement, ETF chair Kayla Bergquist said. She apologized to Senate for not knowing about this requirement.

Before Budke's appeal, ETF presented a set of guidelines to be approved by Senate. Senators raised concerns as to passing guidelines in the middle of an election process. Debate also ensued as to the amount candidates would be allowed to spend on their campaigns.

Finally, the guidelines passed with an amendment that "ETF is accountable to Senate through the executive vice president" and that appeals overruled by ETF could be challenged by candidates in Senate. The campaign spending amount remained at $25 for each candidate.

Following the amendment, Senate voted to overturn ETF's decision by allowing Budke to choose which position he will be running for.

Some debate followed as to the constitutional power of ETF and how the elections should now proceed in order to make them equitable.

While the idea of restarting the entire process was mentioned by ETF committee member Kevin McFarland, ultimately Senate voted to move the date of the elections.

Faculty liaison Darrel Allen said that in order to be fair, Senate should notify other candidates that they could also now appeal what position they were running for.

In other business:

-Senate allocated $2395.03 to the men's club Centurions. This will fund their mission to Bozeman, Montana, where they will help prepare a Christian outdoor camp, Lion's Ridge, for the summer.

-A proposal to fund $225 to KSPU for an acoustic concert in Weter Lounge on Monday, May 19, passed as requested by the finance board. The concert will feature student artists Aurora, Brier Rose and local artist John Van Deusen of The Lonely Forest. The event is free to all SPU students but is not open to the public.

-The proposal to allocate $278 to Acting on Aids club members Rachel Bechtel, Tina Stockhouse and Laura Kesl to attend the Summit on the Hill Conference in Washington, D.C., passed as amended from finance board.

-Commuter Senator Cory Deppe presented Senate with the idea of creating a commuter council. The commuter student body represents 47 percent of ASSP, and the council would provide opportunities for commuter students. Discussion about the proposal, which would require constitutional changes, was tabled until next week due to time.