RPC treasurer appointed deputy treasurer of Student Association

By Drew Keller     10/19/16 1:17am

The Student Association Senate voted nearly unanimously Monday night to appoint Ameesh Shah, the current Rice Program Council Treasurer, as the first SA Deputy Treasurer.

Shah, a Jones College sophomore, will assume the new role immediately. As Deputy Treasurer, a position created by the Senate in a bill passed Sept. 12, Shah will assist Treasurer Maurice Frediere with the SA’s financial tasks.

One of these tasks is management of blanket tax funds, which are distributed to estabilished campus organizations including roughly $46,000 for RPC to run each Beer Bike and $57,000 annually for other RPC events (the Thresher also receives $57,000 yearly).

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SA President Griffin Thomas said a conflict of interest between Shah’s RPC and SA roles would not be an issue, in response to a question at the Senate meeting before the vote.

“We’ve had a long conversation about this,” Thomas, a Lovett College senior, said. “If he were to be treasurer of the SA and treasurer of RPC, that might be a problem. But as deputy treasurer, he is not going to be supervising or overseeing RPC.”

Frediere, a Duncan College sophomore, said Shah would be a non-voting member of the blanket tax committee but would be expected to recuse himself during voting regarding RPC.

Frediere selected Shah for the position after sending applications for the position to the SA listserv several weeks ago. Last year, Shah served in the Senate as a New Student Representive. He was confirmed with two abstentions and no votes against.

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