The SGA voted unanimously Wednesday to support the adoption of a Good Samaritan policy, a move some students said they hope will urge other university bodies to enact similar legislation.

While the Student Government Association’s vote won’t bring the policy to the campus, members said the resolution’s passage may prompt the University Senate to reconsider the decision they made earlier this week to delay a vote on the policy.

Stacia Cosner, president of the university chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy and a member of the senate, said she informed the senators on the Student Conduct Committee about the resolution’s passage, but she has not received an response.

“[The vote] should have some weight, right?” Cosner said. “Students are told that they have democratic responsibilities and powers, but then when they do try to do something, the university doesn’t do anything.”

The Good Samaritan policy, as passed by the SGA, would protect drug users and underage drinkers from disciplinary action when they request medical assistance for dangerously intoxicated friends.

“This is a matter of students’ lives; life versus death,” said Kevin Tervala, an SGA legislator.

The SGA’s resolution includes an amendment clarifying that crimes committed while intoxicated, such as damage to property or violence against others, would still be punished. Some members said confusion over which crimes would be punished may make the senate hesitant to enact the policy.

Though members passed the resolution, three amendments that were ultimately struck down sparked debate among legislators.

The most hotly contested amendment supported the idea of a student survey designed to gauge desire for the policy. A similar idea was floated by the senate to gather data before the Good Samaritan bill comes to a vote.

Some SGA members believed the survey would only be a waste of time while students were still in danger without the Good Samaritan policy.

“We are the survey,” said SGA Senior Vice President Brad Docherty. “We are the voice of the students.”

Others, however, acknowledging the SGA’s ability to persuade policymakers rather than to enact policy themselves, said the survey would help add legitimacy to the policy.

“The senate wants numbers,” said SGA legislator Matt Verghese. “Who better to [gauge opinion] than the students?”

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