The Student Government Association voted Thursday against creating a committee to investigate ways to lower textbook costs.
Anthony White, the author of the bill, expressed frustration and confusion at SGA's decision.
"They don't know their job," he said.
Brian Kennedy, senator and parliamentarian of SGA, also criticized student government's decision.
"I'm definitely not opposed to a decrease in textbooks, but it looks like some on SGA are," Kennedy said.
The bill would have established a committee composed of University of Memphis faculty members, administrators and SGA, who would meet each fiscal year to discuss lowering the cost of textbooks and other classroom materials.
White also proposed a bill that would require student senators to attend a class on parliamentary procedure. The bill was postponed until the next SGA meeting on Nov. 15.
Seth Guess, senator and chairman of the judicial committee, said he didn't think the bill is "necessary."
"I don't think the problem is with the rules," Guess said. "I think the problem is with the senators not learning the rules."
He said the bill would be an unnecessary burden on senators who already knew the rules.
"I don't think it should be mandatory for senators who already know the rules to attend the classes," he said, but added that he wanted senators who didn't know parliamentary procedure to learn.
SGA did pass three bills. One bill, proposed by Kennedy, established a Vending Committee and called for The University to put at least one food and drink machine in the Pan Hellenic building, where SGA meets.
The Vending Committee, according to the bill, "shall be responsible for overseeing and directing the implementation of this act and shall have the power to call for vending machines to be added, removed or relocated at any location."
Kennedy said the purpose of the committee was to establish a group separate from SGA that could "survey and solve" the various vending problems of The University.
Another bill that passed formed an exploratory committee to investigate the possibility of a campus memorial for all U of M students who, in the words of the bill, "suffer a loss of life while enrolled at The University of Memphis."
Kenneth Taylor, the author of the campus memorial committee bill, also proposed a bill that called for the construction of a brick wall where students could write any biased remarks that anyone had ever said to them.
The project, called "Tearing Down the Wall," was sent to the special committee in charge of the recently declared U of M Peace and Unity Day, which was also established by one of Taylor's bills.
Another bill would have made it mandatory for professors and lecturers to put their syllabi online three weeks before the beginning of each semester, but because its author Olufemi Oladinni was absent, the bill was postponed.
Kayla Thomas, junior film major, said she enjoys having syllabi early.
"I like to know what to expect from the teacher up front," she said.
