The Student Senate, in its last regular meeting before Thanksgiving, finished off its judicial appointments, created a committee to look into the political party system on campus, and raised questions regarding the operation of the Rules and Elections Committee.
In the first minutes of the meeting, the Senate confirmed the three remaining appointments for the Judicial Board quickly and by unanimous consent. These appointments were on hold because the appointees were unable to attend the previous meeting, and the Senate did not feel comfortable confirming their appointments without them in attendance.
Later in the meeting, a motion was introduced by Senator Matthew Newman ’05 forming a committee to look into the place of campus political parties. The motion was passed by the Senate. The committee will report back to the Senate with a recommendation to either abolish the political party system, have political parties year-round, or something in between. Currently, political parties may exist and meet only after candidates have been nominated during GM week.
“We either need to create real parties, or we need get rid or the system,” said Newman. “The current system, where parties only exist for GM Week, won’t increase interest.”
RNE Chair David Scherzer said that the current system allows political parties to evade sanctions. He feels that if political parties do exist, it will be much easier to hold them accountable if they existed year-round.
A presentation given by a group called “Two Sense” addressed the issue of student interest on campus. The group provided the Senate with a quick five-minute presentation about how students felt they were represented and what interest they had in student government. Almost all of those surveyed felt their involvement in student government was poor, but many said they would participate more if it were easier to do so. They had never been to a Senate meeting but said that they enjoyed seeing how student government worked and enjoyed the debate that took place.
During committee reports, RNE’s membership was challenged by Senator Bob Fishel ’07. According to the Senate bylaws, all “members-at-large shall be approved by a majority of a selection committee” composed of the various heads of student government. Fishel contends that the members appointed by RNE Chair David Scherzer are members-at-large who have not been approved properly. Scherzer said, “RNE feels that it is in compliance with the Senate bylaws, and this is a tactic of certain senators to vent their anger with certain RNE members.”
Fishel stated that it was his intention to take the case before the Judicial Board for a decision if the matter wasn’t settled.
