The subcommittee’s recommendations for changes focused mainly on a reordering of the handbook, rewording some Grounds for Disciplinary Action, and inclusion of a flowchart representing the judicial process. The subcommittee was chaired by Peter Naccarato III and included Dean Travis Apgar, the senior judicial administrator; sophomore Suba Ganesan, the chair of the judicial board; fourth year architecture student David Fannon, vice-chair of the Judicial Board; senior James Tantillo, former student senator; and junior Adam Jubanowsky, a recently re-appointed member of the E-Board.

Chairman Naccarato said, “The major change is a reordering of the content of the handbook so that things are easier to find.” He described the current edition of the handbook as “obtuse” in places and said, “Hopefully, these changes will help students to understand their rights.”

Currently, the handbook is organized into two categories, “Student Rights and Responsibilities” and “Additional Policies.” The recommendations call for the handbook to be broken into “The Rights Section,” “The Judicial System,” and “Judicial Policies.”

Another suggested change to the handbook is to cite the policies from which certain sections are drawn. Naccarato explained this is so the “average user understands [that] some of the policies [in] the book were not created for the book, but instead, are from other documents governed by other bodies.”

Naccarato said the suggested changes to the grounds of disciplinary actions are intended to clarify their true meaning. He cited one GDA that the subcommittee felt currently focuses more on a student’s refusal to present identification than the non-compliance involved in their action.

In addition to suggesting changes to DOSO, the subcommittee also recommended policy changes to the Institute Legal Counsel and the Health Center. These suggested changes would guarantee protection from ex-post-facto trials, modify the Student Bill of Rights and Non-Discrimination Policy, and clarify the current alcohol policy.

The suggested changes in the non-discrimination policy call for adding gender identity and sex identity to the equal opportunity statement. It also modified the mention of Vietnam veteran status to simply veteran status.

Subcommittee member Suba Ganesan said the suggested changes to the alcohol policy include a slight reordering of the policy and also reinforce the law prohibiting underage drinking. Naccarato said these changes simply “codify the current status quo.”

The suggested new part of the policy would read, “Publicly visible displays of any alcohol related items or materials, including but not limited to alcoholic beverage containers (empty or full), banners, or signs are not allowed in any residential facility. Additionally, students under the age of 21 may not possess alcoholic beverage containers (including, but not limited to, bottles, cans, etc.) in their residential facility.”

According to subcommittee member Suba Ganesan, “our changes clarify current policy [and] enhance what is already there.” She continued to say that the changes will make for a handbook that is in a more “student friendly format.”

When the Senate voted on the recommendations, Senator Bob Fishel said that the alcohol sign policy was a restriction of freedom of expression. The Senate then asked if after the recommendations are approved, they could be modified to reflect the changes the Senate wanted to see. To this, Nacaratto explained his reluctance to do so as the subcommittee meetings have been public for months and that was the time for the recommendations to be drafted.

Nacaratto said students who want to be involved in the revision process of the handbook should get involved with the subcommittee. For those interested, he suggested sending an e-mail to senate-cjsr@union.rpi.edu.