ASUO Senate Meeting recap, or “Nipping it in the bud”
I’ve got a lot of ground to cover in this post, so I’m going to use the bulleted format that’s been so popular in the past. We had several rejections
- Our top story (Things people who read the blog might actually care about edition): After discussions with ASUO President Emma Kallaway and her staffers, the Athletic Department has scrapped its ticketing system, replacing it with a “tiered” one in which students will log on to get tickets at different times based on their class standing, like the one for the 2008-09. At least for the Nov. 14 Arizona State game. They are still open for suggestions about how to do the Civil War on Dec. 3. If you have any ideas, send them along, because I’m pretty sure they’re desperate. (READ MORE BELOW THE FOLD!)
- Our top story (People who care more about political minutiae than football edition): The ASUO is still without an elections coordinator. The Senate rejected President Emma Kallaway’s appointment, senior Ian Rocker, overwhelmingly. There was definitely something personal somewhere in the room (former Forensics Speech and Debate teammate Sen. Hailey Sheldon: “I didn’t notice in you the leadership quality that is required to complete this job during Forensics.”). However, he also piqued reservations by being confused about the identity of the office to which he should be reporting, and by saying, for instance, that he had never had to face a difficult situation before.
- You had to feel sorry for the guy, but it might have been a blessing. “This is a dog-eat-dog position and it requires patience,” Sheldon said, “and I have yet to see anyone do it it well.” Poisoned chalice is more like it. The Senate was unhappy not to receive someone who knew the first thing about the ASUO, but people within the executive told me afterwards that was because nobody in who knew the first thing about the ASUO would be so daft as to take it. From above, you’ve got pressure from the administration not to expose the University to a lawsuit. From all other sides, you’ve got pressure from candidates alleging all kinds of outrageous things, demanding you do something about them. And let’s not even talk about the internecine workings of the elections board itself.
- The hot tip for the next appointee to the coordinator’s position, I’ve heard through the grapevine, is College Democrats president and former ASUO presidential candidate Ryan McCarrel.
- Four people were confirmed: three elections board members (Tomas Webster, Max Sugarman and Ben Fisher), all of whom put on a clinic of Senate-charming, and new Sen. Ben Fisher, whose Senate-charming performance was, even by comparison, a masterclass. He’s a law student and will represent graduate and law students. He’s also a close friend of Sen. Sandy Weintraub’s. There are two grad-law seats, but Weintraub, a law student, said he’d been unable to find a graduate student interested since sociology GTF Christina Ergas’ resignation during the summer.
- One person who wasn’t there was Xavier Aranda, the man rebuffed at last week’s Wednesday Senate meeting, but whom the Constitution Court ruled eligible for his seat. Nobody knew why, though they guessed it was a personal emergency. I expect we’ll hear a reason next week if he does stand for confirmation. If not, who can blame him? His experience last week was probably too traumatic. Anyone who knows any better than I, pleas oblige me with an explanation in the comments.
- Senate President Nick Gower took the opportunity to say that he was surprised and appalled to learn that University tuition had increased by 15.4 percent since Fall 2008, not 7.9 percent, as stated in the University’s figures, because the University counted the $150-350 tuition surcharge in its figures. The man must not read the Emerald. In four separate articles the Emerald mentioned this. One was a Robert D’Andrea column from this summer, the other an article I wrote in Back to the Books that seemingly is not on the Emerald’s Web site, while Alex Zielinski, in an article from August and one from September mentions the number in passing. Gower said, “I don’t think that it was portrayed in the way that it actually occurred,” of the budget meeting at which it was proposed. Dean of Students Paul Shang, of course, defended it, saying, “If there was a misunderstanding, it was something that was unintentional.”
- Sens. Max Barkley and Tyler Griffin also made a presentation about the changes a city ordinance slated for a hearing Nov. 9 would make to DPS’ power, granting the campus police force power to issue a greater range of penalties for violations. They expressed what appeared to be tentative discomfort with the proposal, for which Weintraub and Shang shut them down hard. But it’s a story that will continue. Maybe a certain Oregon Commentator contributor wants to write something about it? Maybe for the next issue? Maybe I’m talking about myself? Maybe.
