Dude, why is your gavel so loud today?
ASPC President Jed Cullen ’10 convened the meeting at 5:04 p.m.
It’s a Living Document…
Cullen then introduced 2010 ASPC Elections Commissioner Mark Simon ’10. Simon passed out his report on possible amendments to the ASPC elections code. He introduced these proposed and suggested points one-by-one to the senate.
Hsuanwei and a jackhammer vie for “Most Interesting Senate Distraction”
Commissioner of Off-Campus Relations Hsuanwei Fan ’10 entered the room at 5:09 p.m. For the first 30 minutes of the meeting, a maintenance worker was operating a jackhammer outside on the steps of Neil Gerard’s 36 million dollar campus center. Pressing on despite such distractions, Cullen proposed that the senate discuss Mark’s four points one-by-one. The first point was that a typo in the elections code stipulated the incorrect end time for elections. Instead of quickly passing a motion to amend said typo, the senate debated the variety of changes that could be made to the code. The motion eventually proposed was to change the starting time to 9:00 p.m. the day before elections and extending the time 24 hours until 9:00 p.m. the next day. The motion was passed unanimously.
Red Bull “expected but not required” to survive senate meetings
Just after Cullen began the discussion of the second point, Senior Class President Calvin Kagan ’10 then rejoined the meeting carrying a Red Bull. The discussion that ensued did, in fact, require wings. The senate debated whether or not candidates should be required to submit statements at election forums in Frank and Frary. Ultimately, a motion to require candidates to attend forums failed, and a motion was passed to call attendance “expected but not required.”
“Substantial” VP to be in charge of your student fees…
To demonstrate the unserious manner in which some candidates view the forums, Cullen asked future Vice President for Finance Cosimo Thawley ’11 how long his speech was at the most recent forum. Thawley answered, “Substantial… about 25 seconds.”
If at first you don’t succeed…
Discussion of Simon’s four suggested amendments ended around 5:50 p.m. Junior Class President Wintaye Gebru ’11 then brought up the question of whether or not candidates should be permitted to endorse write-ins—who are prohibited from speaking at candidate forums—in their speeches. After some debate, Gebru proposed that write-ins be allowed to speak at election forums. With just two votes in favor, the motion did not pass. Gebru then proposed that write-ins be allowed neither to speak at forums nor be endorsed in candidates’ speeches, in order to ensure fairness. The motion narrowly passed.
Mr. Stewart takes a stand
Commissioner of Sports and Clubs Rylan Stewart ’10 called the aforementioned motion “entirely undemocratic,” saying also, “I’m surprised.” After a convoluted discussion, Commissioner of Academic Affairs Scott Levy ’10 asked if there was some way he could strike down Gebru’s motion. Associate Dean of Students and Smith Campus Center Director Neil Gerard and Smith Campus Center Assistant Director Ellie Ash informed him that there were, in fact, many ways that he could motion to strike down the motion. Of these many options, Levy chose to motion to rescind the previous motion. Nearly an hour and a half after the meeting began, the motion to rescind the previous motion was passed, but not until after Cullen passed his gavel off to Vice President for Finance Kelly Schwartz ’10 in order to participate in the debate.
It’s not over until we form a subcommittee!
Cullen then initiated discussion of the transition process from the current senate to those recently elected. North Campus Representative Stephanie Almeida ’11 motioned to form a subcommittee to ensure ease of transition. The committee consists of Cullen, Schwartz, Almeida, Thawley, future Commissioner of Academic Affairs John Thomason ’12, future Commissioner of Clubs and Sports Ari Filip ’12, and future Vice President for Campus Activities Frank Langan ’11.
Than Volk fails to earn his keep
Cullen then introduced Commissioner of Communications Alex Rudy ’11 to update the senate on the status of the redesigned ASPC website. Rudy presented the website to the senate, who balked at the site’s new homepage. The page displayed ASPC’s Facebook page, complete with updates and the profile pictures of all its “fans.” Stewart summed up the sentiment of the senate: “Facebook, really?” According to Rudy, Than Volk ’10, who ASPC hired to design the website, agreed to remove the Facebook pictures but just hadn’t gotten around to it. Rudy assured the senate that Volk would not be receiving any money until the website was completed to their satisfaction.
KSPC positions confirmed with little fanfare
After the departure of Fan, Schwartz, Thawley, and Stewart, Cullen proposed that the senate confirm the recommended candidates for summer positions at KSPC. The exasperated senate quickly confirmed Mandy Marcus PO ’11 as General Manager and Nora Bright SC ’11 as Music Director for KSPC’s summer programming.
Is Collins even still open?
Cullen adjourned the meeting at 6:32 p.m.
-John Thomason