Five elected to SA

Three amendments approved by students

October 10, 2005 —

Five freshmen were elected to the Student Association last week, increasing SA's membership to 25 representatives.

Students Ashley Issacsen, Barb Gordon, Chelsea Robl, Jeanna Byers, and Libby Isanhart were voted in by the student body. Only freshmen or transfer students were allowed to run in the election, giving those students the same chance to join SA that all other students had in April.

"Having freshmen voices on the Student Association is vital," said SA President Emily Hammerbacher. "These five will be important additions in the full representation of the student body, "

Three of SA's amendments to its Charter were also approved by the student body. Resolution numbers 026-05, 044-05, and 045-05, passed by SA during its last two General Assembly meetings, were put on the ballot, as is protocol within SA's by-laws.

Resolution 026-05 amended Section five, Article III of the Charter to create a four-year term limit for SA representatives. The previous limit was three years. The limit for president remained two years.

"The four-year term limit adds some stability to SA, espcially now that we elect freshmen," said Andy Suszek, speaker of the house. "Those freshmen should be able to serve all four years that they are here."

The second resolution passed was a heavily debated one at the Sept. 12 meeting, changed slightly for and passed at the Sept. 26 meeting. The amendment changed the voting threshold within SA to elect the ombudsman, public information officer, and parliamentarian to a simple majority. The threshold for speaker of the house stayed at three-quarters.

"The House felt the Speaker, essentially the vice-president of the Student Association, needed the endorsement of three quarters of the representatives." Hammerbacher said.

The final resolution was a lengthy one, amending two articles of the Charter, both of which give the student body the ability to change SA policies. Article VI allows students to do initiatives, used to initiate policies students want to see within SA, and referenda, where students can overrule an SA policy. Article VII gives students the right to make changes to the Charter.

Prior to the amendment, in order to take these actions, students needed to have at least ten percent of the student body to sign a petition. The amendment changed that number to five percent, giving students more opportunities to propose changes to SA.

The one caveat, though, was that specific allocations given to student organizations are not subject to referendum. The amendment originally stated that the SA budget would not be subject to referendum, either, but that was taken out before the amendment was passed.

"It's important (to keep the budget available to referendum) because it's still the students' money," said Representative Reggie Blockett at the Sept. 26 meeting. "They should be able to question that."