The Student Association held several rounds of elections for positions in the general assembly, Judicial Review Board, Finance Board, University Senate and Administrative Operations Committee at Monday night’s meeting in Maxwell Auditorium.

Nicholas Iaquinto was elected to a position on the Judicial Review Board after being denied the position at last week’s meeting. With the opportunity to clarify his previous comments, he secured the position with a unanimous vote.

‘Last week was just very unclear about what some of his points were,’ said SA President Dylan Lustig. ‘He came up, he cleared his answers up and apparently everyone liked him.’

The function of the JRB is to hold SA members who have accumulated 12 or more demerits accountable. It has the power to remove a member from his or her seat if necessary. The JRB can also serve as a mediator for conflicts between student organizations.

Four candidates ran for positions on the general assembly and spoke of their past leadership experience and why they would be qualified to represent students in their home college. Of the four candidates, three were elected.

Elected representative Flavio Somanji, a sophomore biology major, said he will focus on cracking down on student violations of academic integrity. Lukas Alfen, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Cara Johnson, a sophomore broadcast and digital journalism and political science major, were also elected to the assembly.

Johnson is a member of the SU women’s ice hockey team and is the only Division-I athlete in SA. In her speech before the election, Johnson said she would serve as an effective liaison between student athletes and the student government.

Brianna Shetler, a sophomore communication and rhetorical studies major, was not elected to the general assembly. Representatives expressed concerns regarding a lack of professionalism and lack of participation in the last SA presidential election.

Two candidates ran for positions on the Finance Board. Christine Davis, a junior broadcast and digital journalism major, was elected after discussing her desire to have a positive effect on the SU student body.

Joshua Chaplin, a junior public relations major, emphasized his dedication and strong work ethic, but he was not elected because some members felt his knowledge of the position was not extensive enough — especially because a position on the board involves the allocation of $2.5 million in budgets.

Representatives Ben Jones, Boris Gresely and Kemi Akindude were elected to positions in the Administrative Operations Committee.

Administrative Operations reviews all legislation for adherence to the SA codes before it is presented to the assembly and assists the parliamentarian by possessing a better understanding of the codes than most members of SA.

Although the meeting ran nearly three and a half hours, some representatives argued it was not without purpose.

‘It shows this assembly is more engaged than ever, and we’ve seen that over the course of the last semester,’ said SA Vice President Alexandra Curtis.

Other business discussed:

• Kemi Akindude was also elected to University Senate after expressing her interest in dealing with academic affairs within the senate, as she does in SA.

• On Feb. 13, University Union President Rob Dekker and other UU members will be in attendance at the SA meeting to discuss general procedures, including those that were involved with Rock the Dome.

• A total of $27,091.73 in special programming funds was distributed between The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc., the Zamboni Revolution, and the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association.

• PJ Alampi, Student Life Committee chair, said free buses to Wegmans and Target will be provided on some Sundays in February, March and April in his report. He also said an initiative called ‘Designated Dave’ may soon provide students a way to return to campus safely without the Department of Public Safety.

• During the Finance Board elections, disagreement developed regarding whether the director of the Public Relations Committee has a vote in the general assembly. This is a matter that will be pursued later due to confusion with the wording of the codes.

dmsegelb@syr.edu 

Published on January 30, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum