The Observer, September 22, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 4
USG Briefs
Forums, budget, printing discussed
This week's USG General Assembly Meeting began with Executive Board Reports, the first given by President Neil Ursic. Ursic reported that USG has unofficially renamed its Development Committee the Student Life Committee. The name change will be made permanent in a resolution amending the USG Constitution later this year.
Also, Ursic reported that Provost Anderson and CFO Sadid will offer five sessions this year in which they will review the University budget with all interested students.
VP of Development Myles Nikolich's report regarded the changes involving the committee. In addition to the new name, the committee will be split into different subcommittees responsible for different aspects of the committee's scope.
VP of Public Relations Adam Rupe reported on three upcoming open forums USG will be holding. The first, on Oct. 10, will be regarding academic affairs and SAGES.
The budget bill that was tabled last week was brought up for debate. A contentious point was the $15,000 earmarked for renovating the USG office located on the first floor of Thwing. The money would allow USG to provide an office that more student groups would be willing to use as well as a reorganization of the space, as the USG office does not currently have efficient and productive use of its area.
The first new resolution taken up by the assembly involved the issue of political campaigns on campus. Recently, Case Democrats attempted to bring Lee Fischer, democratic candidate for the Lieutenant Governorship of Ohio, to speak on campus, but his visit was declined by Case's governmental affairs office for various reasons. The resolution called for Case to allow campaigning politicians to appear on campus and student organizations to campaign on their behalf. The resolution was approved, but not without debate regarding whether USG should be involved with a controversial matter not directly pertaining to it.
The next issue discussed was the Print2Here program and its quota. The resolution was a recommendation to increase the quota back up to 1000 pages a semester while also reducing the additional page fee to three cents down from five. While the resolution passed, it serves only as a recommendation to those in charge of the program.
Finally, the meeting concluded with elections for USG's Judicial Board. Judicial Board members are responsible for monitoring and governing USG's bylaws, and enforcing them when needed.
