The Observer, September 12, 2008
Volume XLI, Issue 3
USG Briefs
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On Sept. 8, 2008, the Undergraduate Student Government general assembly convened for its weekly meeting. It was readily apparent that several issues would dominate the meeting, most notably the question of election appeals.
Nan Jiang and Matt Jurcak, who are respectively running for vice president and president of the freshman class, were charged with numerous campaign violations that resulted in Jiang's campaign being suspended and Jurcak being removed from the ballot. The infractions included posting flyers and chalking in forbidden areas despite repeated warnings. Although Jurcak claimed that "the rules [weren't] exactly specified," and that there "was just a ton of miscommunication," both he and Jiang were punished.
As election commissioner Matthew Gardner stated, there have been repeated violations perpetrated by numerous candidates despite plenty of information indicating what type of posting and chalking was appropriate.
After Jiang and Jurcak presented their case, the general assembly went into an intense closed discussion. It was determined to uphold Jiang's campaign suspension, while a two-thirds majority overturned Jurcak's removal from the ballot. Jiang was noticeably upset after the decision.
In addition to the issue of election appeals, there were three new committee appointments and one resignation. Nikki Zimmerman was appointed to the Faculty Senate committee on libraries, Duwain Pinder was appointed to the Minority Affairs Committee, and Lea Cross was appointed to the School of Engineering Committee. Austin Bennet, vice president of information technology, resigned due to other commitments.
The evening's general discussion was primarily centered on the printing issues affecting Wade, Thwing, and Carlton that include constant breakdowns and questions over payments per sheet. It was decided that information would be placed on the USG website so that all students could know how the printing system is supposed to function.
Following the general discussion and election appeals, the assembly discussed resolutions 18-03 and 8-04. Resolution 18-03 was in regard to elephant stairs safety concerns and was sent back to committee for later discussion. Resolution 18-04 was altered to bill 18-02 by the assembly and discussed a "public relations agreement" for USG. The bill was passed, to vice president of public relations Bruce Douglas' approval. The bill, he stated, will "support and streamline the PR process of USG."
Before adjourning, the assembly discussed the development of the Student Sustainability Committee and the student leadership conference occurring Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
