Student Officers Allowed To Stay in Government
April 13, 2001
Emotions rose and feelings were hurt at Tuesday’s ASGCC meeting when the student government voted on whether to remove two officers for excessive absences.
Oscar Limon, Vice President of Campus Organizations, and Natasha DePoyo, Senator of Campus Relations, were at the mercy of the council this week for their excessive absences from important meetings.
The constitution states that members who miss three meetings are automatically brought before the board for a vote on removal.
Although Limon and DePoyo admitted they had no valid excuses for their absences, they were allowed to stay in office. Limon, however, was severely reprimanded for his lack of commitment and participation in ASGCC affairs this semester.
“As a VP, you have to lead your senators and make it to the meetings when they are scheduled,” said Susie Acevedo, vice president of finance. “Oscar already has two absences from executive meetings and two from legislative meetings along with his three absences from committee meetings. That is unacceptable.”
But other members of the Campus Organization Committee stood in Limon’s defense and said that just because he is absent from some meetings does not mean that he doesn’t take care of business.
Limon quietly sat back in the hot seat and listened to the contradictory opinions of his performance.
“I feel that this is a personal attack rather than business,” said Limon. “I remember AS being more honest in the past.”
Izabella Babayan, Vice President of Administration, said that Limon was warned earlier in the semester about his lack of initiative in associated student affairs.
The meeting also covered other important business dealings with the SOS applications, constitution and by-laws results, and campus development projects.
The council decided to give $300 to the Scholars Program for the Battle of the Bands event and $330 for raffles; $500 to the Fashion Club for their fashion show; $500 for an AGS lunch activity to sell food on campus; $340 to Disciples of Christ to the Nations for shirts; $300 to the Persian Club for a new year’s event; and $400 to the Armenian Student Association for educational events about their culture.
It also approved $400 for a petting zoo to be brought to campus, as well as $1,500 for and end-of-the-year luau.
Amendments to the constitution and by-laws were voted on last week and passed with a two-thirds vote.
Many of the amendments were minor corrections of spelling errors or clarifying rules that were already in place.
“Most people didn’t even read the constitution,” said Matt Goodlaw, representative at large for finance. “They simply checked the boxes on the front and left.”
That would explain why the two-day election only received 87 votes, barely making the two-thirds requirement with 60 votes.
Horace Lewis, director of facilities, was a guest speaker at the meeting. He discussed ways to keep our campus looking attractive.
Lewis said that students should take the initiative to notify the janitors or him about problems that need to be fixed on campus. The safety committee advised students to report broken facilities that create potentially dangerous situations.
Broken water pipes in the bathroom would be an example of something that should be reported to the facility department. The phone number is Ext. 5555.
There are elections for fall officers on May 1 and 2. All offices will open, with nomination papers available Monday in the Student Center.