The Student Association meeting Monday night featured the approval of several special programming requests, while also addressing the recent request for the resignation of two Judicial Review Board members.

Before the 7:30 p.m. meeting was set to begin, it was moved from Stolkin Auditorium to the more familiar Maxwell Auditorium.

At the new location, Parliamentarian and Chair of Administrative Operations Ryan Doyle took the lectern for his report and quickly brought to attention the press release regarding the recent request for resignation of two JRB members that had been handed out to the assembly.

He informed the assembly that an official meeting will be held on Nov. 27 to remove sophomore Arts and Sciences student Eric Morrissette and senior Arts and Sciences student Angela Tucciarone if they do not resign before that time.

Many questions were posed to Doyle surrounding the issue.

‘We want these guys to come back,’ Doyle said. He went on to explain that they were trying to take care of any issues of not following SA codes before this session’s end.

The reason for the request for Morrissette’s resignation, Doyle clarified, was that he was voted onto the JRB without being first nominated by the Cabinet, which breaks SA code.

‘Why are you punishing Eric when it was the Cabinet that made the mistake?’ asked sophomore political science major Shari Dowding.

Doyle responded that he was not sure how the Cabinet could punish itself. He went on to explain that following their resignation, the two JRB members were welcome to come back.

According to an official statement from SA that was handed out at the meeting, Tucciarone was asked to resign in violation to her continuing service on the JRB. After studying abroad, Tucciarone did not reclaim her seat automatically.

The discussion continued with the last order of business: a report given by Morrissette, who said he and Tucciarone will not return to SA in any way if they are forced to resign. He also said he was confused why he is being punished for an error made by the Cabinet.

‘A great deal has gone unsaid,’ he said.

Assembly representatives voted to suspend the normal meeting rules so Morrissette could field questions.

‘I don’t think this was done in good faith and in the interest of justice,’ he said when asked about his concerns on the matter.

Doyle brought to attention that the letters asking both JRB members to resign were given to them in person, rather than put into their mailboxes.

Several representatives questioned whether Morrissette felt he was to blame at all for not realizing the code had not been followed. His response was that the letter received expressed fault by the Cabinet and did not lay blame on him.

After a significant amount of time had gone by, several representatives motioned to end the question session.

Earlier in the meeting and following Doyle’s report, Chair of Academic Affairs Joseph Wieder spoke about recent initiatives to improve South Campus life. He mentioned that a writing center will hopefully be built soon in the Goldstein Student Center.

Chair of University Affairs Joy LaChelle Ingraham spoke about a recent meeting she had with Director of Student Centers and Program Services Bridget Talbot about keeping public buildings open to all students during late hours.

She also mentioned two new student-related issues the University Affairs Committee will be looking into: complaints about the handicap-ready bus being late and not starting service early enough and a lack of hand sanitizers at the gym.

The meeting began with the approval of three special programming requests. La LUCHA received $114 for its Beat the Game of Dating event, the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences received $576.27 for its ‘The Bombay Project’ screening and the Association for Student-Elderly Connection received $155.15 to purchase polo shirts to wear to upcoming events.

President Wayne Horton announced he would be meeting with Vice Chair of Academic Affairs Eric Spina to discuss the upcoming tuition increase.

Horton also said he is currently setting up meetings with people who have been at the recent town hall meetings, and that anyone who is interested in speaking with him should contact him.

At the end of his report, Horton brought up the current SA presidential elections.

‘Get the word out,’ he urged the assembly.

SA’s next meeting will be held on Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

Published on November 12, 2006 at 12:00 pm