After months of discussion between Union Chairman Joel Fajardo and the chancellor’s office, John Silber will be attending a special session of the Senate on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the School of Management.

Silber will be speaking for two hours, most of which will be questions asked by the audience, according to Fajardo. The forum is open to the public, and those who wish to ask questions must arrive by 6:30 p.m. Fajardo said the questions would not be censored.

“He knows that anything can — and will — be asked,” Fajardo said during the meeting.

“I think it is an exciting opportunity for students,” he said. “[However] it is not an opportunity to crucify him.”

Flyers for the event were to have been distributed this week, but were delayed when the Student Activities Office rejected the original slogan of “See Silber Speak” because it sounded like “See Spot Run,” according to Fajardo.

SENATE ELECTS VICE-CHAIR

After two weeks of meetings without a Senate vice-chair, the Student Union voted last night to appoint Sen. Mike McLaughlin (Hyatt), a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, to the position.

“I am really excited,” McLaughlin said. “I plan to take a really active role.”

McLaughlin officially resigned his senator position and was sworn in last night after the three nominated candidates gave a speech and fielded questions from the Senate. McLaughlin won after the senators cast secret ballots, which the Tribunal counted.

The appointment comes at a crucial time for McLaughlin, as his position as Hyatt senator would be dissolved after all of the hotel’s student residents move to their on-campus housing after the end of this semester.

A senator posed the question of whether or not his position being dissolved was a reason for McLaughlin running for the vice-chair position. McLaughlin responded saying that he would still be as active as possible in the Senate, regardless of him being a senator or not.

“I will come to these meetings and just sit and talk and not raise my hand when it comes time to vote,” McLaughlin said during the question-and-answer session. “Right now there are other senator positions open, and I will be aggressively looking into those.”

McLaughlin said he plans on moving off-campus next semester, and would have looked into the open senator position with the Local Students’ Union.

As for losing his vote in the Senate, McLaughlin said he knows the job of the vice-chair is to be impartial.

The vice-chair is not technically an executive board position, and does not have a vote in the Senate, according to Union President Ethan Clay.

Clay said he believes McLaughlin is more than qualified to be the Senate vice-chair, and has taken note of the hard work and dedication he put in.

“[McLaughlin] has proven himself very dedicated to the Union,” Clay said.

McLaughlin assumed his role as vice-chair immediately. As vice-chair, he is required to take down the minutes of the meeting, work on preserving the records of the union and attending different committee meetings.

After the meeting, McLaughlin said he plans on using his position to further the ties between senators and the Executive Board.