Student Union looks past internal problems, revotes two weeks later

Before Monday’s General Assembly meeting, rumors swirled of a censure ‘-‘- and even a possible impeachment ‘-‘- of Boston University Student Union President Matt Seidel for violating the Union’s constitution at the Feb. 9 GA meeting.

But Monday night in the College of Arts and Sciences, Seidel, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, stood in front of the GA in room 222 after apologizing for holding five votes without having enough voting members present and asked, ‘Does anyone want to say anything about what happened?’

The 50-plus people in the room sat silent, and the issue was dropped.

But because complaints had been made about the votes conducted without a sufficient amount of members at the last GA meeting, the Union re-voted the issues. All five decisions were identical to those made two weeks ago.

Putting off the decisions, at least officially putting them off, may have cost the Union valuable time, Anant Shukla, who developed the registration proposal that officially passed last night, said.

If the Union had passed the proposal two weeks ago, Shukla, a CAS junior, said there was a slim chance that it could have been implemented for this upcoming registration season.

‘The window was pretty small, but there was that window,’ Shukla said. ‘But that window is definitely closed now.’

Shukla’s proposal would create a system that prevents students from holding classes for their friends during registration by not allowing them to sign up for courses that they have already taken or for which they lack the prerequisites.

The Union also passed a proposal that would create three online professor evaluations per class, per semester, if the administration accepts it. The evaluations, which will’ all be online, will allow students to assess the professor at the beginning, middle and end of the semester to provide more feedback.’ ‘

The Union also approved funding $1,000 for a Linux computer operating systems server at BU.

Shukla said the controversy at the last meeting stopped CAS Associate Dean Susan Jackson, Shukla’s administrative contact for the registration proposal, from advancing the idea.

‘She wouldn’t be able to take [the registration proposal] to the administration because the credibility of the vote would be questioned,’ Shukla said.

After the meeting, Seidel said the backlogging that the registration proposal incurred was what he was trying to avoid when he decided to hold the votes on Feb. 9. Seidel also said he is upset that holding a vote without quorum caused such a stir.

‘Is there a certain degree of frustration?’ Seidel said. ‘Yes, but I think it also comes with the territory. Unfortunately things like this can be blown out of proportion.’

But the Union may not be through with internal talks, which have weighed many student administrations down in recent years. Last night, Campus Safety Chairman Leo Gameng introduced a Voter Cleanup Act that aims to remove voting members who have more than three unexcused absences for the meetings.

During his presentation, Gameng, a CAS senior, said eight voting members would likely be cut, but according to GA attendance records released this week by the Union, 17 of 39 voting members have four or more absences this academic year.

According to the New Deal Constitution, ‘[t]wo unexcused absences to Student Union meetings or meetings respective to constituencies by a General Assembly Member will be considered a resignation.’

Eliminating the positions would reduce the number of members needed to reach quorum. If eight people were removed, the total number of potential ballot casters would be cut to 31, meaning only 16 voting members would need to attend a GA meeting for the advocacy group to have enough people to hold a vote.

Sixteen voting members attended the Feb. 9 meeting. Hypothetically, if the Voter Cleanup Act had been implemented before the previous GA, the Union would have achieved quorum.

‘I understand that we are going to get bogged down by this procedure,’ Gameng said. ‘But I am a strong person for following the rules. If we are not following the rules, why should I or my other General Assembly members play by the rules also?’

Seidel, who announced his concerns with the Voter Cleanup Act in an email sent to people involved with Union, said he wants to make sure that Union does not lose sight of its mission.

‘I understand the intent of it, but what Union can’t do for the sake of advocacy is get so specific on these rules that we forget why we are actually here,’ he said after last night’s GA.