ASOC Elections Produce Two Campus-Wide Senators, Leave GA Co-Chair Positions Vacant

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Author: Lilliane Ballesteros

Mid-year ASOC elections ended Friday, November 16 with the instatement of two new campus-wide senators. Rozell Hodges (senior) and Monikah Baltimore (first-year) won the election with 26.6 percent and 19 percent of the total votes, respectively. According to the ASOC website, 678 students voted in the election.

Hodges, a former Campus Wide Senator and current Pauley Hall Coordinator, decided to run for the position to get more involved in the community. “Pauley was a great experience, but I don’t think the role I played there fit with who I am.”

He explained he did not run for the position at the beginning of the year because of a misunderstanding with the Office of Student Life (OSL), saying OSL administrators told him he could not hold a senator and HC position at the same time. He said they later said this was only a suggestion. “I was going under incorrect information,” he said. “A lot of people were under the impression they could not hold two leadership positions.”

ASOC President Ryan Bowen (senior) commented on Baltimore’s victory as a first-year, saying, “it was impressive that she has already made an impact on people.”

The election also included two amendments. Amendment 9 dealt with the increase of student body fees. It was written to replace Article V, Section 4C(b) of Occidental’s ASOC Constitution. Rather than student body fees increasing in proportion to tuition increases, the newly passed amendment states, “Student fees charged each student each year shall be no more than level of the 2007-2008 academic year, indexed to annual rate of inflation. Any additional charge must be approved by a 2/3 vote of Senate who cannot raise the fees by more than the percentage of the tuition increase.” The amendment passed with 75.5 percent of the 605 votes cast.

Amendment 10 passed with 88.7 percent of the 635 votes cast and “creates an optional $10 per semester student fee to go towards Renewable Energy and Sustainability projects.” Under the guidelines of the Renewable and Energy Sustainable Fund, a fund will be created “to reduce Occidental College’s greenhouse gas emissions, promote renewable energy and energy conservation on campus, and otherwise contribute to a more environmentally sustainable campus.” The fund will support short- and long-term environmental projects, which will be created and sustained by a committee consisting of at least two students, an ASOC senator, an administrator and a faculty member. The students will be selected through a General Assembly process.

During the Tuesday, November 13 Senate meeting, senators discussed the committee, with one senator commenting on the need for more voices in the committee. Assistant Director for Student Life and Senate Advisor Kenna Cottrill said the committee will have the opportunity to get advice from other administrators and people who specialize in Renewable Energy and Sustainability projects. The guidelines state that “at least 50 percent of each annual budget must be spent on technologies, infrastructure, environmental programs, renewable energy or capital improvements.” ASOC will be responsible for the committee to do this.

Elections for the General Assembly (GA) CO-Chair positions will be held at the beginning of the spring 2008 semester, since no students signed up for the positions.

GA Co-Chairs Laura Knuttunen (senior) and Jessica Simes (junior) resigned from their positions one week before the elections. “It didn’t give us time to educate students about what the positions are,” Bowen said. Knuttunen explained that her decision to resign was due to personal conflicts with her job, saying that GA meetings coincided with another job she held. “It was a physical and mental burden,” she said, noting the amount of energy required to schedule speakers and put up signs to advertise the meetings. She suggested the Co-Chairs get a publicity coordinator, pointing to the lack of people at meetings.

Until the spring election, Knuttunen and Simes will maintain their Co-Chair positions.

Article V, Section 4 of the GA By-Laws states, “The quorum for regular meetings and any special meetings shall be seventeen, provided that at least seven senators, seven non-senators and one Co-Chair are present.” During one Senate meeting, Knuttunen expressed concern about the senators’ presence at meetings, saying there were several times when senators were attending the meetings late. She said that she and Simes worried if these meetings would count as real meetings, because of a lack of senators at the meeting.

ASOC said they would discuss the job position at a future meeting, to avoid having both GA Co-Chairs resign again. “The GA has had a difficult semester,” Bowen said. “There has been a lack of student involvement.”

On Thursday, November 15, the GA did not have a scheduled speaker. Instead, students were able to ask ASOC questions and voice general concerns about the GA and other topics. The senators made their way through the quad, asking students if they had any concerns they wanted ASOC to address. One student was concerned with dance at Oxy, saying that administrators told students that dance would soon be a major, something that has not yet happened.

Hodges commented on the future of ASOC. “I see a change in the community,” he said. “It’s time to focus more on similarities and less on differences.”

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