Student Association : Newhouse representative elected to general assembly
A highly contested election for the last remaining representative position for the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications was the main issue tackled by the Student Association on Monday night.
Eva Zymaris, a sophomore broadcast and digital journalism major, and Shannon Hazlitt, an undeclared Newhouse freshman, petitioned for the open seat during SA’s meeting. The meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. in the Life Sciences Complex. Hazlitt was awarded the seat.
Zymaris mainly discussed her proposed initiative for an overhaul of South Campus dining plans. Specifically, she argued that these residents should be able to pay for their meals with swipes instead of SUpercard Food money. She said the majority of Syracuse University students who live on South Campus are often overlooked.
‘A lot of what they have to say really isn’t being heard,’ Zymaris said. ‘As an SA representative, there’s a lot of things I want to do. I want to be an advocate.’
Colin Brown, director of public relations, said Zymaris could still participate with the Student Life Committee and the newly formed Food Advisory Board without occupying a seat on the general assembly.
‘I would rather see the seat go to someone who has new and fresh ideas,’ Brown said.
Hazlitt, the other candidate contesting the seat and a staff writer for The Daily Orange, discussed a unique initiative to help students relieve stress during midterms by bringing animals into places like the Schine Student Center to provide comfort. She said this is a practice sometimes done by other universities.
PJ Alampi, chair of the Student Life Committee, said he felt Hazlitt had good ideas but was not the best fit for an assembly representative.
‘I think she brought up a decent amount of points, but she did not bring up a lot of points about Newhouse,’ he said.
Janine Savage, representative of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, said Hazlitt’s other initiative ideas, like improving sustainability on campus, were pertinent to what SA is working on.
After an extended pro and con debate and three rounds of elections lasting approximately one hour, Hazlitt was elected by the general assembly.
Newhouse, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education and the School of Architecture are now fully represented.
SA President Dylan Lustig implemented a new plan limiting areas of the agenda to rigid time constraints. He said this was created to keep members focused on solving issues and staying on task.
‘We need to make sure we’re really utilizing the time that we have,’ said Lustig in an interview after the meeting. ‘This is going to encourage people to ask better questions, to pay better attention, and it’s also going to retain membership, I think.’
Alampi and Daniel Hernandez, a representative for the School of Education, introduced a resolution proposing the administration define a possible course of action that could be taken to resolve an unlawful student protest on SU’s campus. This is something adapted from a similar measure the student government at Northwestern University passed.
The resolution specifically defines an unlawful protest as one that violates the Student Code of Conduct, disrupts daily activities and endangers students, Alampi said.
This is only briefly discussed in the Student Code of Conduct. The resolution is largely a response to the violent crackdown that occurred at the University of California, Davis and Berkeley, Alampi said.
Other business discussed:
• Five special programming bills were passed Monday night with $2,854.73 remaining in the account.
• During his weekly report, Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo reiterated that budgets for student organizations must be submitted by March 9.
• A previously introduced bill stating events granted funding by SA cannot apply for additional money from special programming was passed unanimously.
• SA will conduct its last leadership workshop at the Expeditionary Learning Middle School on March 9 from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m.
• Free shuttles to the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center and the Syracuse Hancock International Airport for Spring Break will be available starting Thursday. A return shuttle will be provided March 18.
• Tickets are still available for the round-trip buses to New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Washington D.C. for $99 for Spring Break. Tickets for the bus to Boston are sold out.
Published on March 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum
