A series of contentious elections incited extensive debate among members of the Student Association during their Monday night meeting.

Michael Cacciatore, a representative from the College of Arts and Sciences, went before members of the general assembly to run for a position on the Judicial Review Board during the 7:30 p.m. meeting in Maxwell Auditorium.

He addressed concerns about his ethical stance on approaching cases, which caused him to not be elected to the board several weeks before.

‘I forgot to mention I was a philosophy major, so in terms of ethical arguments this is what I do,’ he said. ‘I like to see every single perspective before a decision is made.’

Many members of the general assembly did not agree with the statements Cacciatore made during the 10 minutes of initial questioning, especially his comment that he ‘doesn’t think it’s possible to have a decision that is not biased.’

But Lynde Folsom, member of the Judicial Review Board, assured the committee this only reflected Cacciatore’s belief on approaching the discussion process and said he would be impartial when ruling on cases.

‘His personal beliefs and philosophy are irrelevant,’ she said. ‘In all three of his interviews he says what’s in the codes – you go by the codes.’

Cacciatore failed to secure a position on the board a second time by a vote of 35 in favor of his election, 12 against and one abstention. The Judicial Review Board requires four-fifths majority to be approved for a seat.

Earlier in the meeting, the election of Harris Leung, a sophomore political science major, also divided the general assembly.

Some SA members, like Student Engagement Committee Chair Sean Dinan, expressed concerns related to the vagueness of Leung’s intentions.

‘A lot of it sounds like political things to say,’ Dinan said. ‘A lot of them are very open, like raising awareness through social media. But when we asked for specifics, he never really went into that.’

Other members, like S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Rep. Musu Sirleaf, thought Leung discussed many plans that relate to Syracuse University students.

‘I thought his ideas were original enough,’ she said. ‘I also thought his ability to speak publically and his voice was very good, and I think he’ll be great for communicating to people.’

Leung was narrowly approved by the general assembly.

SA members also voted on a resolution calling for a clause to be added to the student handbook to define what SU’s response to an unlawful protest would be. This is presently absent from the handbook.

School of Education Rep. Daniel Hernandez presented the bill, which is a response to the violent breakup of protests that transpired at the University of California-Berkeley and UC-Davis a few weeks before.

Though the resolution condemns any measure that would put student welfare at risk, some members expressed displeasure about how this allows university officials to outline a response that could potentially lead to violence.

Chief of Staff Taylor Carr, however, was disappointed that the specifics of the resolution were not thoroughly researched before it was presented for a vote.

‘It worries me this is the first step in your process,’ Carr said. ‘I’m putting out something on behalf of the entire campus, and you’ve done no work with administrators and the people actually involved in it.’

Despite the concerns raised about the resolution during a pro-and-con debate, it was passed with only one dissenting vote and abstention.

At the end of the meeting, officials from New York Public Interest Research Group presented their initiative for no-fee ATMs at SU.

They said their opinion polls show 80.39 percent of students are concerned about this issue and that each SU student utilizes the ATMs about 2.39 times per week. The $1.75 charge could be offset through third-party sponsorship of the machines, they said.

President Dylan Lustig said this is an initiative SA will work on during his administration.

Said Lustig: ‘I’m literally giving all that I can to do it right now.’

Other business discussed:

A bill solidifying the existence of vice chairs in SA committees was passed without opposition.

Ben Jones, a Newhouse representative, was elected to a seat on the Board of Elections and Membership.

Zipped Magazine was denied a $6,194.35 special programming request for a speaker event, as only $119.73 remains in the account for this semester. The Finance Board will not take any requests for special programming until the fall.

Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo announced SA will conduct budget deliberations at its next meeting, which will be held April 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Life Sciences Complex.

Lustig announced the White House National Youth Summit will be held April 18 in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium.

dmsegelb@syr.edu 

Published on April 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum