CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the vote required for an election to the Judicial Review Board was misstated. A four-fifths majority of voting assembly members must vote to elect a candidate to the Judicial Board. The reason Nick Iaquinto was not elected to the Judicial Review Board was also misstated. Iaquinto did not receive the four-fifths majority vote needed from voting assembly members. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

The Student Association granted funds to several organizations, including Jerk magazine, with the passing of special programming legislation.

Bills concerning the clarification of SA rules and the budget process were introduced by Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo and were heavily debated at the meeting held Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

Although a bill stating the regulation mandates organizations that miss their first budget hearing must wait until the end of appeals to reapply for funds was heavily debated, it passed. Some members hoped to alter the clause that stipulated that organizations would have to wait to reapply.

Parliamentarian Eugene Law was passionately in favor of removing this clause.

‘They should have the same chance for appeals as any other organization,’ he said.

DeSalvo disagreed with this viewpoint and said he hopes to emphasize the importance of these hearings because it is the only chance the organization has to converse with the Finance Board.

A majority of the programming bills were met with little dissent, and the auditorium erupted into applause when the provision to provide Jerk magazine $15,944.40 in special programming funds was passed unanimously.

Several members of Jerk, including Editor in Chief Flash Steinbeiser, were in attendance.

In an interview after the meeting, Steinbeiser, who is also a staff writer for The Daily Orange, said he was very appreciative of the decision made by the general assembly. The staff at the magazine was confident they were going to receive these funds, he said, and the delay did not inhibit any planning for Jerk.

‘It didn’t affect us. It was business as usual,’ Steinbeiser said. ‘We were not going to let the magazine fold like that.’

He was also pleased that the bill cleared up penalties for an organization missing its first budget hearing. Steinbeiser said setting this in stone would help other groups understand the importance of making these meetings.

All legislation brought up in the meeting was introduced last week, an action previous SA administrations had not done before. This provided adequate time for members to review the content of potentially crucial bills, said SA President Dylan Lustig in an interview after the meeting.

‘It’s something that we should be doing,’ he said. ‘It really helps the assembly get a grasp of what they need to be looking at.’

Lustig also mentioned how this formality is something outlined in SA guidelines, but never seriously followed. It would also limit confusion and prevent representatives from receiving bills without adequate time to form an opinion.

Later in the meeting, Lynde Folsom and Nick Iaquinto delivered speeches outlining their qualifications and intent for positions on the Judicial Review Board. Due to the importance of the position, a four-fifths majority by voting assembly members was required for election. In a roll call vote, Folsom was elected by the general assembly, and Iaquinto was denied because he did not receive four-fifths of the vote. 

Iaquinto was not elected due to his views on the demerit system, with which representatives, like Chief of Staff Taylor Carr, disagreed. Some representatives favored electing Iaquinto because of his experience in dealing with judicial subjects after taking a course on negotiation theory and practice. They unsuccessfully tried to pass a motion for a revote.

Other business discussed:

• A bill eliminating all mentions of the reserve system in SA codes was passed. The reserve system was an emergency student account that used to hold $10 per student but has become obsolete.

• Jennifer Bacolores was confirmed as the Board of Elections and Membership chair. She stressed the importance of retaining quality members, a stricter demerit system and one-on-one meetings with members to foster development and a sense of community.

• Greston Gill, who had previously served one year on the Finance Board, was nominated and confirmed as assistant comptroller.

dmsegelb@syr.edu

Published on January 23, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum