The AU Undergraduate Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of supporting Congressional representation with voting rights for Washington, D.C., and increased financial accountability on the university's board of trustees yesterday.
The debate over the D.C. voting rights bill was two-fold, focusing not only on the merits of voting rights but also on whether this was an issue appropriate for the SG to be addressing.
SG Secretary Joe Vidulich said he supports voting rights, but asked the Senate what impact the SG can have on the issue.
"Does anyone think for even a second, even a minute, that this piece of paper is going to have an effect on District of Columbia residents' right to vote?" Vidulich said. "If this passes the [Undergraduate] Senate, I'll be the one who sends this to all the members of Congress, and I'll be happy to, but what's the practicality of it?"
Senator Rich Vitale, the representative for the Kogod School of Business, pointed out that important social movements have begun at the level of college universities throughout American history.
"Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't," Vitale said. "What matters is what we do here and now."
Methodist Chaplain Mark Schaefer told the Senate that the lack of voting congressional representatives for D.C. is a "moral wrong that must be rectified." Rev. Schaefer, who was asked to come before the body by Senator-At-Large Una Ann Hardester, gave a history of the District's congressional disenfranchisement and said AU students have a responsibility to take a stand in support of D.C. residents.
Hardester, the sponsor of the bill and a registered voter in D.C., said the bill would be passed along to the other D.C. schools for their respective student governments to consider. Several senators questioned why the bill should originate at AU instead of at a school like the University of the District of Columbia, where almost all of the students are D.C. residents.
Senator Hardester, who said she has spoken with the president of UDC's student government, replied that the support of D.C. residents on this issue is already established and the movement must be taken up by non-residents to move further.
"Now D.C. residents are calling on people who are residents of other states to really make this issue their own," Hardester said.
Class of 2008 Senator Joe Colarusso called this an "incredible opportunity to get out there in front of an issue," and SG President Kyle Taylor said he supports the bill because "voting rights is not a partisan issue. Every American deserves the right to vote."
After 12 minutes of debate, the bill was passed with voice vote by a large margin.
A bill encouraging greater financial accountability for the board of trustees was also passed yesterday by a large margin. Senator Tom Leonard, the bill's sponsor, called this the "last piece of legislation regarding this whole Ladner scandal." Leonard said this legislation is important because it serves as a reminder to the Board that students are still concerned and want reform.
The legislation advises the board to adopt stricter accounting procedures and encourages the board to voluntarily comply with legislation from 2002 known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which addresses accountability in American corporations. Several amendments were added to the bill to make it compatible with AU's non-profit status.
The Undergraduate Senate also voted against a veto override yesterday. President Taylor vetoed legislation passed last week that encouraged Bon App?tit to start using 100 percent cage-free eggs by February.
Taylor said he agreed with the sentiment of the bill, which was endorsed by the AU Animal Rights Effort because of the inhumane treatment of caged chickens, but he vetoed the bill because it would have increased meal plans by $70,000. The meal plan increase per student would have amounted to about $21, according to Taylor.
The animal rights group told the Senate last week that meal plans would not be increased, but Bon App?tit told Taylor differently. Taylor refused to place blame on any group or individual but said, "There was a lot of misinformation given to several different groups." He encouraged senators to better research legislation before bringing it to the floor in the future.
In other business, the Senate confirmed two nominees to open senate seats yesterday by unanimous votes.
Jack Giroux, a sophomore majoring in government and philosophy, was confirmed to fill the second College of Arts and Sciences seat. Jacques Ledbetter, a senior majoring in government, was confirmed as a Class of 2006 senator.
