After last week’s battle royal, this week’s ASUO Senate meeting was much tamer by comparison. There was little conflict, little argument, and many senators who usually enter the EMU Board Room scenting blood came in with smiles on their faces and laughter in their hearts. Derek Nix (Seat 11, Undeclared Majors) typified this attitude. Usually, he is the first to correct any Senate member who steps out of line procedurally and an intractable and stubborn opponent of anyone with whom he disagrees. This time out, though, he was never anything but ebullient, cheering playfully when his motions were recognized by Senate President Alex McCafferty (Seat 7, ACFC).
The 800-pound gorilla in the room was the senate’s new appointee to Seat 20, representing the College of Education, Ryan Castro. Other than him, there was very little to discuss on the agenda compared to most meetings of this body, and for the first time I have seen, the meeting actually lasted less than two hours.
The first item on the agenda was a request from the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee to release around $500 from other parts of their budget so that they could finance the hiring of a new Administrative Assistant. They said that having one committee member take minutes was impairing that person’s ability to participate in the meeting, especially because they were having problems uploading files from their audio equipment. The files, they say, are too big to upload onto their computers. Speaking as someone who has to use a digital voice recorder for his job, I feel their pain. I almost wanted to put myself on the speakers’ list to suggest some techniques that might make it easier for them, but I didn’t want to interfere with what I was covering. Plus, I also happened to be taking notes and it would have thrown them off. The motion was approved. If you’re good at stenography, you should go hand them your resume. The ACFC only meets once a week (usually anyway) and there is money in it.
The only request for money from the Senate’s Surplus Fund at the meeting was made by the Student Bar Association. It was made by Jumane Redway, a law student who had attended a conference in the US Virgin Islands. The trip cost $1,010 and Redway wanted the Senate to pay the $410 portion that hadn’t been financed by the law school. He added that he was taking what he had learned at the conference and using it to host something similar for Sports Business Lawyers in Portland on behalf of the UO. Senator Tyler Scandalios (Seat 4, EMU Board) was the most vocal opponent, arguing that Redway was asking, in essence, for a scholarship from the Senate. Scandalios said he didn’t think sending Redway to a conference enhanced the university physically or culturally. Senator Hailey Sheldon (Seat 10, DFC) disagreed, saying that the Senate had granted similar requests to people who hadn’t offered to use what they learned at the conferences they went to to create an entire event. The Senate seemed convinced, and voted to give Redway the money by a margin of 7-4-4.
The biggest event of the meeting, though, was Sen. Castro’s appointment. Some of the senators seemed to find the phrase “Senator Castro” a little bit humorous, no doubt picturing Fidel queuing up to offer Edward Kennedy support in his battle with brain cancer. Bet Ryan hasn’t heard that one before. Sen. Carina Miller ‘s (Seat 1, PFC) first question for him was “a little nervous, Ryan?” and she didn’t really need an answer. His voice had a tentative edge to it that only broke when he said his greatest weakness was public speaking. That was accompanied by a little smirk. He need not have worried. There was not a single vote against his appointment.
He cited his responsibilities within the Delta Tau Delta fraternity as evidence that he possessed leadership ability, but he did admit that he had little knowledge of the ways of the ASUO or about certain issues important to education majors. He’s new, though. This seat has been vacant for a while and nobody else in the College of Education has stepped into the breach. At the very least, that shows initiative. Give him a chance. Sen. Nick Schultz (Seat 2, PFC) appeared to take Castro under his wing, asking McCafferty to allow him to make the final motion of the meeting.
The only remaining point of note in the meeting was Sen. Nathan Perley’s (Seat 13, College of Business) continued defense of himself against the grievances Michelle Haley filed against him last week. Most of the Senators who spoke did so on Perley’s behalf, often enthusiastically. The consensus seemed to be that the charges will unquestionably be dropped and that filing a grievance against a senator is inappropriate without talking to him first. Sen. Arielle Reid (Seat 6, EMU Board) opined that many of the grievances would not have been filed if Senate minutes were more thorough, because she said a more detailed record of meetings would prove that Perley has complied with his duties.
Once the dust had settled for that, the meeting was all over bar the shouting. Four senators (Schenck, Rajabzadeh, Giacomelli, Latteri) did not attend the meeting, meaning that until Nix showed up at 7:45, there were only just enough senators in the room to actually hold a meeting. Vice President Johnny Delashaw also wasn’t there, which David Griffin, his substitute, told me was because he was stuck in Seattle. The rest of the senators can now momentarily shift their thoughts from rules and motions to turkey and stuffing.
I hope you have a pleasant Thanksgiving and I’ll post something else like this next week, assuming the Senate actually meets.