Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The BUZZ: January 20, 2010 - SA EDITION

A couple of important SA news bits:

-WRGW News is conducting a poll that surveys people on their attitudes towards the Student Association and polls hypothetical SA presidential horse races.  So far in the small portion of surveys we've looked at, there are definitely some surprises and trends appearing. Be on the lookout for the polls later this weekend or early next week.

-The SA Senate decided to table the gender neutral housing bill, effectively holding it off until it is reintroduced.  However, the body will meet again next Tuesday to vote on the LGBT minor bill (and most likely the gender neutral housing bill too).  Be sure to check out the liveblog.

-One of the controversies surrounding the gender neutral housing bill was Michael Komo's speech to the RHA general assembly on Monday. One member of the RHA general assembly who spoke during the public comments session of the meeting, freshman Ted Dooley stated that Komo had misled him and the body in the Monday meeting.  I emailed RHA President Jess Yager about this and she responded,
I do not believe that Michael Komo misled RHA in any way. He was present at the meeting because of his knowledge of gender neutral housing gained from researching and preparing for the Senate bill. Michael gave a brief introduction of the topic and then took a seat with the General Body members. The floor was opened for questions and opinions which were addressed by RHA Executive Board members. Michael was fair in his statements and his dealings with RHA.

This may have been a large factor in the vocal opposition to the bill that led to its tabling.  Regardless, it looks like Komo has a lot of work to do to salvage the bills next week.

-Among the visibly upset that the SA decided to vote to table the bill (rather than give it a 'yes' or 'no' vote) were EVP Jason Lifton, and senators Erik Ashida and Michael Komo.  Instead of actually voting on bills this year, the SA has managed to "table" a good number of them, effectively waffling on many important issues that come before them.  One senator said something along the lines of "we have taxis to take and metro rides to make back home" as the meeting reached 11p.m. (after starting at 9 p.m.).  This is a shameful excuse to table bills and create additional meetings, and it's disturbing it has become a popular trend in the Senate.

-At the meeting, several people spoke about the gender neutral housing bill during public comments, with a majority in favor of it.





No comments:

Post a Comment