Monday night, the Student Association Assembly convened to discuss several issues, including a resolution passed to change the SA Constitution regarding the Student Wide Judiciary's judge selection process as well as the current parking situation on campus.
The SA Constitution allows the SA president to appoint SWJ justices. According to Assembly Speaker Nicholas DellaNeve, however, the process is not a true appointment, because the president is not able to choose whoever he or she wants.
Instead, the chief executive is asked to appoint from a list of candidates submitted to him or her by the SWJ.
Under a new resolution that passed by unanimous vote, the president will choose his own candidates, whose names will then be submitted to the chief justice of the SWJ for approval. The approved candidates will also be presented to the assembly for approval.
A timeline was also put into place restricting the appointment process. The president has until the fifth Monday of the fall semester to appoint his candidates, and must submit his candidates to the assembly within two business days of the fifth Monday. The assembly will then approve the appointed justices at the first assembly meeting of the fall semester.
The amendment now goes to the SA Senate, where it will have to be passed to be enacted.
The assembly also reexamined whether UB should keep current parking laws in the academic parking lots on the Spine. Currently, freshman students are not allowed to park on the Spine during weekdays between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.
If passed and approved by the administration, the resolution would extend the policy to next year's incoming sophomores as well. The aim is to free up parking for commuter students.
The resolution went to the floor for discussion, where several alternatives and ideas were proposed. One member asked why sophomores were being chosen for the resolution as opposed to other students living on campus.
A resolution was proposed, but not passed, that would prevent parking by all on-campus residents on the Spine between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Some Assembly members believe that additional parking restrictions could affect enrollment, since parking is an issue brought up by freshmen at orientation meetings.
Another assembly member remarked that restrictions on parking are common at other campuses of similar size to UB.
After 10 minutes of debate, a motion was proposed and passed to send the resolution back to committees, delaying the resolution until the next assembly meeting.
The resolution affirmed the need for commuter students of all class standings to have available parking. It also further endorsed plans by the Department of Parking and Transportation to improve bus and shuttle service on campus. The Student Assembly plans on discussing all issues at the next meeting after spring break.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
