During Tuesday's meeting of the Student Association Assembly, six new amendments to the SA Constitution were passed, all regarding the allocation and approval of stipend funds within the SA budget. A request from The Spectrum to have a referendum on the student subscription fee placed on the 2003 SA election ballot was also passed.
The six amendments, proposed by SA Senator Gregory Haynes, came in light of the recent controversy regarding this year's budget passed by last year's SA Senate, which called for payment of the SA president's, vice president's and treasurer's tuition using money from the mandatory student activity fee. The amendments will now go before the SA Senate for approval.
Haynes said the amendments, which will now move on for approval by the senate, would streamline stipend procedures in coming years.
"When this compensation issue occurred, there was nothing procedurally wrong; the president, vice president and treasurer made what they thought was the right decision," Haynes said. "The problem was most people thought it should have been discussed in the assembly."
Due to the two amendments passed to Article VII, Section 1, of the SA Constitution, the senate will review the stipends of the e-board separately from the overall SA budget, and the Emergency Powers Council can only approve portions of the budget that do not affect the stipends of the e-board.
Under the current system, the Emergency Powers Council - partially made up of the members of the executive board - would vote on the entire budget, including stipends, if a decision could not be reached by the senate.
The most debated amendment passed made the position of SA treasurer, currently held by Naazli Ahmed, an ex-officio non-voting member of the senate.
Haynes said he thought the treasurer's voting rights should be reviewed as "a matter of checks and balances" within the senate.
"To have her be a voting member, when the president and vice president aren't, I don't think is appropriate," he said. "A majority of senators either strongly agree in making the treasurer a non-voting member or leaning towards it."
Other passed amendments gave the senate a possible extension of only one week after the budgetary deadline before handing over the budget to the Emergency Powers Council, with the exception of those lines in the budget dealing with compensation for the e-board.
Under the proposed amendments, stipends for the e-board must be approved by April 23. Haynes said he "felt that it was important to have a definite deadline."
Another approved amendment called for a portion of the second senate meeting of every semester to be designated to review "all persons who occupy positions compensated through money obtained by the Student Activity Fee."
The first of the failed amendments, which concerned the deadline for budgetary approval by the senate, was found to be "without merit" by the SA Rules Committee and was voted down by the Assembly.
An amendment calling for the senate to approve the stipends of all stipend-receiving SA staff members failed, because, according to Speaker of the Assembly Gregory Wyffles, the amendment could pose legal problems as the stipends of certain positions change during the course of the year.
Haynes urged the assembly to vote down these amendments, on the grounds that, after their proposal, he realized they were unnecessary or redundant.
"After speaking with President (Christian) Oliver and other senators, I've come to the conclusion that this amendment was mistaken," Haynes said.
"The senate ultimately has the authority to change the budget any way they want to," said Wyffles.
The next order of business was the approval of a referendum that would allow the students to vote on a $2 per semester increase to the mandatory student activity fee during the annual SA e-board and SUNY Student Assembly elections.
If approved by the student body, The Spectrum student subscription fee would rise from $1 to $3 per semester.
Editor in Chief Sara Paulson, along with Managing Editors Stefanie Alaimo and Jamie Lynn Perna, Campus News Editor Erin Shultz, Editorial Editor Corey Shoock and Advertising Manager Tara Sucato, took the floor to outline The Spectrum's financial situation and to explain the request for the referendum.
"We don't have enough money in reserve," Paulson said. "If something were to happen to our equipment, we wouldn't be able to print."
Though some Assembly members voiced reservations about allowing the proposed increase to reach the ballot and asked whether there were other ways for The Spectrum to obtain extra funding, the referendum passed and will move on to the floor of the senate.
In closing, Les Skolnik, Student Affairs director, passed out petitions and gave information about the scheduled tuition hike rally on the Feb. 25.
The next assembly meeting was scheduled for March 4 at 5 p.m. in 330 Student Union.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
