The Student Association Assembly met on Wednesday to discuss the possible motion of recall procedures for two e-board members following an investigation into Virtual Academix.
Nothing was decided.
Present to answer questions were SA President JoAnna Datz, SA lawyer Josh Korman, and SA Administrative Director Mark Sorel. The three fielded questions from Assembly members regarding the possible recall of SA Treasurer Sikander Khan and SA Vice President Meghan McMonagle.
The Assembly meeting immediately followed an open forum held by SA for the public to voice any opinions, concerns, or comments to Datz, Korman, and next year's SA President Travis Nemmer and Treasurer Justin Neuwirt.
The meeting discussed the possible removal of McMonagle and Khan, but the Assembly was informed that, other than petitioning, the only way to recall members is if the Assembly makes a motion for recall and votes at the following meeting. The next meeting would then be called and could take place five days later.
The motion would have to first be called in the Assembly, and the Senate could then follow suit. A resolution - if passed with two-thirds majority of the Assembly, along with two-thirds majority of the Senate - is then presented to the Student-Wide Judiciary (SWJ) for review. SWJ would investigate the validity of the charges against officials, and if the charges were found to be valid, the officials would be removed from office immediately, according to the SA constitution.
Every motion at the meeting was tabled for the next Assembly meeting, at which Assembly Speaker Steven Jackson will be writing a resolution based on emails from members expressing their concerns.
Korman addressed the Assembly about the University Police Department's and the district attorney's choice not to pursue the case.
"My role as lawyer, and I would say the professional staff too, and to a certain extent JoAnna in a more political situation, is to defend the organization," Korman said. "It's not our job to articulate the defense on behalf of the adverse party. What I will say is at this point we have been contacted by two separate attorneys representing Meghan and Sikander."
The Assembly discussed drafting a resolution for next week. It was stated that by simply making a resolution it would only send a strong message to the Khan and McMonagle.
Freshman assembly member Marissa Malone thinks that SA needs to change the way it works together.
"Honestly, from the information I have gathered of the Virtual Academix scandal, I have lost a lot of respect and trust for the e-board members," Malone said. "These people are the ones [who] are representing our school as a whole, as well as every single individual at UB, and it makes me question all that goes on behind the scenes."
The Assembly also elected the Speaker for the 2012-13 school year. Jackson won the position for a second time, beating out Assembly Members Zeesth Malik and Sanjot Nijjar. Jackson looks forward to another year as Speaker and looks forward to bettering the Assembly.
"I think we need to expand and keep growing in membership," Jackson said. "Last year only eight people voted in the election and this year I think we had 26. I'd like to see more people get involved and more involvement with various departments - make sure the students' voices are heard and acted upon."
The next Assembly meeting will be held on April 18.
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
