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Monday, April 20, 2009 12:22 a.m.

SA senators release proposed constitutional amendments

by Emily Cahn

Four Student Association senators released their proposed changes to the body’s governing documents Sunday night – revisions which, if passed, would change the responsibilities of the executive vice president, get rid of non-voting freshmen senator positions and create new positions in the organization, among other changes.

SA Sens. Nick Polk, U-at-Large, Michelle Tanney, CPS-G, and Michael Komo, CCAS-U, along with SA Sen.-elect Jamie Baker, CPS-G, will bring the changes before the Senate Tuesday night at a special meeting on the Mount Vernon Campus.

The new constitution, if passed, would eliminate the EVP’s role as chairperson of the Senate – splitting the EVP position into two separate entities. Instead of the EVP running Senate meetings, a “Speaker of the Senate” – who would be voted into office by senators from within the body – would lead meetings.

The EVP’s role would be to advocate on behalf of the student body, a similar job to that of the SA president.

“In light of splitting the EVP, we resolved to add a new duties to the office of Executive Vice President, whose duties would essentially be to assist the President, and to assume the position of President upon a vacancy,” the four senators wrote in a press release. ” The President and Vice President would be elected on a ticket.”

The proposed Constitution would also eliminate the three non-voting freshman senator positions and instead create a “House of Freshmen.”

“The bylaws seek to create a ‘House of Freshmen,’ which will be comprised of members of the freshman class in an effort to encourage their involvement with student governance and advocacy,” the authors wrote. “The House will be advised by the Executive Vice President, and will have its own elected President to oversee and execute initiatives.”

Jordan Chapman, the SA’s vice president for judicial and legislative affairs – a position tasked with making sure the SA follows its governing documents – said he agrees with some of the changes, but thinks the four senators went about the changes in the wrong manner.

“The year is almost over. Why the rush?” said Chapman, a junior. “Is it because the driving forces behind it won’t be here next year? This is why people hate the SA, and frankly, I don’t blame them.”

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Friday, April 17, 2009 7:44 p.m.

Four SA senators to introduce new constitution

by Emily Cahn

Student Association Sens. Nick Polk (U-At Large), Michael Komo (U-At Large), Michelle Tanney (CPS), and Sen.-elect Jamie Baker (CPS) will introduce a new SA constitution at a special meeting Tuesday night on the Mount Vernon Campus.

Polk, a sophomore and chair of the rules committee, said the new constitution would create a senate chairperson, rather than having the executive vice president run the body.

Instead of running the senate, Polk said the EVP would be able to work closely with the SA president to advocate for students.

“Pretty much it will cut out the bull crap of the past,” said Polk, who was unsuccessful in his bid for SA president this year. “All of this stupid stuff, like what’s two thirds, you know all of this stuff that makes the SA tooly, thats all out. No more EVP trouble, no more power struggles.”

Below is the memorandum sent by Polk, Tanney, Komo and Baker:

The time has come for institutional change in the Student Association.

We believe it is imperative that a substantial reform occur for the benefit of all students at The George Washington University, who have consistently demanded a strong legislative body and proactive executive to represent the interests of students on issues both academic and student life oriented.

Thus, we worked tirelessly to introduce a plan that will ostensibly overhaul the way the Student Association governs and functions.  This plan will be unveiled Sunday, April 19 at a time no earlier than 9:30 pm.

By introducing a new constitution (and subsequent bylaws), we seek to make changes both broad and sweeping.  These changes we believe are important, necessary and crucial.  In an effort to cut down bureaucracy, red tape and to fundamentally improve the way Senate meetings are run, we are proud to introduce these changes not only to our colleagues, but to the student body at-large.

We believe that it was important to bridge the gap between the current Senate and Senate-Elect as a way to continuously look toward the future of the organization, focusing on the betterment of the current system in place. We would like to take this opportunity to thank SA President Vishal Aswani, for his cooperation in this matter.

We look forward to working with you upon introduction of these documents, and answering your questions at that time.

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Thursday, March 26, 2009 9:51 p.m.

Bindelglass elected SA president

by Emily Cahn
Supporters rally around Julie Bindelglass, moments after results are announced.

Supporters rally around Julie Bindelglass, moments after results are announced. Jonathan Ewing/Hatchet photographer

This post was written by Hatchet Staff Writer Alli Hoff.

Updated Friday. Julie Bindelglass was elected Student Association president with 51.87 percent of the vote, defeating Nick Polk by a narrow margin Thursday night in the Marvin Center.

Bindelglass received 1,565 of the 3,018 votes cast, defeating Polk by 112 votes.

“The students have spoken,” Bindeglass said moments after she was announced the winner. “I’m so excited to get started with my work on all of these issues that I’ve been talking about throughout the election.”

Bindelglass’s friends and supporters were beside her as the Joint Election Committee read the contest’s results.

Her backers — some wearing the campaign’s signature “Take Back the SA” shirts and others wearing the letters of her Chi Omega sorority — rushed to congratulate their candidate when JEC Chair Patrick Rizk declared the results.

“Everyone worked so hard,” Bindelglass said of this support group. “I can’t thank enough the organizations who sent letters for me and my friends who stood out in the rain for me today.”

SA President Vishal Aswani congratulated both Bindelglass and Polk on their hard work during the election season.

“On behalf of the 2008-2009 Student Association, I wanted to congratulate both Julie and Nick on a hard fought and successful run-off election,” Aswani said in a statement emailed to The Hatchet. “With that in mind, I personally want to congratulate Julie Bindelglass for her election tonight. I am confident in the work she will be able to do as my successor this upcoming year. Julie and I will be starting the transition process this Monday and I look forward to a smooth changeover this April.”

Bindelglass and Executive Vice President-elect Jason Lifton will both be sworn in April 30.

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Thursday, March 12, 2009 4:52 p.m.

Runoff election scheduled for March 25 and 26

by Emily Cahn

The Joint Elections Committee — the oversight body for Student Association Elections — rescheduled the presidential runoff election to March 25 and 26, the week students return from spring break.

Thursday morning, Kyle Boyer was disqualified from the race, thus making the runoff election between Julie Bindelglass and Nick Polk.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:46 p.m.

Runoff election postponed until after spring break

by Emily Cahn

This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Alli Hoff.

Update, 7:59 a.m.

The runoff election for the Student Association presidency is postponed until after spring break. Originally scheduled for March 11 and 12, the contest was delayed to allow the Joint Elections Committee — the independent body that oversees the elections — to more carefully consider recent complaints filed against presidential candidate Kyle Boyer, the executive vice president.

The bill delaying the election was passed at Tuesday night’s senate meeting. SA President Vishal Aswani signed the bill shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, officially postponing the election until after spring break.

Boyer said he does not agree with postponing the election.

“I think the election has dragged on too long and I think people want to vote,” said Boyer. “People want to vote on the candidates’ merits and not on frivolous claims.”

SA Sen. Steve Glatter (Law) introduced the bill to delay the runoff to make sure the runoff election would be fair if Boyer is disqualified from the race.

The bill also changed the JEC charter, removing a provision where if a runoff election candidate is disqualified less than 24 hours before the start of the election, then the other candidate would be declared the winner. Now, the candidate receiving the next-most votes would be promoted to the runoff.

“I don’t think anyone would want to win by default,” Glatter said. “I think everyone can agree that we would still want to have an election so that the voters could have a choice.”

The JEC will meet Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. to discuss four complaints against Boyer over campaign financing. Boyer has already received three campaign violations during this election. If the JEC assesses him penalties for three complaints at Wednesday’s meeting, Boyer will be removed from the ballot.

SA Sen. Julie Bindelglass (CCAS-U), a sophomore and chair of the finance committee, is in the runoff with Boyer. SA Sen. Nick Polk (U-At Large), a sophomore, came in third in the general election and would join Bindelglass in the runoff if Boyer is disqualified.

“I agree with my senate colleagues on giving everyone a fair chance,” Bindelglass said. “It just gives me more time to talk to more students and get to know more people, which is something I love to do. I’m just letting them know that they have a choice.”

SA Sen. Logan Dobson (CCAS-U) emphasized that the bill does not advocate for any specific candidate.

“This is not something that is pro-Julie, pro-Kyle or pro-Nick,” he said during the Senate debate. “We’re just saying that we shouldn’t have an election until we know who should be on the ballot.”

As this year’s rules committee chair, Polk said he recognizes the flawed nature of the original JEC charter. “As I’ve said, the charter is a work in progress,” he said. “That’s definitely a clause that I’ve missed. There should never be a winner by default.”

The senate passed the bill unanimously, delaying the election for at least two weeks, though an official date has not yet been set. Bindelglass and Polk recused themselves from Tuesday’s vote. Boyer, who generally presides over the senate as EVP, was not present at the meeting.

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Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009 7:36 p.m.

Polk announces run for SA president

by Emily Cahn

Student Association Sen. Nick Polk (U-at-Large), chair of the rules committee, announced Sunday evening that he will run for SA president.

Polk, a sophomore, said if elected, he will make the SA an open and transparent organization.

“I have always worked to ensure that the SA is an organization that supports all students and student organizations, advocates on their behalf, and is a body that strives to be open, transparent, and seeks to inform the student body about everything it does,” said Polk in an email to members of the campus media. “It is with this same attitude that I plan to approach my campaign and hopefully, my presidency.”

In an interview with The Hatchet, Polk said if elected he will work on smaller, more tangible goals.

“Just looking back at the past couple of years there are so many plausible goals that have made GW better,” said Polk. “GW Reads, 4-RIDE improvements, Colonials Invasion, mandatory spending roll over. Anybody who tells you they know how to reduce mandatory spending is lying, believe me I’ve tried.”

Candidate registration begins Monday morning.

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Monday, April 21, 2008 8:43 p.m.

SA rules committee meets to discuss transparency

by Emily Cahn

The Student Association senate rules committee-elect met to discuss issues of SA transparency Monday in the Marvin Center.

The meeting was sparked by a letter sent by Ben Balter, chair of the committee which oversees student run elections. Balter, a junior, said in his letter that his committee, which worked to ensure a free and fair election for the SA, was held to higher standards than the SA.

“It was general sentiment of the committee that there was a sense of disconnect between the JEC and the senate,” Balter said. “Why should the student voice be held to any less of a standard than committee that elects it?”

Balter said his committee had to make all of their documents public in order for their decisions to hold — something the SA senate did not do this year, he said.

Recipient of the letter, SA senator-elect Nick Polk (U-at-Large), said the senate should use the model the JEC used this year and publish their public documents on the SA Web site to improve transparency.

Fred Girard, a member of the incoming executive cabinet, said the average student would not look at the posted documents.

“Think about the average student,” said Girard, the incoming vice president for judicial and legislative affairs. “Are the really going to use (these documents)?”

Executive Vice President-elect Kyle Boyer disagreed with Girard. He said public documents should be posted online as it is not difficult for senators to do.

SA senator-elect Patrick Hanley (ESIA-U) said the documents should be visible to all students on the Web site.

“I don’t understand why we can’t just get it done,” said Hanley, a freshman.

The rules committee will meet through a conference call over the summer to further discuss ideas for transparency.

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Wednesday, April 2, 2008 9:34 a.m.

SA senate-elect chooses committee chairs

by Andrew Ramonas

The Student Association Senate-elect met for the first time yesterday to vote on next year’s chairs for the senate committees.

SA Sen. Nick Polk (FYNV) was chosen as the rules committee chair; Sen. Julie Bindelglass (CCAS-U) will be next year’s finance committee chair; Sen. Michelle Tanney (CPS) was approved as the student life committee chair; Senator-elect Louis Laverone (ESIA-U) will head the academic affairs committee next year; and Senator-elect Chris Hedquist (SoB-G) is the newest chairman of the graduate student affairs committee.

Read more about the new chairs in Thursday’s Hatchet.

-Emily Cahn contributed to this report.

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