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Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 4:48 p.m.

SA Senate approves constitution bill

by Madeleine Morgenstern

The Student Association senate approved the new SA constitution bill Tuesday night, and the issue will now be turned over to the student body for a vote.

The senate voted 29-2 in favor of the bill, which included running presidential and executive vice presidential candidates together on the same ticket, increasing the number of student court judges from five to seven, and installing a new speaker of the senate to preside over the legislative body instead of the EVP.

Two amendments were made to the bill during debate, including making the four new freshman assembly committee “liaisons” into full nonvoting freshman senators again, after the bill had originally called for total elimination of freshman senators.

Sen. Josh Goldstein, CCAS-U, proposed the amendment, and said that it was important for freshmen to keep their seat at the senate table.

The other amendment, proposed by Sen. Connor Walsh, U-At Large, chair of the Finance Committee, stipulates that the speaker of the senate will be appointed within the senate, instead of elected by the student body.

Sen. Michael Komo, U-At Large, and a member of the constitution task force, said the task force considered it a “friendly amendment.” Sen. Logan Dobson, CCAS-U, who ultimately voted against the bill, said the speaker should come directly from the students and outside of the SA.

Details about the referendum have not been released, but will require a majority vote by the student body to pass.

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Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 8:32 p.m.

Live Blog: The Student Association senate to vote on a new constitution

by Madeleine Morgenstern

Join us for tonight’s Student Association senate live blog. The SA will be voting on a new draft of their constitution tonight, which The Hatchet reported on Monday.

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Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 6:48 p.m.

Student Association members propose new constitution

by Madeleine Morgenstern

Members of the Student Association released a draft of a new constitution Friday night. If approved, the constitution would make significant changes to all three branches of the SA, including electing the president and executive vice president together on the same ticket.

The executive vice president’s role would also been redefined. According to the draft, an elected speaker of the senate would preside over the legislative body, replacing the EVP. The EVP would have “a specific role within the Executive Branch as a partner in achieving the President’s goals,” according to a press release sent by Senate Rules Chair Jamie Baker, CPS-G.

Baker helps lead the Constitution Task Force, which was formed after a different constitution with some similar changes was killed last April.

The new constitution draft weighs in at just 11 pages, down 50 percent from the 22-page constitution currently in use.

Other major changes include increasing the number of justices on the Student Court from five to seven, and allowing all interested freshman to form a caucus within the SA to “become involved in the university policymaking process,” according to the draft.

In the task force press release, Rules Chair Jamie Baker, CPS-G, called the draft “a much clearer document that will refocus the Student Association on its core mission of advocacy.”

Members of the task force will hold a town hall Wednesday afternoon to discuss more of the proposed changes, and will make appointments to meet with students who have suggestions.

The full senate will meet again Nov. 10.

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Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 12:17 p.m.

SA appoints new communications director

by Madeleine Morgenstern

Junior Matt Ingoglia will be the Student Association’s new communications director, SA President Julie Bindelglass announced at Tuesday night’s Senate meeting.

Bindeglass said Ingoglia has been brought on to help with the SA’s “renewed commitment to communications.” Ingoglia previously served as the communications director for the College Democrats. He resigned in September.

Ingoglia, who also writes for The Hatchet’s opinions section, will be responsible for maintaining the SA’s Web site, Twitter account, and the coming Facebook page, Bindelglass said.

Ingoglia said he was excited and encouraged by the SA’s decision to bring him on.

“I believe it demonstrates an attentiveness to students’ concerns and I look forward to crafting a communications strategy we can all be proud of,” Ingoglia said.

Junior Carly Schildhaus, vice president for public affairs, will keep her “entire portfolio of responsibilities” Bindelglass said, which includes all publicity for the SA.

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Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 2:54 p.m.

Student Association to investigate conflict of interest of Student Court judge

by Madeleine Morgenstern

A Student Association investigation has been launched to determine how much members of the executive and senate leadership knew about an alleged violation of the SA Constitution by the Student Court’s chief judge, according to a formal investigation request obtained by The Hatchet.

Executive branch Chief of Staff Dan Curran said in an e-mail to The Hatchet on Tuesday that Student Court Chief Judge Jen Goldstein resigned from her Program Board position “out of an abundance of caution.” Goldstein had been the political affairs chair for PB, and the SA constitution outlaws serving on the court and on the executive board of any other student organization.

“The matter was handled quickly and amicably, and Jen Goldstein remains the Chief Judge of the SA Student Court,” said Curran, a senior.

Senior Jordan Chapman, the SA vice president for judicial and legislative affairs, announced the appointment of junior James Bonneau as a special investigator in the case, in an e-mail sent to SA President Julie Bindelglass and Curran Monday night.

Chapman emphasized that the investigation was not about Goldstein’s conflict of interest.

“It’s apparent that the rules were broken, whether on purpose or inadvertently,” Chapman said. “The request alleges that the leadership basically swept this under the rug, we’re trying to see if this is true.”

Bonneau was a special investigator for the Joint Elections Committee and represented them in last year’s case “Boyer vs. JEC.”

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Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 8:14 p.m.

Live Blogging the SA allocations meeting

by The GW Hatchet

The Hatchet is live blogging tonight’s Student Association Senate meeting on allocations. The meeting starts at 9 p.m.

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Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 2:50 p.m.

Suspended SA senator files lawsuit to postpone allocations meeting

by Madeleine Morgenstern

On the eve of the initial allocations meeting, Student Association Sen. Anthony Marenna, CCAS-U,  filed a lawsuit in Student Court challenging his senate suspension and demanding that Tuesday night’s allocations meeting be put on hold until the Court could hear his case.

Executive Vice President Jason Lifton and Sen. Erik Ashida, the named defendants, announced Tuesday that they will plead no contest to Marenna’s complaint, and allow Marenna to participate in the allocations meeting in order to ensure that student organizations receive their operating budgets as scheduled.

Marenna –  who was suspended Friday along with Sen. Brandon Feldman, SoB-U, after they missed three consecutive Academic Affairs Committee meetings – alleges that Ashida, CCAS-U, held an unconstitutional committee-elect meeting on April 21, 2009. The complaint also alleges that Ashida failed to give proper three-day notification of another missed meeting.

The complaint included a request for an emergency injunction from the court to prevent Tuesday’s allocations meeting from taking place.

Lifton said he believes that Marenna should remain suspended, but said that one student’s behavior should not keep the entire student body from receiving funding from the SA.

“Delaying allocations is not an option in my mind, so in the interest of every member of the student body, I will not let him hold up allocating money,” Lifton said.

Ashida echoed Lifton’s sentiments, and said he stands by his original decision to suspend Marenna.

“Participation is essential in an advocacy committee like Academic Affairs. In his complaint, he’s not protesting the fact that he was not present at those meetings. He is alleging that I called those meetings improperly,” Ashida said.

Marenna said that he would accept a no contest plea.

“I welcome this opportunity for the senate to move on and to put our full focus on the allocations meeting, which is exactly what the student body deserves,” Marenna said.

The SA allocations meeting is scheduled for tonight at 9 p.m. in the Elliott School’s “State Room” in 1957 E Street.

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Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009 11:03 p.m.

SA Senate suspends two members for lack of participation

by Emily Cahn

This post was written by Hatchet Staff Writer Madeleine Morgenstern

The Student Association Senate suspended two senators on Friday for failing to attend three consecutive SA Senate committee meetings. These two senators will be unable to participate in the initial allocations meeting Tuesday night, arguably the most important meeting the SA Senate holds all year.

SA Sens. Brandon Feldman, SoB-U, and Anthony Marenna, CCAS-U, were suspended after they each missed three consecutive Academic Affairs committee meetings, said SA Sen. Erik Ashida, CCAS-U, chair of Academic Affairs.

SA Sen. Jamie Baker, CPS-G, chair of the Rules Committee, said that Feldman and Marenna must each serve out a two-week suspension, after which they may petition for reinstatement. If they do not petition for their reinstatement, but do not resign, the rules committee chair may circulate petitions for their impeachment.

In an e-mail to the Senate, Feldman said that he missed one meeting due to a scheduling conflict with his fraternity, and missed another one to return home for a Jewish holiday.

“I take my obligations and responsibilities as a senator very seriously. It means a great deal to me and I would never want to disappoint the students, the school, or my fellow senators,” Feldman wrote.

Marenna said he is considering challenging his suspension in the SA Student Court.

“I take my responsibility to the student body and to Columbian College undergrads very seriously, and if that means contesting my suspension in court so that I can represent them during allocations, then I will do that,” Marenna said.

Marenna said that he has been in the process of trying to change his committee assignment this year, and that Ashida verbally excused him from two of the meetings he missed. He said he missed the third meeting due to another obligation.

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Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 6:16 p.m.

Marvin Center space to be only for students, University

by Emily Cahn

Space in the Marvin Center will now be exclusively reserved for student and University events, the University announced Friday evening.

In the past, outside organizations could pay to reserve rooms in the Marvin Center, but beginning Oct. 1, the space “will be reserved solely for student and University-sponsored events during the academic year,” said University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard.

“The Marvin Center will no longer be available for use during the academic year by groups not affiliated with the University,” Sherrard said in a news release. “Space rentals in the Marvin Center will be available free of charge for University groups. The Marvin Center’s meeting and event space will continue to be exclusively provided for student-focused activities on weekday evenings after 6 p.m. and on weekends during the academic year.”

The need for additional student space has become a hot button issue over the past few years, as the number of student groups have grown and the amount of student space has stayed the same.

Student Association President Julie Bindelglass said this is something the SA has been advocating for since before she was elected, but she said that she, along with Executive Vice President Jason Lifton, have continued to lobby the University on the issue since they took office in May.

“The Marvin Center is student space. It is our student union, our student center, and so we’re both so ecstatic that this was passed,” she said.

In 2004, the University conducted a study that said Marvin Center space had increasingly been used for non-University events over the course of the previous seven years.

Sherrard did not immediately comment on the amount of money the University would lose by no longer renting out Marvin Center space.

Robert Chernak, senior vice president for SASS, said that preserving Marvin Center space exclusively for students and University events will positively affect student life.

“Student-use and student accessibility of the Marvin Center is a priority for the University,” Chernak said in the University’s release. “This new model will better meet the needs of students and give them a central spot on campus for study groups, meetings and other gatherings.”

Lorraine Voles, vice president for External Relations, will now oversee a majority of the major venues on campus, including all outdoor University spaces, 1918 F St., 1957 E St., Marvin Center, Lisner Auditorium and the Jack Morton Auditorium, according to the release. Michael Peller, formerly the managing director of the Marvin Center and University Conferences, will now serve in a newly created position as assistant vice president for events and venues.

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Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 9:54 p.m.

Student Association Senate confirms three freshman senators

by Sarah Scire

This post was written by Hatchet Staff Writer Madeleine Morgenstern.

The Student Association Senate confirmed its three non-voting freshman senators Tuesday evening, leaving them just one senator short of having a full senate this year.

Freshmen Kevin Curtin, Amanda Galonek and Meredith Waters were confirmed from a pool of nine candidates after a 20-minute executive session debate that was closed to non-senate members. Six additional vacated senate seats were also filled during the meeting.

Each candidate delivered a two-minute statement, with follow-up questions from the senate.

Freshmen senators do not have voting privileges, but are given committee assignments and represent the freshman class.

Curtin said he was unfazed by the limited power of his position.

“It’s not necessary to have a vote to actually be a voice,” he said during the meeting.

In her statement to the senate, Meredith Waters called herself “a minority in every sense of the word at GW.”

“I’m a public health major, I’m black, I live on the Vern, and I’m in the Women’s Leadership Program,” Waters said. “I’m going to represent everybody who doesn’t get any other representation here.”

She added that she would be advocating for the whole freshman class, but plans to concentrate on making sure that the Mount Vernon campus is fully connected to Foggy Bottom.

Amanda Galonek said she hopes to use Facebook groups and an Instant Messenger account to spread important information to the freshman class.

“We’re very approachable,” she said. “I want to let [students] know that they have an opinion and a voice and they will be heard.”

Also on Tuesday night, Jay Ramsey and Abdullah Masud were confirmed as Law School graduate senators, Alexander Kapinos was confirmed as a Colombian College of Arts and Sciences graduate senator, David Ward was confirmed as an School of Medicine and Health Sciences undergraduate senator, and Michael Case was confirmed as one of two first-year graduate senators.

Francisco Semiao will be confirmed to the second first year graduate position next week, Rules Chair Jamie Baker (CPS-G) said.

The last open position is for a Graduate School of Education and Human Development graduate senator.

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