What’s the technical term for 30 people squeezed into the already cramped Student Leadership Chambers, complete with security guards swarming around the perimeter? Surprisingly, it’s not Student Organization Leadership Office registration sessions, but the start of the 16th A.S. meeting of the year, pre-empted and abruptly moved due to the UC Board of Regents meeting.
The 45-minute delay didn’t seem to stall business that much, nor did the fact that audience members were more or less resigned to sitting directly atop the council because of lack of space in the room. With six senators, several nonvoting councilmembers and the public missing, so was much of the conflict that’s given this correspondent something to write about for the last few weeks.
Despite the looming special election, and the regents pow-wow that had taken place directly downstairs only a few hours earlier, the A.S. Council took on an extremely hard-hitting and imperative topic for its council caucus: whether to serve bacon or sausage at the next A.S. Midnight Pancake Breakfast.
“Generally, the girls preferred bacon and the boys preferred sausage,” A.S. Vice President of Academic Affairs Harry Khanna said, causing the room to erupt in laughter. Ten additional minutes of sausage jokes and a vote later, not much was resolved. It was unclear which side dish actually won.
On the old business agenda, the council unanimously approved a resolution to divest from companies allegedly supporting genocide in Sudan. Though political resolutions have been a “hot topic” in the past, this one passed rather effortlessly. What did spark debate, however, was whether or not the A.S. Council should cancel the Feb. 22 meeting in order to prepare for the “State of the Campus Address.”
“I think it would be irresponsible to just cancel a meeting,” Revelle College Senior Senator Rachel Corell said, the lone vote to keep the meeting as scheduled. However, 16 senators voted for cancellation, so a word to the wise: Don’t show up in Price Center Ballroom A that date. The empty chairs in the audience will be even emptier.
Also debated was whether or not the council has the right to change the number of days in which the A.S. Council must respond to a special election petition. The item originally began as clarification to the policies governing signature collection, but the council was not sure how it felt on making amendments to other amendments on the fly. Sixth College Senior Senator Matt Corrales, who proposed the original changes, argued that the alterations were so minor that waiting the two-week legislative cycle was unnecessary. However, Corell was adamant that the council’s constituents needed the time to approach their representatives and offer feedback, if they so desired. Ultimately, senators decided to table the item for one week.
To conclude the evening, Eleanor Roosevelt College Freshman Senator Kari Gohd provided the council with a list of synonyms for the word “shady” to provide a variety of alternatives to councilmembers who often use the word to criticize pending legislation.
If she had only done the same for packaged meat products.
