Last night’s A.S. meeting was filled with outrageous comments and rapid-fire decisions as discussion over the Loft referendum finally drew to a close. The meeting began with a short spiel by Thurgood Marshall senior Robert Corea during public input plugging tomorrow’s rally against Proposition 8, the recent state gay-marriage ban.
“This is an issue about civil rights,” Corea said. “We should be leading the charge as an institution of higher education.”
Following public input, President Donna Bean moved to appoint Associate Vice President of Student Advocacy Frank Carroll as the Special Election Campaign Manager for the activity fee referendum in January.
“I believe my qualifications are exemplary,” Carroll said. He proceeded to detail his qualifications for the position and the motion to appoint him passed.
Next, Sixth College Senator John Cressey unveiled the new Loft Memorandum of Understanding, which the Special Committee on the Loft kneaded out with Director of University Events Office Martin Wollesen throughout the past week.
“I want to reiterate that this is nothing more than putting this on a ballot,” Cressey said. “Vote in favor of student control by letting the students decide.”
Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Lana Blank told her colleagues that she finds their practice of snapping to indicate approval quite distracting before diving into commentary on the Loft.
“If you’ve built it, then why not give it a few years to try it out?” Blank said. “Students would survive without Sun God, but they want it, just like they want the Loft. So let’s give them the choice.”
“I would urge the council to consider the opinions of groups that are not necessarily affiliated with them,” Intrafraternity Council representative Luke Pulaski said. “I would like to think of A.S. as a council that can get things done.”
While the council stewed over the language of the Loft referendum MoU, Associate Vice President of Student Organizations Utsav Gupta clicked photos of fellow councilmembers from various points around the room. The photos, he said, are for his photography class project on diverse social spheres.
Two hours after the commencement of the meeting, the council finally voted on the issue of the Loft referendum. The motion failed by a mere four votes, meaning that the Loft will not be added to the A.S. activity fee referendum or make an appearance on the ballot at the special election in January.
Wollesen graciously accepted the council’s decision and thanked councilmembers for the time they took to debate the issue of the Loft’s funding over the past several weeks.
During open forum, members of the council urged each other to participate in the No on Proposition 8 rallies that are to take place on campus and in Hillcrest this coming weekend.
To everyone’s glee, the meeting ended without having to be relocated from the forum due to time constraints for the first time in three weeks.
