Most of the public input period at last night’s council meeting was dominated by members of Students for Justice in Palestine, who expressed concern that President Donna Bean and President-elect Utsav Gupta were planning on attending an annual convention sponsored by the American Israel Public Affair Committee.
Several students asked Bean and Gupta not to attend, stating that they would be representing the student body and risked dividing the university community.
Both Gupta and Bean defended their right to attend the conference as individuals who wanted to learn about the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rather than as student representatives.
‘I’m going to educate myself on the issues,’ Bean said. ‘I hope there’s enough trust that I will not be brainwashed.’
University Centers Director Paul Terzino addressed the concern the council expressed at its last meeting that University Centers and UCAB would replace the Grove Caffe with a corporate business.
‘We’re careful and concerned about the vibe of the Student Center,’ he said.
Thurgood Marshall senior Kath Rogers gave a presentation encouraging the council to pass a resolution that would call for the university to use only cage-free eggs.
Koala Editor-in-Chief Kris Gregorian attended the meeting to defend his travel-funding request of $400 to attend the Second United Comedy Knowledge Organizational Field Forum (S.U.C.K.O.F.F.), a comedy conference. In response to the council’s request last week that he provide additional documentation about the conference, he suggested that the council was being biased in its demands.
‘I gave you all the documentation there is,’ he said. ‘If I give you any more, it’s gonna be made up.’
The council voted to allocate the funds.
Associate Vice President of Student Advocacy Frank Carroll then made a special presentation to confront allegations made by Academic Integrity Coordinator Tricia Bertram-Gallant that he had presented factual errors in a March 9 Guardian article.
Carroll suggested that AIC has emboldened professors to pursue cases of academic misconduct that should not be pursued, said that the office failed at being transparent and pointed out that physics professor Michael Anderson brought forth 82 of the 466 allegations of student misconduct.
‘There is something critically wrong with this office,’ he said. ‘It worries me, but it doesn’t worry the administration, which worries me. I’m a very worried person.’
The Grove Caffe question was again tabled since some councilmembers believed that the public had not been adequately notified that they would be voting again after last week’s vote was nullified by the A.S. Judicial Board.
Much new and unfinished business was tabled until next week’s meeting so that councilmembers could attend the Death Cab for Cutie concert at RIMAC Arena.