ASCSU passes election pertinent bills

At Wednesday night’s senate meeting, the Associated Students of

CSU passed five bills affecting the organization’s upcoming

election process, in addition to passing a bill asking for the

option of buying wind power in the residence halls. They also

entertained debate on a bill voicing opposition to the Academic

Bill of Rights.

Several bills were passed at the last senate meeting before

application packets for this year’s election process become

available next week.

Bill 3308 changed the election bylaws to lower the amount of

donations a presidential candidate could raise from $3,500 to

$3,000. That reduced amount was originally $1,500 at the time the

bill was first introduced, but later was amended to the $500

amount.

Bill 3311 raised the required grade point average for a

presidential candidate to possess from 2.00 to 2.25. The bill

amended ASCSU’s constitution to make the organization compliant

with the GPA requirements of the Student Organizations Office.

Bill 3316 passed on emergency status and changed the job

descriptions of senators to require a minimum GPA of 2.25.

All five bills passed with little debate as four of them had

been discussed in previous meetings.

The senate also entertained debate on a bill, which would voice

opposition to the Academic Bill of Rights currently in committee at

the Colorado General Assembly.

The bill originally voiced opposition on the grounds the

Academic Bill of Rights would “allow excessive control of academic

affairs by the state legislature.”

The bill was sent to committee and changed to oppose the

Academic Bill of Rights because CSU already has methods in place to

address student rights that are similar to those in the Academic

Bill of Rights.

“We made a lot of changes in this bill, mostly to make it

neutral,” said Mollie Everett, a senator for the College of Applied

Human Sciences.

Some senators believe voicing opposition to a General Assembly

bill reinforcing CSU policy is illogical.

“Why is there adamant opposition to the bill when we already

have these rules in place?” said Ashly Nickel, a senator for the

graduate school.

Some even said the bill would send the wrong message to the

General Assembly.

“Basically we’ll be saying we’re in opposition to having these

rights as students,” said Peter McGuire, a senator for the College

of Engineering.

Some senators also felt they were not in a position to properly

represent their student constituents.

“Any way we vote tonight will be an incorrect assumption of

where our students stand,” said Courtney Stephens, an associate

senator for the College of Liberal Arts.

The bill was sent to committee for another week, in order to

allow senators to further speak with students about their opinions

regarding the Academic Bill of Rights.

Bill 3309, which requests that Housing and Dining Services

provide a mechanism to give students living on campus the choice of

buying wind power was also passed with a vote of 20 to 1.

Nickel voted against the bill because she said Housing and

Dining Services did not have the ability to purchase wind power

directly from the city, but had to go through the university.

Three more members were also appointed to the election committee

Wednesday, bringing the total to eight.

Charles Huntsman, vice president of recruitment for the

Inter-Fraternity Council, Anne Gable, a former ASCSU

parliamentarian and Cord Brundage, who ran as a presidential

candidate last year were all appointed to the committee.