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Resignations come together and tear Senate apart
With three vacant seats, another pending and a motion filed by former ASUO Senator Sara Hamilton, the Senate has its hands full
by Jobetta Hedelman | Copy Editor
Clarification appended: ASUO President Jared Axelrod's memory of speaking with Constitution Court Chief Justice Matt Greene regarding a grievance was misrepresented. Although the article said Axelrod could not recall whether the conversation took place before or after the Court ruled on the grievance, Axelrod said there was no point at which he knew whether a ruling had already been made.
Over the course of the last week, grievances and resignations have caused confusion within the Student Senate. The number of vacant seats stands at three; however, an additional resignation and a motion filed with the ASUO Constitution Court may change that.
Although there is still a vacancy created by the court's decision to remove then-Senate President Sara Hamilton from the body for failing to send out Senate agendas 48 hours prior to each meeting, Hamilton filed a motion asking the court to reconsider that decision.
Hamilton co-wrote the motion with Sens. Athan Papailiou and Jacqueline Justice and former senator Dallas Brown. It asks the court, which is in recess right now, to hold an emergency meeting to rule on the motion. The motion states several procedural errors on the part of the court denied Hamilton her right to due process.
One complaint is that Hamilton never received a hard copy of the grievance against her required by court rules, but instead was sent only an abbreviated version via e-mail.
The motion also says the court overstepped its bounds by looking for additional violations not outlined in the grievance and says court members spoke with ASUO President Jared Axelrod and with Hamilton about the grievance.
Axelrod said Chief Justice Matt Greene did speak with him about the grievance, but he did not know at the time whether the court had made the decision.
According to court bylaws, "ex parte" contact between court members and "any party in interest" of a matter before the court is forbidden.
Greene was unavailable for comment, but court members are rarely able to comment on on-going matters.
Over the course of the last week, grievances and resignations have caused confusion within the Student Senate. The number of vacant seats stands at three; however, an additional resignation and a motion filed with the ASUO Constitution Court may change that.
Although there is still a vacancy created by the court's decision to remove then-Senate President Sara Hamilton from the body for failing to send out Senate agendas 48 hours prior to each meeting, Hamilton filed a motion asking the court to reconsider that decision.
Hamilton co-wrote the motion with Sens. Athan Papailiou and Jacqueline Justice and former senator Dallas Brown. It asks the court, which is in recess right now, to hold an emergency meeting to rule on the motion. The motion states several procedural errors on the part of the court denied Hamilton her right to due process.
One complaint is that Hamilton never received a hard copy of the grievance against her required by court rules, but instead was sent only an abbreviated version via e-mail.
The motion also says the court overstepped its bounds by looking for additional violations not outlined in the grievance and says court members spoke with ASUO President Jared Axelrod and with Hamilton about the grievance.
Axelrod said Chief Justice Matt Greene did speak with him about the grievance, but he did not know at the time whether the court had made the decision.
According to court bylaws, "ex parte" contact between court members and "any party in interest" of a matter before the court is forbidden.
Greene was unavailable for comment, but court members are rarely able to comment on on-going matters.
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jruehl@uoregon.edu
posted 5/03/07 @ 6:07 PM PST
In light of the internal conflicts outlined in this article, it is difficult to understand why this institution is in place at UO. What has the senate accomplished in the last year? What has the senate spent the majority of their time on? I would venture to say useless bickering. (Continued…)
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