TSG debuts Senate elections

For the first time, Temple Student Government is holding senatorial elections.

While Temple Student Government members fixate on the April 5 election day for the TSG presidential tickets, the Elections Commission is making TSG senatorial elections a priority.

“There was not nearly the amount of interest we need to have a successful campaign,” LaCole Foots, TSG elections commissioner, said about applications for senatorial candidacy.

“The Elections Commission is working to remedy the situation and get the word out [about TSG senatorial elections],” the senior political science and communications major said.

Attendance for all nine of the elections interest meetings was minimal.

Foots said there was a two-part application for candidacy, the first part including basic information. The deadline for the second part of the application, a questionnaire, is being extended to Friday at 9 p.m. The first part of the application is still due Wednesday by 5 p.m. in the TSG office in the Student Center Room 244.

Senate President Colin Saltry, a sophomore economics major, said the fact of the matter might be that TSG is not working hard enough to make students aware of their opportunity to get involved.

He also acknowledged that the system of the senatorial meetings could be a possible factor.

“You walk into the meeting, and you want to slit your wrists,” Saltry said. “Forty people have 40 different things to say about a topic.

“You can see why the healthcare reform and political party bickering happens – 40 people in a room talking,” Saltry added.

Some students said TSG has not made itself enough of a presence or reached out to all of its constituents.

“I think with most senators, it comes off as if they’re only doing it to put on their résumé,” Homecoming Queen and senior sociology major Candace Moses said.
“They need to be excited, and they need to do a better job of relaying what they do to their school,” she added.

Earlier this semester, Saltry and TSG President Kylie Patterson expressed their desire for senators to have a greater presence in their colleges.

“A big part [of this goal] was defining their role,” Patterson said of the senators. “In general, senators are doing a much better job, but I think they could be more aware of the groups they represent.”

Saltry attributes being stuck in meetings as one of the road blocks to furthering this goal.

“Nine times out of 10, we’re working on big bills. We’re stuck in the office or in meetings,” he said.

Saltry said if everyone in TSG could get on the same page, they would be able to bridge the gap to their constituents and encourage more people to run for office.
TSG Senate elections are new. Previously, student senators were selected through a process involving applications and review by faculty and administrators, with Senate leadership making the final decisions. Even current senators interested in maintaining their positions must go through the elections process in April.

“I’m really excited about this election process,” Patterson said. “Students will know who’s representing them on the micro and macro levels of TSG.”
TSG Senator and junior theater major Malcolm Kenyatta said elections “are going to increase dedication and what the senators bring to the table.”
Junior risk and insurance major Ben Mayer said elections will ensure commitment from candidates.

“Having people run for it, you know they’re going to be into it,” he said.

“I think with campus elections it isn’t always as effective, because most people don’t know about TSG unless they are in a student organization. Elections force senators to go out and meet students,” Moses said.

Patterson added that in the past, some people didn’t have the “power of the people” or seek the opinion of their constituents. Like Moses, Patterson said elections force candidates to do that.

Current senators and students advise potential candidates to be engaged in the wants and needs of the students and school they represent.

“They need to be outgoing and need to dive into issues pertaining to their colleges and bring these issues to the senate,” Senator and Allocations Chair Natalie Ramos-Castillo said.

Kenyatta said when people are looking for a senator, they should look for someone who emphasizes collaboration and is open to working with different types of people.
“You’re looking for someone who has vision,” he said. “When you look at someone’s platform, that makes the judgment call.”

“I would want to see someone who is truly accessible to their school … they should be really visible and be a part of [public relations] for their school,” Moses said.
Cory Sassano, a senior architecture major, said he’ll be looking for a candidate who “will take on the administration, and be a real voice for the students.”

“They should represent the student body,” Kelley Dougherty, a sophomore tourism major, said.

Jess Choi, a junior English major, said she is looking for senators who respect diversity at Temple and “who really represent” the school.

Patterson encouraged anyone interested in running for a Senate seat to do so. She said that any student who’s had a complaint should use that as motivation to join the TSG senate.

“In running for office, you’re better able to define and understand your vision for Temple University,” she said. “There’s no better place to be a self-starter.”

Saltry explained that one of the pros of Senate elections is that candidates will be held accountable by voters, and that elections in general promote democracy.
“If you see something wrong with the university, you could make change happen,” Saltry said.

“Anybody looking for a great opportunity to really make Temple more awesome in any way, whether that include making it more LGBTQ friendly, making it green or [creating] meal plan rollovers, this is the place to do it,” he added.

Foots tells students, “We have to give a hoot.”’

Angelo Fichera and Josh Fernandez can be reached at news@temple-news.com.

Without Targets

TSG candidates should reach beyond typical boundaries this year.

In the coming issues of The Temple News, reporters Angelo Fichera and Josh Fernandez will profile possible candidates for the Temple Student Government tickets in this year’s election. You may not know them, but when you read headlines in this paper covering TSG Senate meetings or State of the Campus addresses, do you actually read the articles, or do you skip over the information?

TSG is a fighting force on Main Campus. The student-run government is currently working on a program to provide legal advice for students’ landlord/tenant issues and last semester, when Fresh Grocer was still the butt of all jokes about the “progress” in Progress Plaza, TSG ran buses to South Philly for students to go grocery shopping.

Regardless of TSG’s moves on Main Campus, it still remains somewhat of a mystery for some Temple students. Students’ ignorance of TSG is no one person or organization’s fault, as the core issue splits into countless causes, but we urge the up-and-coming candidates to reach beyond the normal circle of voters and connect with students who could otherwise care less about TSG. Those students may be surprised how far one thought or suggestion can go when put into the hands of TSG officers.

So often, student organizations walk the fine line between serving a specific group of students who choose to be involved in their cause and actually pursuing their mission for the entire student body. We too, at The Temple News sometimes wonder whether we are adequately servicing students who might not normally pick up a newspaper and, if we aren’t, what we should change about the paper to do so.

Temple’s tried story of diversity exists on the surface of our skin, family backgrounds and income levels, to name a few, but diversity means nothing if we swim in separate schools of fish.

TSG affects all students, whether they participate in the election process or not. It’s important for the candidates to eventually run on sound platforms on specific issues, but when it comes down to it, certain issues only reach a targeted audience.

For current and future TSG members to lend their voice – which can be heard loudly by the decision-making administration – to other issues, students who wouldn’t consider themselves involved with particular organizations that work toward solutions for all students need to voice their concerns. Otherwise, solvable problems go under the radar and remain unaddressed until the issues have transformed into difficult monsters.

TSG tries new format to engage audience

The second Temple Student Government Senate meeting of the semester demonstrated TSG’s commitment to setting new precedents, especially with its new meeting room style and format.

Walking into Room 200C of the Student Center, students saw the new arrangement of the senate desks and audience seats, with the table occupied by the president, senate president and chief justice in the center against the back wall facing the audience and two rows of senate tables on the left and right side positioned diagonally.

They’re more open for getting the audience involved and trying to keep the blood flowing throughout the debate,” Senate President Colin Saltry said of the new set-up.

“It’s a shift in how we want to operate. It’s not perfect, but damn it, I think we’re doing the right thing,” he added.

TSG President Kylie Patterson kicked off the meeting by leading the room in reciting the new Temple student pledge. After that, Chief Justice Keith Davis, senior political science and anthropology major, swore in five new senators, including Marlon Bryan from the College of Liberal Arts, Colin Beneski from the College of Engineering, Charnett Moffett from the Fox School of Business, Eve Eisemann from the School of Science and Technology and Sherene Padinjarekutt from the Tyler School of Art.

After questioning from the senate and Patterson, Megan Chialastri, a junior political science major, was appointed as sergeant of arms, a position that ensures that order and rules are followed during meetings. Mark Quien, a Fox School of Business senator, was confirmed as senate president pro tempore.

After each necessary student officer was confirmed for his or her position, the senate moved to legislation, first up being Senate bill S10-3, “A Resolution Encouraging the Pa. General Assembly to Act to Reduce Access to Illegal Guns.” A majority of the senate members favored the bill, citing violence, personal situations and the recent shootings near campus as reason for their fellow senators to vote yes.

“We need to stand as students to protect our fellow students and the surrounding community,” said Natalie Ramos-Castillo, a senator for the College of Education.

Patterson reminded the room that the issue would be one of many addressed at a caucus of student governments, including other schools such as the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and St. Joseph’s University. The bill passed with a significant senate majority.

Other bills that passed included S10-4, “A Resolution Recognizing Temple University’s Adjunct Faculty,” S10-5 which recognized National Engineers Week and a resolution that recognized Peter Reynolds, an adjunct professor in the theater department who has made a significant contribution to the Temple community, including his work in promoting LGBTQ presence. Senator Malcolm Kenyatta from the School of Communications and Theater cited Reynolds’ work with the Mockingbird Theater and his Spring 2010 class “Queer Theatre.”

Quien debated the bill, worrying that it was unfair to all the other hard-working faculty members to praise one professor and not the others.

“There are people on campus who do great things all the time,” he said, adding that it would be like giving a “gold star” to one of many deserving professors.

“I love gold stars,” Kenyatta said. “We should say [to professors], ‘Hey, you’re doing a great job,’ because it encourages a higher level of teaching.”

Ramos-Castillo agreed that it encourages professors to continue working hard and that recognition was needed. Kyle Goldstein, senator from the College of Engineering, agreed. However – as a result of Goldstein’s safe-zone training, a program that teaches participants how to be allies to the LGBTQ community – he asked to strike a line in the bill that contained the word “gay,” rather than the all-inclusive LGBTQ acronym.

The bill was eventually passed.

“I’m happy we’re setting new precedents,” Patterson said of the new format of the senate meetings. “Talking about our stance on guns, celebrating our [professor’s] accomplishments, these are all steps in a good direction.”

Josh Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.

TSG Senate president steps down

At yesterday’s Senate meeting, Senate President Jeff Dempsey announced his resignation.

Last night’s TSG Senate meeting was not only the final meeting of the semester, but also the final meeting for Jeff Dempsey as senate president.

“In June 2006 I moved to Philadelphia, leaving behind friends and family,” Dempsey began his resignation speech.

He then described his first semester at Temple as “one of depression and loneliness,” but said during the following semester, a peer asked him about starting a student organization for students with disabilities.

“Little did I know, that in that moment I began a journey that took me from a student organization to one of the most powerful positions within Temple Student Government, a position that allowed me to speak for the student body,” he said. “Ladies and Gentleman, that journey will come to an end on Dec. 19.”

For the duration of his speech, every individual in attendance at the meeting had their eyes and ears focused on Dempsey’s every word. A few students in the back, who were dozing during the Senate’s debate over a resolution to support Temple University Hospital’s nurses union, awoke and listened intently to Dempsey recount his experience with TSG and encourage the rest of the Senate to continue its hard work and “not be afraid to put yourself on the line, or to mess up or to be criticized.”

“I need not justify myself by giving you a list of accomplishments, or reiterating lessons you should have learned,” Dempsey said. “What I will say is that for better or worse, I led in the way that I wanted to, and that was true to myself.”

Dempsey gave advice to the executive board he said “treats the [Senate] with the sincerity that it deserves.”

“You should say what needs to be said, even if it’s not what wants to be heard,” Dempsey said. “You should lead this student government to bring change, to hold people accountable, to create standards and to achieve greatness.”

After the Senate meeting, Dempsey said successful people get to look back on things they built and see they’ve done a nice job. He considers himself to be fortunate enough to be able to do this with the Senate.

The part of the meeting where senators debated over whether or not to pass S09-5 — the resolution supporting Temple University Hospital Nurses and Allied Professionals and their potential strike against the hospital officials for not fixing the 6 to 8 patients per nurse ratio, and the disparagement clause they say is a gag clause — is one example of work on which Dempsey reflected.

Senators debated passionately about whether or not to support the bill, some saying that the nurses’ treatment is unfair and warrants support, while others requested more information and time to research the issue before voting. Ultimately, the senate voted with a majority of 16 to table the bill and give senators time to research the issue.

Seeing the Senate debate with fervor, Dempsey said, makes him proud to have been a part of TSG and the Senate.

“I hope they actually research [this issue],” he said. “I’m glad they’re strong, and that everyone has a mind of their own.”

Senators expressed appreciation for having Dempsey as a friend and colleague, and said they will miss working with him.

“I’m sad to see him go, he’s done a lot of hard work, and I want to see what Sen. [Colin] Saltry has to say and [where he’ll take the Senate],” said Monica Rindfleisch, a senator and junior math education major.

Saltry, a sophomore economics major and Senate chair for the Student Life Committee, as Senate pro tempore, will be filling in Dempsey’s shoes as Senate president next semester.

“I’m sad to see him go. Hopefully I can do as good of a job as he did,” Saltry said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Dempsey said he wanted to make sure everyone respected and recognized Saltry and his abilities as a leader.

“Colin Saltry is not just a friend, or a colleague, but someone that I, in many ways, look up to,” he said. “Your only concern should be that you will not have enough time to learn from him the way that I have and continue to.”

Joshua Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.

TSG Senate meeting gets emotional over “hate speech” coming to campus

Emotions ran high at yesterday’s third Temple Student Government Senate meeting.

It had nothing to do with the Green Fee proposal, or the fact that the Green Fee student support list is now 1,600 signatures strong. Nor did the emotionally charged atmosphere of yesterday’s Senate meeting involve the passing of in support of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act that would increase the affordability of higher education.

The united and impassioned tone of the meeting was a direct result of the fiasco surrounding forthcoming guest speaker and Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders, infamous for his anti-Islamic, right-wing views.

After Muslim Student Association President Monira Gamal-Eldin released a statement expressing her disappointment and concerns about the event, her contact information was published on the Web site of conservative writer and activist David Horowitz. This led to a plethora of hate mail being sent to Gamal-Eldin, enraging her peers, including TSG Senate President Jeff Dempsey.

“Today, I have never been so ashamed to be a Temple student,” the senior political science major said in his opening statement. “The pervasion of hate is the pervasion of hate, end of story.”

He continued, “Just because you can invite a speaker so vile and so contemptible, doesn’t mean you should.”

After Temple College Republicans canceled the event, a series of events led to the event continuing, this time being hosted by Temple University Purpose, a group created “to advocate for justice and equality of oppressed and underrepresented populations,” according to its mission statement.

The ordeal led Eldin and TCR President Barry Scatton to address the Senate and its audience with compassionate speeches.

Scatton apologized on behalf of TCR and himself for any association between his organization a situation that has “caused so much hurt and trauma to the Muslim community on campus and to other students.”

He then condemned the event, as well as Horowitz’s Freedom Center, for the statements made in response to MSA’s statements about the event featuring Wilders. Scatton assured the audience that the Freedom Center’s views do not reflect his or TRC’s views.

Eldin’s moving speech, however, is what appeared to sweep the audience. She spoke about the difference between free speech and Wilders’ speech, citing an example in which he proposes an excise tax on hijabs, the head coverings that some Muslims wear.

“It is my free speech, my personal right to wear this,” Eldin said, fighting tears. “Him saying that we have to have an excise tax, is something that is taking that free speech away from me and anyone else wanting to openly practice their religion.”

Protestors, enraged over Wilders’s event, stood in support of the passing of Bill S09-5, a resolution Condeming the appearance of Geert Wilders, as well as disapproval of TU Purpose.

Before the bill was passed unanimously, Kylie Patterson spoke, also fighting tears.

“As said in the motion picture Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” she said. “Temple Student Government does not, nor will it ever, support hate speech.”

“Anything that does not benefit the student body as whole, that puts students in danger or that makes students feel insecure on campus is something … that we will not stand for.”

Josh Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.

Senate deliberates on new Web site fight song

Discussion about Temple’s fight song occurred at Temple Student Government’s Senate meeting this Monday.

College of Liberal Arts Sen. Kevin Gerard proposed a resolution that called for a new recording of Temple’s fight song be placed on Temple’s Web site. The resolution was written in the Student Life Committee.

Gerard played the current recording of the fight song that is now on Temple’s Web site. Many senators burst out laughing at the odd rendition that is now posted.

The resolution proposes that a contest be held where students can submit their own recordings of the fight song. The lyrics will be the same, but with a new recording of students singing the classic song.

The new recording will be placed online along with the currently posted rendition.

“This recording does not express the diversity within the student body,” Gerard said of the old recording.

Gerard discussed the energy that Temple students have when singing the song and its importance at Temple’s games.

Sen. Natalie Ramos-Castillo requested that people also be encouraged to include music videos with their submissions. The resolution was amended to include this proposal.

The funding for this contest has not been worked out yet, but the Student Life Committee is responsible for the advertising.

The Senate passed the resolution quickly.

In Senate President Jeff Dempsey’s absence, Sen. Renee Gordon read a bill Dempsey sponsored.

The bill asked that the senate clerk and parliamentarian be allowed to vote in the appointment of the senate president. The bill cited that since the senate clerk and parliamentarian work closely with the senate president, they should be allotted votes.

Gerard and Sen. Thompson cited that this bill was unconstitutional. The TSG constitution states that the parliamentarian and senate clerk are not voting participants. Even if the bill was passed, TSG would need the approval of 5 percent of the student population for the constitution to be changed.

Gerard motioned for the bill’s dismissal, citing its unconstitutionality. The motion was passed and the bill was dismissed.

The allocations reform bill was again brought up after being tabled at the last Senate meeting. After some discussion, Ramos-Castillo motioned that the bill be rejected so that it could be further worked on and broken down into multiple parts. The Senate passed the motion.
Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu.

Allocations reform dominates Senate meeting

Monday’s Temple Student Government Senate meeting largely centered on allocations reform.

Allocations chair Gaelle Amazan and Sen. Alex Barnett introduced a bill outlining certain aspects of allocations reform.

Some of the announced subjects were funding for transportation and defining the term banquet in the allocations code.

The most contentious proposal was for mini senate allocations meetings to occur on the off-weeks of regular Senate meetings. These meetings would presumably create more efficiency and allow allocations bills to be passed every week. Allocations would be the only topic at these meetings. The minimum attendance would be seven senators along with the parliamentarian and the senate president.

Many senators questioned the clarity of this rule and debated its importance. Since there are close to seven members on the allocations committee, it might end up with only them attending and passing these bills.

Sen. Dusha Holmes motioned that the allocations committee vote on and approve the bills at the committee meetings. The motion did not pass because many senators voiced concern that this would take power away from the senate.

Sen. Alexa Peffer motioned that any senator outside the committee could attend the allocations meetings and vote along with the committee members

Parliamentarian Monica Rindfleisch looked into the constitution and saw that this was considered unconstitutional. Bills can never be voted on in committees, it has to be done at a separate meeting.

Sen. Kylie Patterson suggested that there be a mandatory ratio of allocations committee members and senators attending these separate senate meetings. The suggestion was not made into a motion.

Student-body President Nadine Mompremier asked that the Senate to table this bill and have the Government Operations committee clarify some points.

“We have other pressing matters that need to be addressed,” Mompremier said.
After more than an hour of discussion, Senate President Jeff Dempsey motioned to end discussion and to table the bill. The bill will be settled at the next Senate meeting.

“Reform comes in waves and we do have time to address these issues,” Dempsey said.
With only 15 minutes left, the Senate passed an act approving the new elections code and a resolution that supports TSG Ambler’s petition to give commuting students the option to opt out of the Student Health fee.

The senate ended the meeting after passing the next 20 allocations bills.
Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu.

TSG Senate resolves to fight Pa. act, votes down allocations

Conflict over allocations arose at the Temple Student Government Senate meeting when representatives from the Asian Student Association presented their case to get more funding.

Student ASA representatives Paul Tran, Vi Dan and David Loi spoke during the meeting about their need for funding for the East Coast Asian Student Union conference. They planned to attend this conference four months ago.

For the past three years, ASA has attended ECASU as one of its big programs for the year. Every year more than 5,000 students from different universities on the East Coast attend. It is a way for students to gain leadership skills, meet people and spread Asian awareness. ASA was allocated $500 to attend the conference, but needs $2,000 to cover the costs.

“This is really a difficult decision for the committee,” Sen. Gaelle Amazan, chair of the Allocations Committee, said. “We really want to fund this group, but we have to take into consideration the other organizations.”

In the past, the Allocations Committee only gave $500 to each student organization that needed funding for conferences. Since the committee funds only this amount for all the other groups, they originally said they felt unfair making an exception for ASA.

In previous years, ASA obtained additional funding from the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Admissions. Due to budget cuts, the group did not receive the full amount needed from these offices. The members went to the department of Asian Studies, but still fell short.

They needed additional funding for the registration fees.

“This trip cannot be possible if we don’t get this funding,” Tran said.

After hearing about the importance of the conference from Dan, Tran, and Loi, the senators debated at length about whether they should amend the bill.

Some senators said since the group came to the meeting to debate their case, it showed the importance of the conference and its need for funding.

Sen. Alex Barnett countered that it was unfair to blindside other groups just because they did not come to speak at the meetings.

The senators continued to question whether the conference should be considered an off-campus event rather than a conference. If considered an off-campus event, it would receive funding.

But Amazan said if all conferences were considered off-campus events, there would be major funding problems.

Chief Justice Alex Herrera reminded the senators that if they agreed to fund this group, they would be opening the gates for other organizations to petition for extra conference funding. Organizations would be able to use this decision as a precedent and could file grievances.

“I just want to remind everyone that the action that we take this afternoon will have an effect,” Senate President Jeff Dempsey said.

The motion to amend the bill was not passed. Eleven people voted for it, two opposed and six abstained. The motion needed one more vote to pass.

Amazan encouraged all student organization members to attend the Senate meetings if they had a problem with their allocations. She is currently setting up a taskforce for people to brainstorm about possible changes to the guidelines.

“Allocations reform is coming,” Dempsey said. “We need to make change the reality.”
Discussion did not end with allocations, though. It continued when Student Body President Nadine Mompremier introduced a resolution supporting Temple University’s opposition to the Tuition Relief Act.

College of Liberal Arts Sen. Kylie Patterson sponsored the resolution, which states that TSG and the student body will fight the current proposal that exempts Temple University from the Tuition Relief Act.

The university has faced budget cuts, but will not receive any tuition relief from the state because it is considered a state-related school.

“If you’re going to cut our budget then you should provide relief to our students,” Mompremier said.

She also said that TSG plans to send a petition asking for Temple to be included in the act and will protest in Harrisburg if necessary.

TSG will also hold a rally at the Bell Tower Feb. 23 at 11:30 a.m.

“It is not something that we talk about and it slips under the table,” Mompremier said. “This is something that we can do something about.”

Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu.

Provost addresses TSG Senate

Provost Lisa Staiano-Coico attended Temple Student Government’s first senate meeting Monday Feb. 2 to discuss Temple’s Strategy Compass, which the Board of Trustees confirmed earlier this year.

The compass is a navigational tool for what provost Staiano-Coico and her committee would like to see Temple become.

The four points of the compass are “Access to Excellence – Opportunities for Success, Research Excellence, Metro-Engagement, and to become a University with a Global Commitment,” while “Temple” is the destination.

“This plan is built on your excellence,” Staiano-Coico said.

The provost and the steering committee want to ensure that the university is recruiting promising students, encouraging research opportunities, featuring Temple’s prominence within the city, expanding campus revitalization with new buildings and increasing the global focus.

She asked the senators and audience what they thought Temple needed in order to become a greater success. Students cited problems with housing, tuition, falling diversity rates, a lack of student organization recognition and the importance of helping students who are suffering in this economic crisis.

Staiano-Coico expressed gratitude for the feedback.

“Temple is a special place because of you, each and every one of you,” Staiano-Coico said to those in attendance.

She asked those who made comments to e-mail her so she could follow up with their concerns.

The portion of the meeting following the provost’s speech centered on senatorial issues.

The Senate also confirmed a new senate clerk, a parliamentarian and an elections commissioner.

Colin P. Saltry, newly appointed senate clerk, said he plans to streamline the bill process, create a more detailed agenda and write more comprehensive minutes.

Monica Rindfleisch accepted the role of parliamentarian. She attended all the TSG senate meetings last year and said she wanted to further her involvement.

The new elections commissioner will be Alexandra Casale. She said she accepted the position in hopes of increasing voter participation and ensuring that TSG has highly representative candidates. Her commission will be comprised of marketing, communications, political science and public relations majors.

The swearing in of these three positions will occur at a later meeting.

Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu.

Mompremier vetoes Senate resolution

On Wednesday night, Nadine Mompremier, president of Temple Student Government, sent an e-mail announcing her veto of a resolution recently passed by TSG Senate.

The resolution declared TSG’s alliance with members of the Temple Association of University Professionals and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in support of recent contract negotiations.

The Student Labor Action Project wrote the bill, and it was sponsored by Senate President Jeff Dempsey.

The resolution passed unanimously at Monday’s Senate meeting.

“To veto a bill that was unanimously passed speaks a lot,” Dempsey said.

Mompremier acknowledged that there was a lot of support for the bill, but she did not approve of how the resolution was passed.

She sent a list of her arguments along with the veto notification to the Senate.

Mompremier’s arguments detailed the procedures that were not followed in order for the resolution to officially be passed.

The resolution was not sent out by 9 a.m. on Monday. Instead, it was sent two hours before the meeting. By not passing the resolution before 9 a.m., the Senate violated a requirement cited in Article 2 Section 2.12 of Senate by-laws.

It was also read as second-read legislation instead of first-read. First-read requires the Senate to decide what committee the bill will go to, so it can be worked on further. Second-read requires debate and a vote. The Senate passed the agenda agreeing to count the legislation as second read instead of first.

“If you get mired in those [procedural] details, you’re turning your back on what is important,” Dempsey said. “You have to take a stand and not hide behind procedure.”

Mompremier argued because the legislation was passed two hours prior to the meeting, senators could not discuss it with their constituents.

She said senators would not be able to know how students felt about the contract negotiations.

“It is my job to make sure the Senate accurately represents the student body,” Mompremier said.

Dempsey said there is a level of trust between students and the senators who represent them.

“I feel as if my Senate as a whole has been sullied,” Dempsey said. “They were called stupid in so many words, which I think was abhorrent.”

Mompremier said senators did not have the time to research both sides of the arguments.

Senators did not have more time prior to the vote to research both TAUP and AFSCME platforms.

“You have to take into account both sides. It’s about fairness, and it’s about integrity,” Mompremier said.

Representatives from TAUP, AFSCME and SLAP attended the meeting where the resolution was passed.

Mompremier said their attendance may have pressured the senators to vote quickly.

Mompremier said she believed the senators did not think about all the implications that could come from this resolution.

The possibility of the university’s tuition increasing in order to pay for union raises was one of her concerns.

If this were to happen, she said it would seem as if TSG supported an increase in tuition.

“It isn’t about not supporting the issue. It’s about the way we support it and taking in all sides,” Mompremier said.

Dempsey plans on fighting the veto in an emergency Senate meeting, which will occur after the Thanksgiving break. He mandated a cool-down period so the senators would not let their anger decide for them. The veto can be overturned if two-thirds of the Senate votes against it.

“I will fight for this resolution because it is the right thing to do,” Dempsey said.

Rebecca Hale can be reached at rebecca.hale@temple.edu.

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