SLC examines student Union Board proposal

Committee looks at Board Consititution wording

Associate Dean of Students Bill Stackman is calling for a return to an Oberlin tradition that was established in the 1950's but disappeared in recent years: a Student Union Board.

At Monday's Student Life Committee (SLC) meeting, Stackman led a discussion on his proposed Student Union Board Constitution, which resurrects the idea that students should be the primarily responsible for making decisions involving their Student Union. Stackman's proposal was approved.

The idea for the Board was proposed by Associate Dean of Students Bill Stackman, who said he has been working on a constitution for the past nine months.

"The Board will really change how decisions are made in Wilder. The staff does a great job in talking to and listening to students, but what we really want is to say to the students, 'You make the decisions,'" Stackman said. "We want the Board to have real authority and real power."

Stackman said a Student Union Committee existed in Oberlin since 1956, but that it had gradually stopped meeting until it faded away in the 1990s.

"Somehow over the years we've sort of lost that governance system and its philosophy," he said.

The constitution he authored is based on input from Student Senate and other students.

"We worked out a constitution where the selection committee will be made up of three senators and four Union Board members," Stackman said.

He added that the constitution was also the result of researching Student Union programs at other colleges.

"I gathered information from other schools and found that British and Canadian models run and own unions where the idea first originated from. The United States has modified the systems - the director used them to make the decisions unless it violated a state, federal or local law," Stackman said.

Members of SLC examined the proposed constitution and asked Stackman several clarifying questions.

Sophomore Sarah Fineberg expressed concern that going before an interview committee of seven members at once would be intimidating to applicants for student seats as stated under Article III, Section 1.

In response Associate Director of Admissions Tammy Dowley-Blackman said, "In the real world you might have to go through seven people. I've also done interviews with ten people when they grill you for an hour. It would be less intimidating here and you will get the skills now."

Members also questioned the meaning of Article III, section 1, which specified that students applying to sit on the Board must be in "good academic standing."

"I don't know if that's a good factor to consider," said senator senior Joshua Kaye. "To use a student's academic standing to stop their participation in student government and activities is a harm."

Chair of SLC and Theater and Dance Jane Armitage said, "To me it's good in that you want a student to get off academic probation first."

Stackman said he was fine deleting or altering that clause.

Dowley-Blackman, however, felt it should be left the way it was. "When you have an opportunity to make something A or B it makes your life less complicated. We don't deal with things in Oberlin the way the real world does," she said.

"Students need to be in good standing and maintain it. That's what the biggest concern is," Stackman said.

The committee decided to leave the clause unchanged.

The Committee approved a change to Section 4 of the Constitution. The section said that discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, sex, age, handicap or sexual orientation is prohibited. The Committee added the words "gender identity" before the words "sexual orientation."

Associate Dean of Student Life and Services Deb McNish questioned the amount of power the Student Union Board will have. "This document is very broad-based. It's conceivable that this board can touch on anything and if that's not your intention you need to implement that," she said.

Stackman said it is not his intention for the board to be involved with personnel and hiring or firing issues in any way.

Also discussed at the meeting were issues raised by the General Faculty Planning Committee (GFPC), the body that oversees SLC's activities.

Armitage said she had met with David Boe, professor of organ and chair of the GFPC. At the beginning of this school year the GFPC gave SLC the task of making specific recommendations for change within the Oberlin community. The recommendations were to be based on research gathered from last year's Long Range Planning project and current input from SLC members.

Armitage said she expressed SLC members' concerns about the three subcommittees into which the Committee is divided. Committee members have divided themselves into groups which examine issues pertaining to Faculty/Student Interaction, Pluralism and Governance/Organizations. Members wanted Boe to specify what exactly he wanted them to present to the GFPC.

"Given what each of the three groups are dealing with, you have to deal with it individually. Looking at program housing is a much larger issue that some of the others," Armitage said.

After discussing the GFPC, the Committee discussed a proposal submitted by OUTRAGE/oberlin to pass an Inclusion of Gender Identity in Non-Discrimination Act.

The purpose of the act is to add the acknowledgment of Gender Identity to the College's official definition of Non-Discrimination and related documents. The Committee passed the proposal with no hesitation.

Also on the Committee's agenda was discussion of progress with the Sadism and Masochism, Bondage and Discipline (S/M & B/D) charter that has been tabled pending the Committee's approval.

"There is a meeting scheduled with the legal attorney, charter subcommittee, and representatives from S/M & B/D on the 14th of April," Administrative Assistant of Student Affairs Wanda Morris said.

She added that the 12 Inches of Velvet charter still has to return to the charter subcommittee before it can be approved.