News Briefs

Student Senate update

On Sunday, February 9th, the Oberlin College Student Senate held its first plenary session of the spring semester. Among the major issues discussed at the meeting was a new campus wide posting policy that Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith presented to the Senators.
The policy, which places mandatory limits on placement of posters and suggests voluntary restrictions on their content, is intended to “ensure that advertisements are not removed and that individuals and groups take responsibility for their words.”
After an initial period of discussion about the legislation, Goldsmith requested a Senate vote on the matter. Hesitant to make a final decision on this early draft, Senate agreed instead to gauge members’ general feelings on the proposal revealing a strongly negative reaction to the policy as written.
While not completely opposed to the idea of a uniform policy on campus posting, the Senators’ reservations mainly surrounded two specific pieces of the current proposal draft. The first problem was with the ambiguity in the restrictions relating to poster content.
“We felt comfortable having a Postering Policy,” said Senior Senator Emily Jendrek after the meeting, “but we found this one too open-ended, vague, and could possibly be used to suppress student activities deemed undesirable by the administration.”
Questions where raised about how advertisements from student organizations like the Oberlin Sexual Minorities or the college chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws would fit under this policy.
Another major concern, raised by Junior Senator Art Bueno, was with the seemingly overly punitive nature of the policy. Bueno suggested that a good policy should not only prescribe circumstances under which a poster may be removed, but also state under what circumstances a poster should not be taken down.
“Postering is a time-intensive act,” said Bueno. “It’s frustrating to see your attempt to communicate with the college hindered when posters are taken down without good reason.”
Senate also discussed lingering logistics of the Iraq referendum that was begun last semester. Currently there are about 1200 ballots cast, 200 shy of the 50 percent student participation needed to close the voting as required by Senate bylaws. Senators agreed on the importance of having complete results by the time a war begins and will begin a tabling campaign within the next week to increase student participation. Other interested parties—both pro and anti war—are encouraged to continue independent campaigns begun last semester.
In other news, Student Senate has announced that there are still student openings on numerous college committees with interviews being conducted over the next couple weeks. Interested students may visit the Senate office in Wilder 222 to sign up or to learn more information.
Senate plenary sessions are open to the public and held every Sunday at 7:00 P.M. in Wilder 215.

—Jesse Kanson-Benanav