Senate meets with security consultant

Lost charters and unfinished business completed

Student Senate met with an off-campus security consultant, handled the elections for second semester and completed business that had festered since last semester efficiently during its Sunday meeting.

The first item of the meeting was the visit of the security consultant, Bill Bess, the Director of Security at Arizona State University. From the Senate, Bess hoped to get ideas for the eventual reworking of parts of campus security, and to bounce ideas that he already had off the group.

Bess asked about the relations both College Security and city police have with the student body. The Senate, for the most part, described the campus security officers as often aloof and detached from the students. Senators spoke of the police as being more detached and aloof and often referring students to College security.

Senator first-year Toshio Mana commented that many people, including Security and the police department, do not have any defined guidelines as to where the campus ends and the town of Oberlin begins, so one group may think that an issue lies within the jurisdiction of another.

Senator sophomore Joshua Kaye pointed out one of the main differences between the College's security and the police department. "Police are more of a government institution which provides law enforcement, and security is supposed to provide a sense of well being."

The Senate then next moved on to finish the discussion that had ended in a major objection by Senator senior Matt Cole the previous week, with the Senate attempting to allow two senators, junior Zakia Redd and sophomore Arturo Martinez, to resign and still retain their faculty committee seats. The debate over whether or not the motion was legal ended as the motion flew through all the appropriate channels and was approved.

The next piece of continuing business concerned a number of charters lost between the spring '95 and fall '95 semesters. Approximately eight or nine of the charters have been found by the Senate and student groups have been advised to inquire about their charters if they have not heard from Senate.

With the end of visits and the resolution of continued business, Senate then dealt with electing chairpersons to the internal committees, including the positions of treasurer, liaison and Housing and Dining. The Senate flew through the elections with uncharacteristic speed, which both amused and amazed the senate.

"I get a little suspicious when we're too expedient," said Senator senior David Schneider. The Senate also added two new members to its ranks, sophomore Sam Krasnow and first-year Florian Gerhardt, the only two people who ran for the Senate's open positions.

Efficiency persisted with the announcement that the student union had hired a student to a part-time work-study position to run the now annual Used Book Bazaar, in which students buy and sell textbooks at the start of the semester.

A charter from the Student Athletics Committee was passed. Such a charter is required for members of the NCAC, which Oberlin is. The charter now only needs to be passed in a General Faculty Meeting.

At the board: Senators go through the agenda at last Sunday's meeting. (photo by Allison Hales)