Senators discuss attendance

Senate forged ahead this week in the ongoing debate over modifying the attendance policy.

In response to the current discrepancies over whether or not to have an attendance policy for Senate, sophomore senator Kate Davoli drafted a proposal that dealt with the existing attendance and excuse policy. Some of the guidelines of Davoli's policy stipulated that senators cannot miss more than three General Faculty meetings, more than seven Plenary sessions, more than 14 office hours or more than one third of their Faculty Committee meetings per year.

Sophomore senator Chris Anton, in response to Davoli's proposal, said, "[It is] too linear. It needs to distinguish between types of meetings - some are more important than others."

Many were torn over whether the current policy needed to be amended or was efficient in its current form. First-year senator John Byrne said, "I am thoroughly disappointed with Senate's attendance policy as it now stands. Under the current system, far too much time is spent on excuses. Furthermore, it is not Senate's job to police its members. Were there no attendance policy, the senate's membership coordinator would still keep track of attendance. A system in which attendance was not policed would effectively treat us as adults."

After much back and forth discussion on both the merits and the downfalls of the current policy and on attendance policies in general, Davoli withdrew her proposal and subsequently first-year Senator Miesha McClure proposed another attendance policy. McClure's proposal for a zero attendance policy, in which the membership coordinator keeps track of attendance and can, at any time, bring up senators' absences when necessary, was approved. Her proposal also included the right to censure senators for excessive absences at any time.

Junior senator Aaron Leavy, who was opposed to a zero attendance policy, said, "I feel that this sets a bad precedent if we have no attendance policy."

On the other end of the spectrum, sophomore senator Dan Morganstein felt that the zero attendance policy helped to promote a sense of accountability.

"Unfortunately, we all opt to live in a wonderful world of the ideal. We have to deal with this thing called reality. If we have a zero attendance policy, we will truly see who the dedicated senators are," said Morganstein.

In a heated and emotional moment following the vote, a motion was made to vote on the censure of Anton for what was viewed as his excessive absences, namely of office hours. According to the membership coordinator's records, Anton had missed eight out of the 10 required office hours. Anton felt that the vote for his censure was unwarranted, given that he had spent a large portion of his time working on other Senate-related issues, such as revamping the Senate web page.

Anton said, "I think that censuring me sends the message that I'm not doing my job." A large portion of Senate felt that the motion to censure Anton stemmed directly from some senators' anger at having the zero attendance policy approved.

Morganstein said, "What's happening is that since people didn't get their way they are taking it out by censuring people."

The vote for Anton's censure did not pass, but Davoli felt that it was important for the student body to be aware of senators' activities. In regards to Anton's absences, Davoli said, "A large portion of the student body voted for you and should be aware that you are not showing up."

Senate also continued to vote on various committee proposals, such as a student health improvement advisory council, which will be co-chaired by Morganstein and first-year senators David Jessop and Nikhil Majumdar and a committee that deals with public forums, which junior senators Erika Hansen and Davoli will co-chair.

At the close of Senate's meeting, many expressed frustration at the amount of time spent discussing internal issues, namely attendance, at each weekly meeting. First-year senator Tyrone Rogers said, "We shouldn't take forever with internal issues. We're here to represent the student body."

The meeting ended on an emotional note. Junior senator Jane Glynn, feeling frustrated by Senate's overall calculus of inaction, announced plans for her possible resignation at the end of the semester. She then retracted this statement after junior senator Mete Sener tendered his resignation Thursday evening.