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WWW.GU1LF0RD1AN.COM SENATE NEWS Community Senate presidential hopefuls talk to The Guilfordian Continued from page I treasurer, and junior Erich Pohanka for secretary. There is a write-in option for uncontested elections. The Guilfordian sat down with the three presidential candidates to find out what's most important to them in this year's election. What strengths and skills will you bring to Senate? Alazrak: I've been involved in a lot of clubs, and I work in the Greenleaf. It's helped me learn to share leadership roles and to work in a consensus-based process. Tm a convinced Friend and I would work to uphold Quaker values, process and principles. I see the role of Senate president as more of a clerkship than a true presidency. I've developed the skills to talk to the administration that I would need as president. Dacosta: I'm a really good listener; I like to hear from all sides before making a decision. I'm really open and I love talking to people and hearing what they have to say. I'm committed to everything that I do, from being in CAB to being an RA to going to Pride meetings. Schurz: I've made it my goal to be as involved as possible in this community. Every comer of Guilford — and there are a REFORM Presidential candidates Yahya Alazrak, junior, and Elijah Dacosta, junior, during the Senate executive election debate at the Senate meeting on March 31. given me political knowledge and experience. I've done internships that taught me how to delegate and communicate. I've been juggling work and school. If I can do all that now, then as president, the issue won't be the task at hand as much as what needs to be accomplished. What do you want to see happen in Senate next year? Alazrak: I want to continue working on the social honor code and make it something that students can get behind to use as a platform to make institutional changes. Senate should protect students' rights but also work with the students, administration, RAs and Public Safety to make sure that everyone is respected. Senate should foster collaborative relationships and figure out ways to bring people together. Dacosta: I want to have a unifying rather than aggressive policy. People should be a part of and aware of the changes that Senate makes. I want to lot of comers - is important to Ae whole. Unes of commuiucation between I'm Ae president of the College Domomate, P _j^^P administration, faculty and Ae sophomore representative to Wte, communicating wiA have served on Ae Judiaal Board and am ^ active in QLb • . . ., communicating with students. Being a political saence major has ° Transforming our core values into action is important to me — we should practice what we preach. I also want to have more efficiency and transparency in fund allocation. I want to reform Inter-Club Council so it's actually useful to clubs, not just something they have to go to, and increase support for student organizations. Schurz: My priority is unifying the campus. Every student wants to have the best possible Guilford experience. If students can vocalize what that means to them, then Senate would be a better place — its reputation would improve, participation would improve (and) it would be more inclusive. Senate is a place for everyone. I don't want anyone to feel that their idea, their voice, is less important is anyone else's. That is not the way Guilford is supposed to be. The Quaker business meeting process has fallen apart and transformed into a process of voting. With voting, a few voices can dominate the floor. I'd want to appoint someone to oversee the business meeting process who can hold the meeting together and keep us on track. This would restore the integrity of the Senate process. To SEE THE COMPLETE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE, VISIT WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM Clubs call for more 'transparency' Continued from page I issues," said Alex Knox, senior and ICC chair. "These clubs were put on probation in order to guarantee their budget is being used respomibly, and month by month we will work with them to ensure that." The money from the cuts, totaling $11,250, will be recycled into the Senate general fund and used for allocations and student activities. The money is made available to organizations and student projects upon request through the Student Budget Committee. According to Fox, at the end of each fiscal year, unused funds go into the Senate rollover account, which has been used in recent years to fund the WQFS webcasting initiative and provide the campus Wi-Fi. "This is the first year the student organization manual policies are implemented to ensure programming and service to the student body, and it puts us in a difficult position when there are functional problems," said senior Dana Hamdan, president of Community Senate. The cuts came as a surprise to some student organizations. "There wasn't anything brought up to us during the midterm review that suggested tiiere was need for us to be concerned about cuts," said JJ Crass, junior and vice president of the GuilCo Gamers club. We understand that our budget was cut because we did not spend enough in the beginning of the year, but we had stated our case for future spending." GuilCo Gamers' remaining budget was cut by the maximum 50 percent, despite putting forward plans to use their remaining budget. "This year's Senate has done a really good job being true to the policies they created," said Fox. "But if student organizations state specific plans to use the money and can articulate clearly their intentions, I do not think it is a good morale booster to have those resources taken without substantial cause." The 2010-2011 Student Organization Manual and descriptions of the ICC policies are made available to dubs online. Even with these outlets of information available, some student organization representatives felt like communication between Senate, ICC and clubs could have been smoother. "I understand the dedsion behind probation and its fine," said Brittany Ford, senior and co-president of Blacks Unifying Sodety. "But I do think it would be benefidal to receive more detailed explanations about budget changes as well as a pre-determined schedule for checking in with ICC so there is less discourse about when is best to meet." "More transparency about dedsion-making would be good," said Ali Krantzler, president of Hillel. "I think it would be nice to get more thorough explanation as to why decisions are made. I know there are documents available to us, but sometimes it's hard to come forward with specific questions because it's intimidating." GuilCo Gamers experienced delays after asking for clarification on budget cuts. "It took three week to get a response," said Crass. "I think their (GuilCo Gamers') concern is understandable," said Hamdan. "It was a big delay on Senate's part on returning a response, and I am sorry for that. It is hard to have such a large-scale process go perfectly for every club." According to Hamdan, Senate has been working with student organizations that have questions or concerns about the ICC decisions. "Following the mid-year review I met with ^eive clubs that had questions, and with three clubs we reversed our initial decision," said Hamdan. e are flexible and open to discussion." • . j "I don't think there's need for fingers to be pointed at anyone," said Crass. "I just would like more clarification." ... Senate remains open for clubs to engage in discussion concerning the student organization policies. "To get the process to run as smoothly as possible is a hard task, but hopefully this was a step in the right direction," said Hamdan. "We want to continue a line of conversation between student organizations and Senate, and we look forward to feedback." IITY SENATE UPDATE April 6 Social Honor Code Experiential learning proposal X HEAT bus April 4 Executive election Founders Hall 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Contact senate@guilford.edu Senate President Dana Hamdan hamdands(^uilford.edu Community Senate meets every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m., Boren Lounge, founders Hall
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