The Cauldron

Issue date: 5/5/08 Section: News

Senators Kimberly Carr, Charles Baily, Ray Izard and Donna Seemuth have appealed the Senate's recent ratification of the 2008 SGA election results "on the ground of patent unfairness."

The appeal was filed with the SGA Investigative and Legislative Committee, and The Cauldron obtained the documents detailing the charges against the Board of Elections (BOE).

The redacted documents include an email sent to Sen. Baily by a student who claims she witnessed President-elect Bolaji Orimoloye and Vice Presidentelect Abdul Ameen "yelling and pulling people toward where they where [sic] campaining [sic]." Neither Ameen nor Orimoloye could be reached before press time.

Secretary-elect Brandy Ambrose testified that a student who was going to cast a vote for her was "discouraged" from doing so by a BOE official.

According to her testimony, the student was told by the official that "Brandy has enough votes . . . don't vote for her. Just vote for the presidential candidates . . . the people that are running opposed."

Only candidates running for the offices of president, vice president, and the Judicial Board faced opposition in the election.

Another student charged that the BOE had "tampered" with the ballots because, in instances where a student had voted for more than one candidate, the BOE recorded a vote for each candidate marked rather than discarding the ballot.

BOE Co-Chair Jennifer Hakko said that she was "a bit shocked by some of the statements."

"I've never been accused of being unethical," Hakko said.

She also said that she was "curious" as to why it took more than three weeks for these complaints to surface, and that these concerns had already been cleared up at the April 18 SGA meeting.

As for the complaint about the ballots with double votes, Hakko said that the process the BOE used was cleared by all candidates involved as well as CSU Judicial Affairs Officer Valerie Hinton Hanna. "I really wish that people would move on," Hakko said.

The I&L Committee last week found Senate Speaker Paul Patterson guilty of "falsification" on account of his decision to edit a BOE document regarding the results of the SGA election more than two weeks ago.

In lieu of any harsher sanctions, Patterson must submit a formal apology to both the SGA and the BOE.

Business Sen. Donna Seemuth voiced concerns about the committee's decision. "It seems very sad to me that again what is really a very serious charge is resulting in a penalty that is basically a slap on the hand," Seemuth said.

The sections removed by Patterson mentioned decisions made by the BOE regarding campaign sanctions, as well as a note that no students had formally disputed the election results within the allotted time frame.

President Blake Almaguer announced that the Special Initiatives Committee was going to "allow the Print Shop to continue to function as it has in the past."

The committee was to decide whether or not the SGA-run Print Shop, which provides discount copies and other print services, remained a worthwhile service to the student body.

Following Almaguer's announcement, Print Shop Manager Donna Seemuth proposed voting to keep the shop open for the next five years, at which point its feasibility would be studied. The Senate voted to keep the Print Shop open.

A resolution was passed that encourages Gov. Ted Strickland to move "forward in a timely matter" a proposal in the Ohio General Assembly that would provide military veterans additional financial aid for higher education.

Dan Langshaw, a CSU student who was honorably discharged from the Army last year due to a knee injury, inspired the resolution. Langshaw had lobbied the SGA - in addition to the Ohio General Assembly - to do more to address the financial needs of returning veterans.

President Almaguer told the Senate that Langshaw was a "very dedicated individual," and that because of his service, they "generally owe it to him to get this issue passed."

Business Sen. Ray Izard was one of three senators to vote against the resolution, saying that because the U.S. military continues to discharge individuals solely because they are homosexuals, he could not support it. "Those people would not qualify for this assistance," he said.

Senator and President-elect Bolaji Orimoloye was reprimanded at last Friday's SGA meeting by Senate Speaker Paul Patterson after announcing that he had voiced "concerns" about the new GPA requirement for SGA members with the Student Life Committee and Dean of Students Dr. Jim Drnek.

"I am very, very disappointed . . . that in spite of the fact that this body ratified the constitution in multiple phases, in multiple stages, and it was the will of this body to go forward with the GPA as stated, you took it upon yourself to undermine the workings of the SGA," Patterson said.

The Senate recently voted to ratify proposed changes to the SGA Constitution, including one that would raise the GPA requirement from 2.5 to 2.75. The changes still need to be approved by the Faculty Senate and the Department of Student Life.

"The time for expressing concerns and expressing your constituent's concerns is before something is ratified. Once it is ratified, it is your job as a senator to carry forward with what's been done, not to try to undo what's been done by the work of the entire body," Patterson said.

"My job is to represent student issues, regardless of the situation," Orimoloye said.

Orimoloye was concerned that raising the GPA requirement would exclude students who might otherwise want to serve but do not meet the standards.

"Unfortunately, we're having this conversation for no reason," President Almaguer said. Almaguer called Orimoloye's concerns "valid," but said that there was no point in discussing the matter until the Constitutional changes are approved by the Faculty Senate, at which point the SGA may make amendments if they so choose and then resubmit them to the Faculty Senate.

For the 2006 academic year, the average GPA of an undergraduate student at Cleveland State was 2.87.

I'd like to take a moment to thank readers for picking up The Cauldron and occasionally reading my columns and articles. This has been my 72nd and last Cauldron submission, as I will be graduating in August. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here at CSU, and will remain very grateful to my editors for giving me the opportunity to write for this publication.

I wish all of my fellow students the very best of luck as they pursue their academic and professional goals.

And as you pursue those dreams, please remember this: there are people in this world who hold immense power over you.

These individuals spend your money, and do things in your name. Things that you may strongly disagree with.

I'm talking, of course, about governments, federal, state, and local. Pay attention to what they're doing. Mark Jablonski signing off.

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