The Undergraduate Assembly made history several times at its meeting Sunday night. For the first time ever, its eight new freshmen members had to take oaths, pledging to represent their constituents. Also for the first time ever, the UA passed a resolution permitting the ousting of members who miss meetings. And in an unprecedented move, UA Chairperson Seth Hamalian decreed that since Ivy Council concerns all branches of student government, members of non-elected student government branches, such as the Nominations and Elections Committee, would be eligible to serve on the interschool governmental body. The problem stems from the structure of the University's student government, which, unlike other Ivy League schools, is made up of several branches. Most branches are self-perpetuating and not elected by the students. In the past, all University Ivy Council representatives had been drawn from the ranks of the UA. Furthermore, Hamalian decreed that ex-officio UA members – namely representatives from the NEC, Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, Student Activities Council, United Minorities Council, Social Planning and Events Committee and Class Boards – would be allowed to vote for the representatives. UA member Dan Debicella challenged Hamalian's decree, saying Ivy Council was for "representative student government." "As the only elected body of student government, we have sovereignty over the student body," he said. Debicella's challenge was defeated, but he wasn't the only one to voice dissatisfaction with Hamalian's decision. NEC Chairperson Sharon Dunn said the NEC would not participate in the election because, she said, the UA does not have authority to elect Ivy Council representatives. "The UA should not be choosing Ivy Council representatives," she said. "Whatever you choose will be invalid in our minds." The election went ahead anyway, and Hamalian, UA member Dan Schorr and SCUE representative Sameer Chandam were selected to attend the next Ivy Council meeting to be held November 5 through 7 at Columbia University. They will join UA member Lance Rogers, the Ivy Council treasurer, as the University's representatives. Hamalian defended his actions. "Since we're all in student government together, I thought we should all have a hand in selecting the representatives, but at the same time make those representatives accountable to the student population," he said. As for the new attendance policy, Hamalian said he hoped it would "instill a sense of responsibility." From now on, members who miss two UA meetings without a valid excuse or 10 UA meetings with valid excuses, will be expected to resign. Freshman Omar Gonzalez, newly sworn in as a UA member, said he felt confident about his first UA experience. "It was a bit more lengthy than I had expected?but other than that, everything went pretty well," he said. "I definitely think I'll be able to have an impact on the UA."
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