I sat in on the SGA senate meeting on Monday evening. I was able to watch and listen as Steve Gilmore resigned from office as SGA President and Gabe Rettaliata was sworn in.

The meeting started at 5:34 pm and Steve graciously stepped down from his position. He told us he had intended to challenge the removal, but in the interest of keeping peace in the SGA he decided against it. Steve also apologized for what appeared to be intentional deception on his part. He explained that his delay in informing people of his ineligibility was due to taking time to talk to his professors, confirm his grades from last semester, and see if there was anything he could do to raise his grades. He said “I do not want anyone, especially SGA, thinking I tried to pull a fast one or go behind people’s backs” by not immediately taking action regarding his ineligibility. He apologized for hurting anyone’s feelings with his actions and expressed his gratitude at being able to be part of the SGA since his freshman year. He finished by saying he intends to do everything in his power to make sure ongoing SGA plans are followed through.

I spoke with Steve via email after the meeting and he wanted to communicate to you all…well, I’ll let him speak for himself.

I want to thank all of you for the honor of serving as your SGA President this year.  As much as I want to keep doing what I’ve been doing, I have decided to step down for the good of the SGA.  I will be working closely with Gabe and the other SGA members to make a smooth transition and to help complete our on going projects.

After Steve excused himself from the rest of the meeting, Gabe asked for any comments on the situation from the rest of those present. Fouad Kanaan asked David Hoffman (and/or any others who had been around that long) what transpired the last time there was an administration change mid-semester. David briefly described the hostility, backlash, and feelings of betrayal that occurred when the new administration took office. In response to this, Paula McCusker encouraged everyone to be civil and grown up, and to not repeat the bitterness/drama. She encouraged everyone to refrain from bitter talk, and support Gabe in his new role as well as letting Steve continue to support SGA.

Gabe then shared his feelings on the matter. He seemed to be a bit shell shocked still, and said that he had never expected this when he took the position as speaker of the senate. He vowed to still hold the Senate and Executives of SGA to a high standard, and continue moving forward with the SGA’s plans and goals for the semester. “We’re not going to just coast through and have nothing to show for ourselves in the end”. Yasmin Karimian and Amber Spry then offered some well put advice about not getting caught up in the drama. Yasmin encouraged everyone to take care of themselves, think positive, and keep communication open versus drawing away if issues come up. Amber reminded us that the SGA transitions leadership every year, and this one should be viewed similarly. David Hoffman also spoke to the issue of staying positive, saying it’s easy to trash people, but that we should be supportive of the new leadership. He predicted that this change will be good for SGA, not because of the lost leadership, but because of the new opportunities it provides.

By 5:50, Toks Elegbe had not arrived, and discussion arose as to whether we should wait for him to arrive and formally resign, or go ahead as if he had been removed. No real consensus was reached, but Fou asked what happened to legislation signed by Steve in the past few weeks, if Gabe had technically been president by the constitution. Gabe offered to simply re-sign things, saying that votes shouldn’t change. David Hoffman encouraged people to not view the constitution so strictly, pointing out that Steve had signed the legislation acting in good faith that he was president. Aditi Srivastav encouraged us not to get hung up on logistics, but to move forward and let Gabe take over without worrying about what happened before. Paula agreed with the sentiment, but made the point that the constitution does need to be clarified so in the future it’s clear when someone is actually out of office.

It was now 6:15, and Toks still hadn’t arrived. Nobody had any idea if or when he was coming, so we recessed until 7:00 in an attempt to find out when Toks got out of class, and to call Harsh Bambawale so he could administer the presidential oath to Gabe.

When we returned at 7:00, we were informed that Toks declined to give any official statement of resignation until he finished his classes for the day at 10:00pm. In the interest of simplicity, the decision was made to proceed as though Toks had been removed from office and continue down the line of succession. We moved into formal session, and with all in agreement that Gabe was acting president, Harsh swore him in at 7:07pm. Nominations were then taken for a new speaker of the senate.

As current assistant speaker, Jen Kent was the first in line to take the position, but she declined saying she did not feel she could commit the time and balance her other responsibilities. Rahilla Tarfa and Brian Frazee were nominated, and after much discussion and a secret ballot vote, Rahilla is the new Speaker of the Senate. The next order of business was to swear in the new vice presidents. Gabe chose David Indek for Executive Vice President, and James McCauley as Vice President for Student Organizations. After David and James were sworn in, the three vacant senator positions had to be filled. As there were three First Year Ambassadors, there was little discussion needed as to who would fill the position. Everyone was very excited when the Ambassadors Simmi Singh, Toby Le, and Matthew McNey became the new senators by unanimous vote.

In other news, the University System of Maryland Student Council agrees with our SGA’s question of the $8 transcript fee. They’re willing to support our fight out of fear that their schools might be next. When Yvette Moize-Ross, the woman in charge of this fee, met with other higher ups from USM schools, they were surprised at the fee and apparently questioned the need, much like our very own SGA. Furthermore, at the last transcript fee meeting this past Friday (Feb 6), someone brought up the policy that all fees that would be burdensome to the students must be approved by the Chancellor of the USM Student Council. From what they could tell, this fee was never approved by the Chancellor, so that is something to be resolved in the future. I will be finishing the article reviewing that original transcript fee meeting last Monday (Feb 3) shortly, as previously promised. For more information on the USM Student Council’s reaction, contact Brian Frazee at bfrazee1@umbc.edu.

Congratulations and best of luck to all the new leaders! Also, to those who left office, I wish you success in your future endeavours. Thank you for all your hard work and commitment.

I have just received information that current SGA president Steve Gilmore and his Vice President Toks Elegbe may be removed from office due to academic ineligibility.

According to Article 5.2 of the UMBC SGA Constitution,

In order to be eligible to seek and hold SGA offices, an individual must be a UMBC undergraduate, have at least a cumulative 2.25 GPA, maintain at least a 2.25 semester GPA while in office, and not be on academic or disciplinary probation. For the offices of President and Vice President, an individual must have at least a cumulative 2.5 GPA, 24 total credits, and 12 credits at UMBC to seek or hold office, and maintain at least a 2.5 semester GPA while in office.

Gilmore has apparently failed to meet these requirements in his fall 2008 semester. The same is true for Executive Vice President Toks Elegbe. Vice President of Student Organizations, Christine Paul, has resigned her position, whether for Academic or other reasons I do not currently know.

Article 5.4.1 of the SGA Constitution states the following:

5.4.1. –Ineligibility
Any officer who ceases to meet the eligibility requirement set forth above shall be automatically and immediately removed from office.

By this, Gilmore and Elegbe are technically no longer serving in their positions. As Christine Paul has also resigned, the office falls to current Speaker of the Senate, Gabe Rettaliata.

5.5. Presidential Succession
In the event of the President’s removal by any method outlined in this Constitution, the holder of the lowest-numbered non-vacant office on the following list shall become President: 1. Vice President; 2. Speaker of the Senate; 3. Speaker of the House of Organizations. In the event that all of the listed offices are vacant, an interim President shall be elected by a majority vote of the House of Organizations, and a special election shall be held within 30 days (excluding summer and winter semesters) to elect a new President. Any officer who becomes President pursuant to this section shall be considered to have resigned from the office he or she held before becoming President.

While some have contested that it would take an official complaint to investigate Gilmore’s eligibility for office, the above quoted section of the constitution makes it clear that at this time, Gilmore and Elegbe are barred from holding office, and Rettaliata is the current acting President of the SGA.

To those who have left office, I wish you good luck in your Spring semester.

Updates to come as I know more.

Just a reminder, Involvement Fest is this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday February 2,3, and 4 in the commons from 11am-2pm. I used to have a schedule of what groups were going when but I think I accidentally deleted it. Regardless, I spoke with Erica Johnson last week and she told me that Involvement Fest is going to be great this semester. Come check it out! I’ll post a review of the three days toward the end of the week.

Hey all,

I got to thinking the other day (Not always the best idea but I figured I may as well give it a shot).  I know most everyone is looking forward to getting some time off for the holidays , but I wanted to throw out the idea of winter basketball games for those of us who will be on campus during Winter semester and/or live within a reasonable distance of campus. It’s easy to get the word out and get people hyped about supporting the basketball games during the fall and spring semesters when everyone is around and frequenting campus. Obviously winter home games will have less of an audience, but I thought it would be cool if people were willing to stick around or drive up to campus to help support our teams.

Men’s Home Games:

• Saturday December 20 vs. American University 7:05 pm
• Saturday January 3 vs. Stony Brook University 7:05 pm
• Saturday January 10 vs. University of Maine 7:05 pm
• Saturday January 17 vs. University of Hartford 7:05 pm

Women’s Home Games:

• Sunday December 21 vs. Loyola College 2:00 pm
• Saturday January 10 vs. University of New Hampshire 4:30 pm
• Saturday January 17 vs. University of Maine 4:30 pm
• Wednesday January 21 vs. Albany University 12:00 pm
• Saturday January 24 vs. Binghamton University 7:00 pm

First Home Game of Spring Semester:

• Men: Wednesday January 28 vs. Binghamton University 7:05 pm
• Women: Wednesday February 11 vs. University of Vermont 7:00 pm (NCAA pack the house challenge!)

Come out and cheer your Retrievers on to victory this Winter!!!

So I came across this article on Zwybak, the SGA’s informal blog. I spoke with SteelWolf, the author of the article and obtained permission to post the article here on UU to get more feedback from the UMBC community.

**BEGIN ARTICLE**

Every UMBC student with a meal plan has encountered “meal zoning.” That’s the little system that prevents you from using your meal at lunchtime if you had breakfast too late. Why does this policy exist? Is there any real reason for it? Why, if a student buys, say, a ten-meal plan, can’t they choose when to use them?

The answer to this question is clouded by myths, two of which I would like to address here.

Myth #1: Meal plans are priced assuming that students will not use all of their purchased meals, and the meal zones are designed to facilitate missed meals.

Fact: This is not the case. Meal plans are priced according to how many meals could potentially be used. When you buy a ten meal plan, you are paying for ten meals whether you use them or not.

Myth #2: Meal zoning is specified in the food services contract, and therefore cannot be eliminated.

Fact: The food services contract specifies a list of “minimum requirements” that the contractor must meet. At the very least they must provide meals during the kinds of zoning rules UMBC has always had. There is nothing to say that these rules could not be superseded by a superior system.

I see no reason for UMBC to cling to an outmoded system that most other schools have long since abandoned. Some progress has been made with the so-called “unlimited” meal plan, but why not go all the way and allow students to use meals whenever and wherever is most convenient?

I propose that students be able to use their meals at any time of the day, dining hall or Commons, restricted only by the number of meals they are allotted each week. A student with a ten meal plan could use five meals on Monday, one meal each on Tuesday, Wednesday,and Thursday, and two on Friday.

The infrastructure is already in place; all that would have to be done is to lift the frustrating time restrictions. There is really no strong reason not to - it’s time UMBC’s food services moved into the modern era.

**END ARTICLE**

The idea of meal zoning is something I personally have been frustrated by for a while now, and I’m fairly sure I’m not alone in that. Thoughts?

It’s that time again. You look in your closet, and alas, it’s time to fork over your hard earned money to the laundry machines. You gather up your clothes, grab your detergent, and head over to the nearest laundry room. You look to the washing machines, trying to find an empty one, but it appears as though all of them are full. One or two of the machines are done washing, but noone has come to claim the clothes and put them in the dryer. You’re not in a particular hurry so you wait…and wait…and wait…20 minutes goes by, and another washer finishes its load, but still noone to claim the washed clothes. What do you do? You could go back to your room, or you could take clothes out of a washer and put them somewhere. But where? On a table maybe, or on top of the washing machines? You could stuff them in an empty dryer, but do you leave them there or do you drop in your 75 cents on someone else’s behalf?

Later on that day, your wash is done. You secretly congratulate yourself on being there a few minutes ahead of the wash completing, so as not to be one of “those people” who leave their clothes in the washers for hours on end. Unfortunately, today does not seem to be your lucky day, as all the dryers are full. However, you anticipated this, and brought some studying with you. You sit down at the table and do about half an hour of studying and homework while waiting for a dryer to free up. Once again, your waiting proves futile, as noone has come to claim the clothes that were dried. Now what? You could leave, and try back later, but then your clothes are sitting in the washer, and you don’t want to come back and have to figure out where someone put them. You might take the clothes out of one of the completed dryers, but then what do you do with them? Leave them on the table, or maybe on top of the dryers? (Heaven forbid the person they belong to is shorter then average). The thought crosses your mind that maybe you could take a few minutes to fold the clothes, but do you act on it?

This is what I was thinking about at two A.M. Monday night/Tuesday morning as I was talking with some friends. I should have been sleeping, or catching up on some reading, but I decided this was better. So tell me UMBC, how do you survive laundry day?

Just wanted to say a brief thank you to everyone who came out Thursday morning for the September 11 memorial service.

Recap: the ceremony started at 8:30 down by the flagpole with the band playing a couple of peices, and then some words from the band director. Delegate Jimmy Malone, who was a firefighter for over 28 years, was the guest speaker and shared a poignant story about his memories of September 11, 2001. I’ll paraphrase…”I was sitting on the couch with my young daughter watching everything unfold. When I saw the first tower collapse, I started crying. My daughter asked me ‘Daddy why are you crying?’ and I told her ‘You will never know how many firefighters just died’”.

President Hrabowski also spoke, sharing a brief tribute to Colin Bowen, a 2005 alumnus of UMBC who died this past March of wounds received while fighting in Afghanistan. After President Hrabowski spoke, the ROTC color guard presented the flags, taps was played, and the band played our national anthem.

The ceremony was dismissed by 8:50 or so and students and faculty dispersed to their regular day.

Thanks to ROTC for organizing this, thanks to everyone who helped set up the flag memorial, and helped make this possible. Let’s remember those who are serving us everyday. To see a few pictures from the ceremony, go here. Thanks to the friend who passed on those photos.