Noticeable changes for this week's meeting

Associated Student Government Senate Speaker Jesse Garfinkel is back behind the lectern. He was missing last week. He said it might have been a cold, it might have been scurvy. Who knows?

Behind the desk next to the lectern, James D'Angelo is sporting a new look. ASG has a balder, shinier clerk.


—ALICE TRUONG

Students allowed to rally for political candidates at The Rock

Students having the right to partake in political activity is an issue ASG Clerk James D'Angelo has held near and dear to his heart.  The Communication junior announced in yesterday's ASG meeting that students are now able to use The Rock to rally for political candidates.

D'Angelo said he met with Assistant General Councel John Caulkins, and Vice President and General Counsel Thomas Cline, and they agreed to allow any Associated Student Government-recognized groups to use The Rock to rally.

"They agree the policy is pretty poorly written," D'Angelo said.

Northwestern's policy on political activity, however, has not been rewritten.  Students are still not allowed to endorse political candidates using university resources.  Instead, the general counsel will not interpret The Rock as a university resource to allow students to be able to endorse candidates before the Feb. 5 Illinois primary elections.

D'Angelo considers this a "minor success," and said he will continue to work to change the political activity policy, which was last updated in April 2003.

—ALICE TRUONG

Political activity bill passed

The agenda of the Associated Student Government agenda changed slightly.  ASG Clerk James D'Angelo presented his bill on political activity instead of the originally-scheduled non-discrimination bill based on gender identity by Patrick Dawson.

Communication junior D'Angelo is working to change the university's official policy on political activity based on its tax-exempt status, which currently does not allow students or student groups to use university resources to support political candidates.

"The general counsel policy on political activity is essentially there isn't any allowed," he said.  "Students should have the right to be politically active on campus.  Students want this right."

D'Angelo said he has been speaking with the General Counsel about everyday.  He also found that about seven or eight universities allow the political activity he wishes to see allowed on campus even with the same tax-exempt status.

With the exception of a couple amendments to change the wording or grammar of the political activity bill, S.R. 0708-03, the bill is passed with unanimous consent.

—ALICE TRUONG

Tracking ASG for Winter Quarter

The Daily is working to create an ASG tracker project, in essence noting every proposal for Winter Quarter and every time there's an update to it.  Hopefully, the Northwestern community will be able to easily access information in an easy-to-consume format.

For the time being, there is a simple list.  In due time, this will turn into something more comprehensive.

ASG meeting 1: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008

• ASG President Jon Webber's executive board obligations.  There will be three responsibilities for each of the 12 executive board members for the quarter.  (The progress for this will probably be tracked separately.)
  
• ASG Clerk James D'Angelo working for "political freedom" on campus, as Senate Speaker Jesse Garfinkel described it at the meeting.  The Communication junior has been working with the Internal Revenue System and the General Counsel to try to allow students and student groups to assemble and endorse political candidates using university resources.
  
• Neal Sales-Griffin and senator reliability.  The SESP junior wants to increase communication between senators and their constituents.
  
• Steve Eilers and the external relations committee pushing to create a Web site for off-campus housing reviews.
  
• RHA wanting to sponsor more community-oriented events, such as firesides.
  
• External relations committee working to create a weekend Chicago shuttle to deter excessive drinking as a result of lack of entertainment options.
  

ASG meeting 2: Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008

• (Update 1 on Shuttles) The external relations committee was going to present a bill to Senate to put up a poll on NU Link to gauge student interest for the shuttle.  Because of scheduling conflicts, which senators later learned to be caused by sorority rush, the external relations committee didn't meet before the Senate meeting.  Thus, there was no bill to present at the meeting.  External relations committee Chairwoman Kate Pascale said a bill isn't needed for polls, and it was only done in the past as an extension of senatorial courtesy. Pascale also told The Daily that evening the poll would be posted the following day, Thursday, Jan. 17, but as of now, the only thing resembling a poll on NU Link's home page is a dated survey about student satisfaction with university services.
  

The above also provides a nice synopsis of the previous two meetings.  There was no Daily story that ran last Thursday detailing the meeting because editors didn't feel it would fill 10 inches (which is about 500 words).  From here on after, ASG reporting will focus more on blogging, but stories will still run when Senate does something particularly noteworthy. 

In addition to tracking bills/ideas presented during Senate meetings, The Daily hopes to track senator attendance and Webber's executive board goals.  Keep checking this blog for updates on all these different ASG trackers.

—ALICE TRUONG