Senators criticize recent Observer cartoon
By LAURA ROMPF
Assistant News Editor
Last night's Student Senate meeting called attention to the cartoon that ran in the Tuesday edition of The Observer.
The cartoon displayed a faculty member pointing out to business majors that the commencement speaker Kofi Annan was in fact the U.N. Secretary-General and not a rap artist.
"I want to speak to you all about this because the issue must be addressed," said Dillon senator Brendan Dowdall. "The cartoon message was the same as saying that Madeline Albright is Secretary of State and not really a housewife. That would be sexism and this is racism. It may have been intended as a simple insult to business majors, but it used racial remarks as humor. I just think we must address the underlying messages involved."
Michael Fierro, assistant chief of staff, agreed with Dowdall.
"The cartoon run [Tuesday] used race as a form of entertainment," Fierro said. "I do not believe an apology is needed simply because I stand behind The Observer's right to independence. However, the cartoon reminds minority students that they are different and the racial terms enhance stereotypes."
Dowdall finalized the statement asking for positive results to come from the issue.
"Many people will see this in different ways, but I see it as racism. It even caused for a meeting between Iris Outlaw and Kevin Huie." Dowdall said. "I want to see this turned into a positive issue not something where there is arguing back and forth. I just wanted to make a statement voicing this as racism."
Senate also passed seven resolutions at last night's meeting. The main bylaw addressed the possibility of a tie in the student body president and vice president elections.
Paul Sladek, St. Edward's senator, brought the resolution to the floor and stressed that something be passed to avoid a problem similar to the one Saint Mary's faced in their elections this year.
"The issue of a tie in the run-off election is not addressed in the constitution. We thought of several options," Sladek said. "Another election did not seem feasible simply because it was too soon and there would not be enough money to continue campaigning. We also thought about going back to the results of the first election, but for example, this year there were 10 tickets in the first election, and [going back to the first election] would leave out these votes.
"In a nutshell, we modeled the resolution on the federal government's plan and decided `Congress' should vote."
Sladek said that the senate would convene and the Judicial Council president would inform each senator on who won their particular dorm. After that, the senator would be required to vote for that ticket. If there was a tie again, then the chairman would make the final decision.
Several concerns were raised because the bylaw called for every senator to be in attendance and emergencies could prevent this. Also, it is plausible that the chairman could be an underclassman and ultimately could cast the vote, which would appoint himself or herself as president or vice president.
"I think we all realize this is not a perfect document," said off-campus senator Pat Foy. "However, I think we should pass it tonight and fix it later. Because of what could happen tomorrow, we should have a plan of what to do."
Senators also feared that the chairman may be hesitant to make such a large decision. However Michael Palumbo, student body vice president and current chairman, disagreed.
"Of course, I would explain my reasoning, and I'd hope all my successors would do the same. However, this is the way the senate is run, and like any other vote I must be prepared to make the final decision."
Overall, the concerns were answered in friendly amendments and the bylaw was passed so should there be a tie in today's election, student government would be prepared.
In other senate news:
u The senate approved the 1999-2000 Student Union Spending Review and also approved the nomination of Kathleen Reicher as the Student Union treasurer for the 2000-2001 school year.
The senate passed an order requiring the Office of the Student Body President Staff to attend a Celebrating Diversity Workshop. Those who must attend include, but are not limited to, the department heads.
u The senate passed a resolution which requests a student become a member of the University Advisory Committee on the Disabled. "There are 120 disabled students on this campus and I feel this is a large percentage," said Patrick O'Donnell, Carroll Hall senator. "In the past there was student representation and the Office of Disabilities director said it was a positive thing."
The resolution passed and thus a student member must be an official member of the committee.
u Other resolutions that passed included an election appeals bylaw, the removal of the constructional review board amendment, the budget approval bylaw and the senate oath of office bylaw.
All News Stories for Thursday, February 17, 2000
