Group debates Denny's incident, student center survey
By LAURA ROMPF
Assistant News Editor
Two students involved in the Roseland Denny's incident addressed the Student Senate Wednesday night with concerns about the letter written by the senators supporting the students.
Senior Joseph Joy and junior Patience McHenry questioned why the students involved in the incident were not consulted before writing the letter.
"First of all, let it be known that I was not one of the students arrested on February 26," senior Joseph Joy said. "I was a member of the group that was expelled from the restaurant and I did experience many of the injustices of that night.
"Also know that this statement is in my behalf, and not on behalf of the entire group, although I do believe many of the other students will have similar opinions of the Student Senate's letter concerning the incident," Joy said, who continued by saying that although the Senate's intentions were positive, by not interviewing the involved students their facts and further actions could be negative.
"It is my opinion that, in order for the senate to support the students involved in the incident, they must first listen to what we have to say," Joy said. "I feel that the letter was not very well informed. In order for the senate to honestly say that it `stands with the students,' it must first consult the students and understand in what capacities it can support them."
Some senators felt that since last week the letter was just passed "in spirit" and was open to further review, there was no need to rescind the letter.
"We already passed the letter in spirit and if we make a motion to rescind it weakens the letter," said Brendan Dowdall, Dillon Hall senator. "We know what we did and we know how we stand. We did this to support the students. However I feel we should listen to what the involved students have to say."
Knott Hall senator Ed Foy agreed.
"Recalling or rescinding the letter makes it appear like we're not supporting the students," Foy said.
However, other senators disagreed.
"We should recall the letter and get a clear understanding of what happen so that the actions we take will be in line with the students," said Zahm Hall senator Ryan Becker. "We messed up last week and instead of trying to save face here so we don't look bad, we should just fix the situation,"
"I feel we should recall the letter and get the facts straight. We should go out there with these students and get the facts clear," said Cimarron Gilson, Sorin senator.
McHenry seconded Joy's feelings that the senate should have consulted the students involved in the incident.
"We just have three main problems with the letter. First of all we were unsure what was meant by an open letter," McHenry said. "Does this mean it will simply be kept on file? Or will it be sent to people in South Bend?
"Second is consultation. No one ever talked to the people directly involved. We are not attacking the spirit of the letter," McHenry continued. "We feel the spirit is awesome. We are not saying this was done for selfish reasons. Our problem is it came from a blind source and that you all were not informed.
"Lastly, there was some wording in the letter that was not conducive to the facts."
Overall, because the letter had already been sent out to three separate groups, the senate resolved to form a committee of old senators, new senators and involved students to make revisions to the letter before it would be sent on to further involved parties. Joy and McHenry agreed to the resolution.
"Because the letter has already been sent to the Roseland Police Department, the St. Joseph's County Police Department and Denny's, I realize that recalling the letter is not possible," Joy said. "But I do ask that the letter not be further distributed until it is revised."
He added that he was glad the senate chose to support the students involved in the incident.
"I am not angry with the senate for stating its support of the students. I am pleased that it wishes to support us. I am just curious as to how the senate plans to do this. I also hope that, in the future, the senate investigates a little further when acting on behalf of the student's which it represents," Joy said.
In other senate news:
u The meeting ended the terms of the 1999-2000 senators as well as student body vice-president Michael Palumbo.
u Christopher Anderson, Keough Hall president, and Luciana Reali, student body secretary, presented the results of the student survey on a new student center.
"We have been analyzing information over the past months and collecting student opinion on the issues," Reali said. "This is the first time that the students have been consulted regarding a building issue, so we are very excited."
u Senate unanimously passed three more resolutions, one regarding the use of flex points at the Alumni-Senior Club, one regarding the destruction of Stepan Center and a final one regarding the use of Farley Hall as a student entertainment facility. The facility would play 70s music on the first floor, 80s on the second, 90s on the third floor and a mix of Marvin Gaye and Barry White on the fourth floor.
"I really want to thank you for finally doing something for the students," said Fisher Hall senator, Phil Dittmar. "Student government has really changed me."
All News Stories for Thursday, March 30, 2000
