By Tim Ayers
Staff Writer


Last week, the Bates College Student Government (BCSG) met for the first time since the Representative Assembly voted to dissolve on February 2. All of the representatives present had either been elected at dorm meetings held prior to break or in the all-school elections, including class representatives and BCSG President Jamil Zraikat.

Before the meeting truly begin, the representatives filled vacant positions on the executive council. This was done quickly since only one person desired each position, and Tahsin Alam and Fabio Periera were elected unanimously as Parliamentarian and Secretary, respectively. Both had previously served in the same position on the RA.

The remainder of the meeting consisted of speeches by various members and several more committee elections within the BCSG. James Fischer, a member of the Transition Oversight Committee, spoke about making the Government more accessible to the student body than the old RA was through office hours by representatives and more contact with constituents. Christopher van der Lugt announced that he is moving forward in arranging the Organizational Review Board, which will be seated by the Committee on Committees, and will provide “a chance to impact life on campus.”

Tanya Schwartz announced that the Educational Policy Committee, made up of both students and faculty, discussed whether to include short term grades in a student’s GPA. She explained that the faculty is moving quickly on this, and any student who wants to express an opinion on the subject needs to soon. The Italian Club also brought a petition to the EPC containing names of 400 students requesting Italian as a new language.

The BCSG had to seat two new committees, the Elections and Judiciary Committee and the Publicity Committee, both consisting of seven members. The Elections Committee, chaired by the parliamentarian, has the job of overseeing all BCSG elections, and seven people were nominated for the positions, meaning no elections had to be held. The same occurred with the Publicity Committee, and seven people were nominated for this committee, whose description includes being “responsible for all publicity and public relations functions of the Government.”

The largest issue of the night resulted from the resignation of Dean Branham and the need to find her replacement. President Hansen asked the BCSG,, through President Zraikat, to elect two students to serve on the Dean of Students Search Committee. The Committee, in addition to the two students, contains several members of the faculty and the administration. Zraikat stressed the importance of the Committee because it has to work within a very small timeline, as the new Dean of Students is supposed to be hired before short term. Also, President Hansen sees the new Dean of Students as guiding the direction of residential life on campus.

The representatives discussed the possibility of adding a third member to the committee, which Zraikat said he would propose to President Hansen. Out of the people present, 11 nominees for the two positions emerged, and after brief speeches by each one, the remaining representatives voted and elected senior John Butos and freshman Vaibhav Bajpai.






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