UA transition meeting change causes controversy

Although new members of the Undergraduate Assembly were elected March 1, they will not take office until March 30. Originally, a transition meeting was scheduled for tonight, but a decision made by UA Chairperson and College junior Seth Hamalian and Nominations and Elections Committee Chairperson Sharon Dunn, a College senior, moved the meeting back. New UA members said the decision is controversial because of a student leaders dinner to be held with President-elect Judith Rodin tomorrow night. Several UA members accused Hamalian of changing the date so he could attend the dinner on behalf of the UA. If the transition meeting had been held tonight, though, the new chairperson would have attended the dinner. "No adequate reason has been given for the change," UA member and College junior Dan Schorr said. "I'd like to think it had nothing to do with Judith Rodin's visit, but the new UA has been slighted by not being able to meet with her. "Something's definitely wrong here," added Schorr, who is running for UA chairperson. Hamalian directly responded to Schorr's comments. "As for Dan Schorr's on the record insinuations and off the record accusations, they just simply demonstrate the kind of conniving and backhanded things he would do in order to meet with the new president," he said. "It's really a shame to see the new UA potentially falling under the direction of individuals whose minds constantly view student government as a battle of backroom politics and maneuvering against one another," Hamalian added. Schorr said the decision to move the transition meeting "hurts the UA" because new members will only have a month to organize before the semester ends. Hamalian said, though, that if the new UA is "motivated" to take action this semester, "they can get plenty of things done." He said Dunn made the final decision on the transition date, reasoning that the budget and transition meetings are very lengthy and may have interfered with academics and extra-curricular activities. But UA member and College sophomore Dan Debicella said he saw "no need" for the change in date. "It's a question of is this politically motivated," he said. "It's [Hamalian's] right to meet with Judith Rodin, but I would like to see some new UA members included in the process." UA member and College sophomore Tamara Dubowitz said Hamalian is an appropriate representative to meet with Rodin. "He's had a year of experience with chairing the UA behind him," she said. "He's more apt to explain to her about what the UA has been like." Staff Coordinator for the Transition Sherrill Rosoff said the meeting is an informal "gab session" of a "very small group" of undergraduate and graduate student leaders. The controversy over the transition date change has led to the discovery of yet another problem. The UA bylaws state that the first order of business after the general election of the new UA should be the steering committee election. The timing of the budget meeting thus violated those bylaws. "If we could correct it, we should," Debicella said. "But we can't go back to before the elections and do it right." He added that there was no reason why the budget meeting could not be held before elections. But UA Vice Chairperson and College senior Scott Sher said the budget meeting was placed after elections "so people couldn't play politics with the budget." He suggested the bylaws be changed next year.