Thursday, August 30, 2007
Rachel Barnes was approved to the position of the Community Affairs Director of the Student Legislative Awareness Board last night at Student Senate’s first full meeting of the academic year despite a dispute about the accuracy of the vote.
Barnes, Hutchison senior and junior/senior College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, said she was excited be reaffirmed to the position. The position serves as a lobbying effort to protect the interests of University students in the city of Lawrence.
Hannah Love, Dodge City senior and student body president, presented Barnes for approval last spring, but the appointment was denied because of speculation that Barnes forged signatures on the petition to apply for the position.
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She really is a part of this community. It’s not just a job for her, it’s a lifestyle. She’s so much a part of the community; this is the perfect job for her.
-Hannah Love, Dodge City senior and student body president
Eventually, Love was able to approve Barnes on an interim basis for the summer. Last night’s vote approved Barnes to continue her job through the academic year.
The number of votes for Barnes’ approval exceeded the two-thirds vote required for Senate appointments, but a dispute about vote totals caused a delay in the appointment’s passage. Jarrod Morgenstern, Overland Park senior and School of Journalism senator, said that the votes were counted inaccurately. He said he found two votes that he knew where marked wrong when a roll call was taken to count the votes.
“If you find inaccurate votes, there’s no point in Senate being here,” Morgenstern.
Morgenstern said he also was concerned because a large number of senators left immediately after Barnes’ approval.
“It’s embarrassing how many senators left after one vote,” Morgenstern said.
Senate took a 10-minute recess to review the parliamentary procedure when a vote was counted inaccurately. After the recess, the Senate decided that the original vote would stand.
Before her reappointment was voted on, Barnes presented information about what she did as interim Community Affairs Director. She said she attended city commission meetings, worked to register University students to vote and planned Civic Engagement Week.
She also fielded questions from student senators regarding her interaction with the city commission and financial decisions she made during the summer.
Love and Ray Wittlinger, Olathe senior and student body vice president, both defended Barnes’ reappointment. Love and Wittlinger also presented what Barnes had done throughout the summer.
“She really is a part of this community. It’s not just a job for her, it’s a lifestyle,” Love said. “She’s so much a part of the community; this is the perfect job for her.”
Morgenstern voted against Barnes’ approval. He said he didn’t think she had performed her job to the best of her abilities. When she spoke before Senate, Barnes said she had missed two of this summer’s eight city commission meetings and left early from another.
After the vote, Love said that she was relieved Barnes’ approval was passed.
“The way the questions were coming in, I was surprised,” Love said. “I’m really excited about it.”
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