The Graduate and Professional Student Council at its general assembly meeting Tuesday made a motion to indefinitely table amendments regarding the business of the Men's Basketball Committee made by the executive board. The changes would directly affect the election of the Basketball Committee co-chairs and the planning of the graduate student basketball Campout.
The assembly decided to close discussion on the matter, keeping in mind that the amendments would affect the co-chairs for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Andrew Fontanella, a graduate student in biomedical engineering, gave a brief overview of the executive board's justifications for the changes.
"These changes are not proposed as an insult to the current basketball committee," Fontanella said. "Neither is our intention that these bylaw changes take any power away from the Basketball Committee to do their job."
Fontanella said the current system for electing the basketball co-chairs is unique within GPSC structure. Co-chairs can only be nominated by members of the committee, Fontanella said, adding that no other position within GPSC is similarly restricted.
"For a committee which exists to serve the entire graduate and professional student body as a whole, we find it undesirable that the general assembly is powerless to nominate the leadership it sees as most fit to represent the interests of the student body," Fontanella said.
Men's Basketball Committee Co-chairs Sarah Crider, a graduate student in chemistry, and Mickey TeKippe, a student in the School of Medicine, responded to the overview of the amendments presented by the executive board.
TeKippe said he was upset with the way the executive board had presented the amendments.
"We're trying to get more people involved in the Basketball Committee," TeKippe said. "We've tried to work with this exec board all year. We were blind-sided by these amendments and we've been blind-sided all year."
Crider spoke in defense of co-chairs being elected by the Basketball Committee itself, noting the importance that the election remain an internal decision.
"I understand the purpose of the change in the amendments and I'm excited the exec board and general assembly are taking an invested interest in the Basketball Committee," Crider said. "However, people have to be elected into the position of co-chair that are experienced in running Campout, or who have at least participated in Campout. I don't think our laws should be changed so that we can put someone into authority who has had no experience in running the event."
Crider and TeKippe explained that Campout is a complicated event in which the co-chairs are basically running a small city for the weekend.
Incoming treasurer Emily Aviki, a third-year student seeking a joint degree from the School of Medicine and the Fuqua School of Business, spoke in support of the new amendments, noting that anyone with general event-planning experience should be able to take on the responsibilities of Basketball Committee co-chair and the planning of Campout, A few assembly members, however, said previous experience with Campout is necessary because it is not a conventional event.
TeKippe said his opposition to changing the format of the election was based on his desire to maintain the co-chairs' status.
"I want the two co-chairs to be equals," TeKippe said. "I want two people who will get along to run as a pair and both be a part of this."
He added that this is the only committee that trains its co-chairs before they step into their new positions. TeKippe said the need to pass down information internally makes it important that the co-chairs remain elected by the committee.
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