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ASUA violated its bylaws at its Sept. 11 meeting and has not taken responsibility for its actions. Perhaps a remedial session on ASUA bylaws is in order for its members.
The bylaws for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona state, in Section VI, Item B: "All Legislative Body meetings must conform to the Arizona Open Meeting Laws."
Well, the meeting ASUA held on Sept. 11 didn't. Under the Arizona Open Meeting Laws, executive sessions cannot legally be held without at least 24 hours notice to members of the public unless there is an "actual emergency" or the meeting is a resumption of a properly noticed meeting that was recessed. ASUA failed to provide adequate notice when it called for an executive session at the Sept. 11 meeting. When a member of the Arizona Daily Wildcat staff objected, Undergraduate Senate Chairman Gilbert Davidson, responded with, "We're just going to continue" ("Directors OK'd, but law may have been broken," Sept. 12).
Later that night, the Senate called another executive session without prior notice.
Davidson later said that the ASUA constitution needs to be strict to protect the interest of students. "If you are going to spend students' money, you have to abide by rules. You cannot be flexible," he said. ("ASUA to rewrite constitution," Sept. 25).
He is right.
But at the meeting, ASUA pushed aside its bylaws for convenience sake. So why does ASUA continue to be "flexible" with bylaws meant to ensure that the public knows what its elected officials are doing?
Undergraduate Sen. Maile Weigele said that ASUA tries "to abide by (its) constitution as closely as possible, but as students, we are still in training." This argument fails to provide any explanation for side-stepping bylaws. Sure, mistakes are understandable, but with this argument, ASUA is attempting to downplay its actions rather than taking responsibility for them.
If ASUA is not going to follow its own bylaws on this issue, how can the public know it will ever follow them?
Davidson said the Senate was unaware of the law pertaining to executive sessions, but did not look into the matter after the Wildcat objected because the Senate had to go on with the meeting, he said ("ASUA bylaws don't apply in all situations, senators say," Sept. 24).
Perhaps ASUA members could benefit from a crash course on the Arizona Open Meeting Laws.
Or, if ASUA does not wish to follow the standards set forth in that law, why not just remove the entry, which was included voluntarily, from the bylaws? That way the public will know what it can expect of its student government during its meetings.
The Wildcat has been accused of sensationalizing this issue. But it's the Wildcat's job is to report the news, and ASUA's actions are an important element in that coverage, whether it's considered "positive" or "negative."
ASUA violated its bylaws, so the Wildcat reported it and will continue to follow the issue, because you have the right to know what your student government is doing.
Staff Editoral
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