By Claudia Balthazar
Last week in SGA, a few members have been picked to be members of the Elections Commission for this spring semester. The Election Commission is a group of graduating seniors who are in charge of overseeing the SGA elections for the following semester. The group advertises for elections like putting up poll booths in the student center during elections. They also regulate the election, making sure that everyone gets a fair vote. “The Elections Commission is the final judge [of elections] should there be any dispute,” SGA Vice President Alexander Zelinski said.
The Elections Commission could be made up of people who are not in SGA. Normally, a person would show interest in the position has to contact the President and the Rules Committee Chair of SGA. The President and Rules Committee Chairs would then nominate those who best fit the position and the decision would be passed through Senate. Because the Former Rules Committee Chair, Jimmy Wells resigned last week due to class schedule conflicts, the President, David Zuniga had to make the decisions on his own this time around. The new Chair of the Rules Committee is Tevon Hyman.
Space is still open for graduating seniors who want to be on the Elections Commission. As of now there are three people from SGA who will be involved, each from a different Committee. Myranda Elliot from Rules Committee was sworn into the Elections Committee and said, “I think [SGA picked] a wonderful group [to regulate elections]. I do know that the people who I know are on the commission all work hard and really want the best for SGA and the student body.”
The Elections Commission is elected each year for votes because each year the Justices, Vice President, President and Senates of SGA are all up for re-elections. However, the Secretary and Parliamentary are nominated by the current President and Vice President.
Also this week in SGA, Rules Committee contacted other Universities such as NYU, Columbia, Adelphi and St. John’s to find out how they handle and fund Greek life to figure out how to better fund Greek organizations at Hofstra. Appropriations allocated $1,353.74 for Valentine’s Day. Money went to the Economics Association, the National Society of Black Engineers, the 2012 38th National Convention, the Pre-Collegiate NSBE Chapter and She’s the First. 6th Element requested $10,300 for their BBQ Party and has received nothing until further notice. Public Relations Committee has been keeping up to date with social networking sites but is concerned about what to do about a Tumblr for SGA. Programming Committee is in the process of setting potential dates for upcoming programs for the semester. Academic Affairs is still working on the Academic Integrity Report and will have the resolution go through Rules after adjustments have been made.
