The Graduate Student Organization will be holding its election of officers from April 24 to April 30 via the SOLAR system. The candidates running for president are Chuck Trujillo, from the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology department, and Andrei Antonenko, the incumbent president from Liguistics and Applied Math and Statistics departments. Candidates running for vice-president are Alton Frabetti, from the Philosophy and Studio Art departments, and Ilektra Christidi from the department of Physics and Astronomy. There is only one candidate running for the position of treasurer this year: Ryan Soule from the department of Political Science. Lastly, the position of secretary has two candidates: Louis Esparza from the Sociology department, and Omoz Aisiku from the Biochemistry and Structural Biology program. Graduate students can log onto their SOLAR account and find directions to vote for GSO officers and to vote on various referenda.
Statements made by each candidate can be found on the election ballot. Discussion of the election can be found at the election forum.
This year's election will also include referenda for three (3) proposed amendments to the GSO constitution and the regular biannual vote on the Student Activity Fee.
The three proposed amendments include the creation of the Graduate Student Emergency Loan Fund (GSELF) committee, which will oversee the use, distribution, collection, and appeal process of this fund for graduate students at Stony Brook. The GSELF committee will be composed of five members of which at least three must be senators. The other two proposed amendments involve the addition of a new function for the position of GSO secretary, and a clarification of how the GSO senate employs its power to hold an executive meeting (closed meeting).
The referenda for a mandatory or voluntary Student Activity Fee "is required every two years under the SUNY Chancellor's Guidelines," according to the statement on the election ballot. Details of the guidelines can be found under the SUNY University-wide Policies & Procedures title "Mandatory Student Activity Fees," which became effective September 28, 2004. This is a change from the previous policy which required a referenda on this issue every four years.
The last regular referenda on the student activity fee was held in 2002. That referenda passed in favor of a mandatory fee to continue for four years. A special referenda on the activity fee was held in 2003 during the regular election of new officers. This referenda passed in favor of a voluntary fee. Following this result the referenda had been appealed to the Graduate School Dean. Upon careful review by the University Council and the Dean of Graduate Students, Dr. Lawrence Martin, it was found that the process by which the referenda was proposed to the GSO senate conflicted with the GSO Constitution. Dr. Martin, in "capacity as the President's designee with regard to the graduate student activity fee," had "decided to set aside the results of the April 2003 referendum" and "revert to the status quo," according to an email sent to the graduate student body in August of 2003. The status quo being the reinstatement of a mandatory activity fee.
The current referenda calls into question whether the present activity fee of $22/semester for full-time graduate students and $7/semester for part-time graduate students should be compulsorily collected or voluntarily collected. According to the statement by GSO, "The mandatory student activity fee funds graduate club and department allocations, cultural and social events, talks and conferences, child care, the Graduate Student Lounge (University Café) and the Resource Allocation Program (RAP)." The GSO proposes a yearly budget for the following fiscal year to the senate typically in April. The items previously mentioned excluding RAP (which is funded in part by grants from the Graduate School, President's office, and others) are solely funded by the student activity fee, provided that it is compulsorily collected.
Many graduate student clubs and groups use funds collected by the GSO for their cultural activites and organized events. One such event was the recent and successful fundraiser "A Magic Night for Sylvia." Another event is the popular annual Chinese New Year Spring Festival held here at Stony Brook.
By Shawn Pottorf
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