Council discusses EAP in Israel
By Edward Truong
July 31, 2007 5:34 p.m.
The Chronicles of USAC returns this week after a short break. Last week’s scheduled meeting was postponed because there was concern about not having a quorum.
Enough of the council was present Tuesday night to convene, and during the meeting, the council voted to appoint Kim Sanders to the Campus Sustainability Committee.
There was also a proposal from General Representative Michelle Lyon to pass a resolution to reinstate the Education Abroad Program in Israel.
Shirley Eshag-Hay, a representative from Bruins for Israel, spoke in front of the council about Israel being a safe and historically significant place to study and travel and pointed out that many other American universities have brought back their study abroad programs in the country.
She said currently students must use other programs to study in Israel and risk not getting units or credits for their time abroad. She added that if the program wasn’t fully restored, she hopes the university would at least allow students to travel there if they signed a liability waiver.
However, Sanobar Sajan, general representative, motioned to table the proposed resolution until the next week, when she could include her amendments. Sajan is one of the cosigners of the resolution and told the council that she wanted to make sure the resolution was “inclusive.”
In addition to Israel, the EAP program has been suspended in the Phillipines.
The resolution was tabled, with a four against three vote and three abstentions, which may indicate the Bruins United majority’s strength (or lack thereof.)
Another hot point in the agenda was about contingency allocation recommendations brought by the Finance Committee’s Vice Chair, Brandon Ducharm.
A request from Queer Alliance to pay for tickets to “N.W.C: The Race Play” was not fulfilled for a variety of reasons and was also denied by officials from student government accounting.
Though it was proposed that the council use its ability to amend the committee’s recommendation to partially fulfill their request, the discussion became about the council setting precedent by changing the allocations and going against the bylaws of the Finance Committee, which forbid retroactive funding and do not cover entertainment.
President Gabe Rose, at the end of the meeting, thanked Ducharm for being diligent about the request, and, as he described it, taking some of the “flak” from the council about it.
