Judicial Board to rule on petition
By Jae Yang
Nov. 9, 2008 10:20 p.m.
Five members of the Student Judicial Board heard the petition against Facilities Commissioner Galen Roth on Friday on whether she overstepped her jurisdiction in submitting Office Space Allocation Committee guideline changes.
The changes were approved by the Undergraduate Students Association Council on Sept. 30.
The petitioners, Boris Lipkin, a former Bruins United Academic Affairs commissioner candidate, and Addison Huddy, called on five witnesses during six hours of testimonies to determine the constitutionality of Roth’s changes before the hearing was adjourned.
During the opening statements, Huddy, who works under Bruins United-affiliated General Representative Monica Kohles, said Roth acted “outside the constraints of her authority” in submitting the changes, based on a 2005-2006 USAC ruling that OSAC is an independent board without councilmembers.
Roth and her acting representation, Academic Affairs Commissioner Jeremiah Garcia, countered in their opening remarks by saying they had an “obligation to change the guidelines” due to conflicts created during last year’s OSAC process and that the changes were not politically motivated.
The witnesses for the petitioners including General Representative Natalie Gonzalez, former Bruins United Councilmember Brian Neeby, and Tom King, who takes council meeting minutes.
USAC President Homaira Hosseini, listed as a witness, did not appear before the board, saying that she was “principally against” the hearings, though she did make a brief appearance.
King, who testified first, confirmed that USAC did approve the changes but defended the actions, citing increased transparency and efficiency to the OSAC process.
“There aren’t the same problems this year as there were last year,” King said.
The petitioners argued that despite the bylaw being outdated, Roth should have been aware of the changes due to the public availability of the minutes.
During Roth’s testimony, she said she requested bylaw updates from Pat McLaren but was unsuccessful in gaining the documents until after a later inquiry updated OSAC bylaws.
Gonzalez said the “process was tainted” because changes were made by a non-independent.
The hearing will reconvene on Thursday, with witnesses from the respondents. Student leaders scheduled to testify include Internal Vice President Evan Shulman and Community Service Commissioner Valerie Sien.
