The Student Association dismissed two senators for exceeding the number of unexcused absences allowed.Vice President Lee Weiskopf dismissed Sen. Amber Grace Downard of Rice Hall and Sen. James Logan of Hathorn Hall on Nov. 9 because they failed to attend a Senate meeting and provided no excuse.
Weiskopf informed the senators of their dismissal via e-mail and, according to regulations, gave them 24 hours to appeal the dismissal. Neither senator made an appeal within the allotted time, Weiskopf said.”If you have more than one unexcused absence, then you are removed from Senate,” he said. Logan had a doctor’s excuse, but he did not appeal the dismissal within 24 hours, so he will need to go before the Senate to see if the body will allow him to return to his position.
Downard, a freshman, said she missed meetings because she was sick.”I’ve had mono for a month and a half,” she said. “I definitely have a doctor’s excuse.”
Although she’s been busy with make-up work, she plans to participate in the SA in the future, she added.
Senators have been informed of all the dates of meetings for this year except one, and the attendance policy was set up last year by the former vice president and Senate because attendance became such a problem, he said.
Last year, attendance really turned into an issue after the senators returned from Christmas break, but this year, attendance has been good, SA Secretary Libbi Burns said.
“We had 42 senators [before the dismissals], and we averaged between 37 and 41 senators [per meeting],” Burns said.Weiskopf campaigned on the issue of ensuring senators attend meetings, and he felt it was his duty to enforce the attendance policy, he said.
“We haven’t had any problems except for this, and I hate it came to this,” Weiskopf said.
Weiskopf did not want to dismiss two senators, but the overall good of having a productive Senate required that he take such actions, he said.
“I told all the senators at the beginning of the year that we are going to follow the rules,” he said. “If we don’t follow the rules, then it’s going to get bad.
“This incident shows the quality of vice president elected to the SA, President JR Love said.
“I would give a lot of credit to Lee Weiskopf for working to improve the accountability and the relationship of the Senate,” Love said.
Weiskopf campaigned on this issue and has stuck to that, he added.
Logan could not be reached for comment Thursday night.