Senate Lacks Ethics? Apparently So…
On Wednesday, October 29th, right after I left the meeting, Senate decided to not include a “code of conduct” outlining the ethical responsibilities expected of ASUO Senators. This conduct code was based on the ethics bill authored by Senator Kate Jones and former Senator Neil Brown last school year (2007-2008).
Both Neil and Jones ran on the original Campaign for Change featuring Sara Hamilton and Athan Papiliou, which ran on a platform of ethical behavior and, as the name of the slate states, change. After sweeping the elections, Neil and Jones wrote the first ethics proposal in memorable history.
According to a statement from Sen. Jones last Wednesday, the ethics bill from the 2007-2008 school year was stopped by Constitution Court, not ASUO Senate. Any changes to the Senate’s governance document have to be put forth by November 1st, and the Con. Court failed to rule in a timely enough manner to allow for a change.
This year, Senators Derek Nix and Emma Kallaway brought fourth a code of conduct with hopes that it would help Senate make decisions based on facts and avoid bias and personal interest. The proposal reads:
13. Code of Conduct
13.1 The following prohibitions apply to the Student Senate:
(a). Each Student Senator shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner that shall reflect credibility on the Student Senate.
(b). A Student Senator may not receive compensation and may not permit compensation to accrue in their beneficial interest from any source, the receipt of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from their position in the Student Senate.
(c). A Student Senator may not knowingly use their position to solicit gifts or otherwise gain advantages improperly exerted from their position in the Student Senate.
(d). A Student Senator may not authorize or otherwise allow any individual, program or organization not under direction and control of the Student Senate to speak on behalf of the Student Senate without the knowledge and authorization of the Student Senate.
(e). No Student Senator shall represent another ASUO Program, outside company, or other entity in order to gain unfair advantage improperly exerted from their position in the Student Senate.
(f). All voting shall be made in a viewpoint neutral manner. No member of the Student Senate shall vote in a way that would promote a real or seemingly incompatibility between one’s public and fiduciary duties.13.2 A Student Senator may file a complaint against another Student Senator for violations of this Rule. The process for this complaint shall be in accordance with Student Senate Rule 6.
Inevitably Senate voted the proposed ethics addition down–you cannot tell me this is surprising. The Senator most opposed to this change was Sen. Nick Gower, which is not at all surprising either, he seems to have a history of voting no so far this year. What is surprising was Sen. Tyler Scandalios’ motion to vote the change down.
Tyler Scandalios not only ran on this year’s Oregon Action Team, with Sen. Nix, which was strongly based on changing the bias and special interest existing in student government in years passed, but he also ran with Sara and Athan’s Campaign for Change. Change? Action? Apparently Sen. Scandalios is not interested in either of them, and proved it Wednesday night by moving to vote down the only proposal aiming to keep Senators accountable for their actions.
Derek did state: “I wanted to be clear that I appreciate the input that Senate gave me through this process in regards to the Rules Changes as a whole. The wording of the proposed Code of Conduct should have been more clear which is why, I think, the Code of Conduct did not make it past Senate.” But that “The negative outcome of not including a Code of Conduct in Senate Rules will be that there is going to be no way to hold Senators accountable for their actions. It will also make it difficult to have discussions on conduct when there are no set rules regarding the issue.”
Some of the most controversial issues from the past (Jerome Roberts collecting a stipend when he was no longer a UO student, last year’s Executive allegedly hosting a campaign event titled “Take Back Campus” using ASUO resources, and former Sen. Gulley’s trip to Hawaii) could have possibly been held accountable if such a code of conduct had been in effect.
When asked about the situation Athan had this to say: “Recognizing that rules and laws do not always dictate the most ethical behavior, we rely on rules to institutionalize ideas and processes for future leaders. For the first time in several years, our Association is privileged to have a reform-minded Senate coupled with an Executive of high character and moral fiber. Unfortunately, however, ASUO election history tells us that we cannot rely on this past year as a trend for the future.”
Without some sort of ethics policies in the ASUO Governance Document, we will continue to see scandalous behavior in our student government, and with our student funds.
It is very possible this issue goes beyond just this ethics bill. The actual Ethics Committee (which is a standing Senate Committee) has yet to have a meeting this term, and it is week six. There is a scheduled meeting this Wednesday at 4pm, and hopefully we will see enough people at that meeting for it to count. It would be horrible to have so many Senators in non-compliance. But, this behavior does exemplify the tone of the Senate so far this school year.
“It was unfortunate the senate struck down the code of ethics. I think so far we have seen a huge divide between the majority of senators who are truly dedicated to the job and the few others who continually show up late, disrespect and demean group and program leaders who come before them, and fail to show any sort of commitment to serving anything besides their own egos,” mentioned Sam Dotters-Katz, when questioned about the Senate’s overall ethical behavior.
I personally hope to see a change toward ethical behavior in the coming months.
Lastly, the Clark Document, the Governance Document mentioned in this article, will be officially signed on November 11th, from 3:30-5:00pm in the Knight Library Viewing Room. Something tells me there will be free food.
I’m surprised Scandalios even knows where to show up for Senate meetings. This is awful…
During the meeting I was concerned that the ambiguity of point (a) and (f) would result in underhanded political tactics.
It’s important to note that the rules senate adopted are in place for the entirety of the year. Were those points (a) and (f) ambiguous enough to justify a lack of ethics code for the entire year? In retrospect, my opposition may have been misplaced.
I second Gower’s opinion. There is too weak a definition (and by weak, I mean non-existent) for “viewpoint neutral manner”, or for defining a “manner that shall reflect credibility on the Student Senate.” Who gets to define this? Almost comically, the next paragraph allows student senators to file complaints against anyone in ASUO they want, allowing them to define this meaning in their complaint.
Well Senators can already file complaints against anyone they want, it’s just not actually written in the Green Tape Notebook in such certain terms.
Wait, there’s someone in student government named “Scandalios”? That’s wonderful.
I lived with Nick Gower in the dorms in 06-07.
That guy is a staunch Republican and government man all the way. I remember his vaporizer, or whatever you call the damn thing, had Reagan pictures all over it, and he had 3 or 4 up on his wall like a strike-out count.
Never thought he’d make it into an office here…
Seems like this issue is being made overly difficult. Very Clinton-esque in its ‘what does ethics really mean’ slant. If the body cannot agree on what ethics are, how can they possibly function in other areas? Perhaps there is a way to move forward without manufacturing drama?
Scott, I believe Senate should be non-partisan, and I’m in no way trying to surface anyone’s personal beliefs. But (in response to Chris) Senate did make this a much bigger deal than necessary. It’s too late to revisit an ethics code this year, but I do think there was too much time spent wasted on this issue, and the Senate members will have to learn how to work together without drama if they plan to accomplish much this year.
does NIck Gower live with brad eldred?
A Socialist/Republican ticket?
This would be different from a Republican ticket how?
Ba-*ZING*
The Green Tape Notebook is very specific in the duties of Senators, and on what grounds they can be found in non-fulfillment of duties. Therefore, every grievance against senators can currently only be made on concrete and objective grounds.
The Code of Conduct would have created the first openly ambiguous section in the Green Tape Notebook. Do we really want the Constitution Court to have to decide if a senator truly was acting in a “manner which that would reflect credibility on the Student Senate?”
As the Senate Rules stands now, a senator knows exactly what he or she must do to be in fulfillment of duties. The addition of the conduct code, as it was stated, would eliminate that.
Where we did fail however, and I will accept some blame for this, is in not creating a conduct code which was specific and measurable.
And yes, I accidentally wrote “manner which that shall reflect credibility on the Student Senate,” so you don’t need to point it out.
Thank you very a lot much.
HEY TYLER, YOU ACCIDENTALLY WROTE “MANNER WHICH THAT SHALL!” JUST THOUGHT I’D POINT THAT OUT LOL!!1
But seriously, folks. That seems like a valid point, since the Senate loves to throw around grievances. It just would have been pretty awesome to have some, y’know, ethics and shit.
Thanks for backing me up on that one CJ lol. Also, there is work currently being done on a Code of Ethics which will (hopefully) be effective yet enforceable.
Pending its completion, if Senate approves it, I would personally very much like to see it be incorporated into Senate Rules come the 1st of November 2009.
Also, I think “Jackson” could use some commonsense of their own, as I am currently writing this from the EMU office computer, and the last post on this blog was made by “Jackson…” Way to go. This means it is most likely that “Jackson,” is on the EMU Board with me.
Too bad I can’t file a grievance for him/Her “not acting in a manner which that would reflect credibly on the EMU Board,” lol
I’m failing to see how adding more petty grievances and infighting could make the ASUO senate worse.
I like grievances. They make nice gifts.
Hey! Its Caroline Bertrek! I was worried for a bit that you didn’t exist lol
Better double check your office hours log Tyler because I am.
Get a life Caroline.
if i do state so with such conviction
shall we be expecting a grievance so paramount
that we the students
might
see an expelled senator seat soon
.
“By this time tomorrow, we shall have a wedding…or a hanging…either way, it’s gonna be a great time!” – Richard Lewis as Prince John, “Robin Hood: Men In Tights”
Tyler, I looked at the IP addresses Jackson has posted under on the last 50 or so blog posts, and I’m pretty sure it’s more than one person. But we will discuss computer security in the board office, because the computer gets left on when no one is in the office, and the password serves no purpose in security when that happens.