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NEWS
| October 13, 2004
Student Governance
SC votes on code changes
E-mail campaigning will remain
off limits for those seeking office.
By Kate
Bolen
Contributor to The Shorthorn
Student Congress approved 15 changes to the election code that were
proposed by its Election Code Committee last week — and turned
down one.
Officers and senators voted on 21 election code changes, five of
which were ruled out by the committee.
Approved changes include banning campaign material from door clips
on UTA apartments or property, decreasing the number of days to
file a dispute from five to three and a new $25 fee for candidates
who request a recount if the outcome does not change.
Student Congress did not approve the proposal asking for the legalization
of e-mail campaigning.
The proposed change stated that when advertising via e-mail, a candidate
must include a disclaimer that gives the receiver the option to
reply requesting they receive no further e-mails from the sender.
If they continue to receive e-mails, they must contact the Student
Governance and Organization Office that would then take action against
the candidate. It also stated that e-mails should be sent to listservs
created for campaign purposes only.
In the spring election, Jenna Lynn DeHart, former Liberal Arts senator,
filed an official dispute against Richie Stuart, who ran for vice
president and won, for illegally campaigning via e-mail. On April
9, Stuart sent an e-mail to Jana Knowles, University Classics Club
president and Student Governance student assistant.
Stuart told Knowles in the e-mail that he was running and would
like to speak to her organization. Knowles reported the e-mail to
the office of Student Governance and Organizations shortly after
receiving it and before the election.
The election code, which remains unchanged after Tuesday’s
meeting, states, “Responses to personal e-mail messages are
allowed, however no initiation of e-mail campaigning is permitted.”
Denis Gjoni, Student Congress Program Director, said the code states
that there are no e-mails or listservs allowed when campaigning.
Despite this, the then Election Code Committee ruled that Stuart
did not break any rules.
“The ruling of the committee was that it was OK for Richie
Stuart to be vice president,” Gjoni said.
Gjoni said a combination of DeHart’s disputes and several
other individuals’ comments brought forth the idea of revising
the code.
Student Congress President Casey Townsend said even though the amendment
for legalizing e-mail campaigning was not approved, he was glad
that it was at least considered by the congress.
“Electronic campaigning needed to be looked at,” Townsend
said. “The code had just been passed, needed clarification
and to be brought up with the times.”
Liberal Arts Senator Zach Walker said that although he sees why
others have reservations about using e-mail to campaign, he sees
it as a way to reach more potential voters.
“We are moving to a much more computerized society,”
Walker said. “E-mail is ubiquitous, so I’m somewhat
disappointed that we are not going to allow e-mail campaigning.”
Architecture Senator Josh Sawyer said he voted against the proposal
for legalizing e-mail campaigning because it takes away the opportunity
for candidates to actually go out and speak to the students face
to face.
“The main purpose for campaigning is to go out and talk to
students. E-mail is a fast and easy way but generalized,”
Sawyer said.
DeHart said that a lot of the changes that needed to be addressed
were ignored and that those that were changed will not make much
of a difference in upcoming elections.
“Basically I think that there are powers that be that sometimes
do not let the students have a fair voice in decisions that they
should,” she said.
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| Jenna Lynn
DeHart, former Liberal Arts senator, filed a dispute
over illegal e-mail campaigning |
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| Josh Sawyer,
architecture senator, said e-mails take away the opportunity
to speak face-to-face. |
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