SGA debates PE dept., vote tallies

Author: Annie Onishi

The Student Government Association (SGA) held its weekly meeting on Sunday in the Robert A. Jones '59 House Conference Room. It was the first meeting after the highly charged SGA and Student Co-Chair of Community Council (SCCOCC) elections of last week. Despite this, news of the election was reasonably limited, and discussion centered on business as usual. The Senate received a report from Physical Education (PE) Director Missy Foote regarding the proposal to change or eliminate the PE requirement and unanimously approved a resolution from the Socially Responsible Investment Campaign. The meeting concluded with a discussion as to whether or not the vote tally from last week's election should be released.

The first order of business was a report from Foote. She shared with the SGA a proposal prepared by members of the PE Department regarding the possible elimination of the PE requirement. Currently, all students are required to take two PE classes in order to graduate - it is the only degree requirement for which students do not receive academic credit. Motivations for the elimination, according to Foote, include the burden on students and PE faculty members alike. Many students find that time constraints make fulfilling the PE requirement difficult and PE Department members have questioned the subjectivity involved in determining what should count for credit. Foote specifically cited students who have asked for credit for being on the United States National Cycling team or for having climbed Mount Everest. Foote concluded with a petition for student feedback before the proposal is finalized and presented to the faculty next fall.

Following Foote's presentation, Philip Aroneanu '06.5, Rob King '09 and Peter Viola '06 of the Sunday Night Group's subcommittee, the Socially Responsible Investment Campaign, presented a resolution for SGA approval. The group's goal is to garner support for morally responsible investment of Middlebury College's nearly $1 billion dollar endowment. Specifically, the group aims for divestment from multinational corporations with financial resources invested in the Sudan. The divestment would be a symbolic stance against the country's current genocide occurring in the Darfur region.

Speaking about the potential divestment, Viola said, "To some extent, divestment is a symbolic move, but it's still an important one to make. It's one thing that the College community can do to get involved. To the extent that we can get involved, we feel that this is an equally important measure." Viola added that if many small colleges in the United States divest from the Sudanese market, the statement will become clear and more effective.

The last order of business was a discussion prompted by Austen Levihn-Coon '07.5, who asked the Senate to release a tally of the votes from last week's election. Levihn-Coon is the student responsible for the signs posted around campus and an all-student e-mail promoting that students abstain from the vote in order to make a statement. Levihn-Coon cited an interest in the number of abstentions among his reasons for wanting the publication of election tallies. "I wanted to know whether the candidate that won represented the student body," he said.

Dean of Student Affairs Ann Hanson, who was present at the meeting, informed the attendees that the reason results are not publicized is out of respect for the candidates. Hanson cited a previous election in which one candidate only received five votes.

Generally, members of the Senate tended to agree with Levihn-Coon, although for different reasons. Former presidential candidate Alina Levina '09 was one supporter. She thought that knowing the tally would tell her whether or not her platform was supported by the student body and she would therefore be able to take appropriate action next year by either continuing with that platform or finding other issues to address.

Press Secretary Adam Irish '08 added, "I think it's kind of childish to say that it might hurt someone's feelings to see the election results." Sophomore Senator Max Nardini added to Irish's sentiment, saying that by running for public office, the candidate is inherently accepting at least some form of potential embarrassment.

Other minor topics of discussion during the meeting included the formation of a panel of students to help others learn about their rights before Judicial Board hearings, the renewal of the College's Napster subscription and an approval of President Elect Alex Stanton's Cabinet Reorganization Amendment for next year.