Like students who can’t bring themselves to show up to class, 20 percent of the senators in Associated Student Government this year have been replaced for poor attendance.
Of the 64 senators elected in the fall, 20 have exceeded their limit of two absences per quarter. Seven of those senators won their appeals to ASG’s Rules Committee, and three more truant senators went before the committee late Tuesday to plead their cases.
But 13 senators either resigned or were kicked out.
“The appeals process is definitely a controversial thing,” said ASG Rules Committee Chair Bassel Korkor. “There have certainly been a lot of senators this year who have come before us.”
Even senators who don’t ditch meetings entirely can still skip out after roll call, giving up their constituents’ vote.
That attendance loophole was illustrated at last week’s meeting, when a resolution received unanimous approval – 42-0, with three abstentions – but failed because it needed 43 “aye” votes.
“Last week was a demonstration of why it is important to come to Senate,” said Korkor, a Weinberg sophomore. “A resolution everyone unanimously favored failed. At that point, people aren’t doing their job as senators because they aren’t showing up.”
The bill’s author, Polish-American Student Alliance Sen. Art Janik, said he was frustrated that his resolution originally failed despite being supported unanimously.
“If there are no senators in the room, you can’t get anything done,” said Janik, a Medill junior. “I have no idea where senators are going during the meeting or what other commitments they have, but Senate should be their commitment Wednesday nights.”
But Speaker of the Senate Richard Caldarone said he expects senators to have good attendance for the rest of the year.
“There are always one or two meetings where something like that happens,” he said. “That was our busiest time in our busiest quarter of the year.”
Some former senators said they stopped showing up because the meetings were too time-consuming.
Former Willard Sen. Evan Levine, one of 13 senators to leave ASG, said he decided to resign without appealing to the Rules Committee after using up his allotted absences.
“I told Bassel that I just didn’t have time for ASG right now,” said Levine, a Weinberg junior. “I wasn’t enjoying being a senator anymore. Senate is a good organization, but it just wasn’t fun anymore and totally impacted my time.”
The Rules Committee denied the appeal of former Bobb Sen. Howard Lien last quarter. Instead of accepting the ruling, he motioned to have the Senate review his case, which he called a “misunderstanding” between himself and the committee.
“I thought my first absence was not going to count as an absence, because it was the first meeting of the year and I wasn’t informed that I had even won a senator position from my dorm,” said Lien, a Weinberg sophomore.
But the Senate voted to agree with the Rules Committee, and Lien gave up his seat.
Caldarone said that although some senators have left, they have been quickly replaced through dorm elections.
“I’m pleased that the dorms are making an effort to see that those Senate spots don’t go unfilled,” he said.
Others said the Senate should address attendance and responsibility issues.
“It really hurts when senators don’t talk to constituents, or don’t stay at meetings,” said Arts Alliance Sen. Joel Richlin, a Weinberg sophomore. “Last week’s vote was just ridiculous. When a bill can’t pass because there aren’t enough people in the room, then that is just wrong.”
