In a surprise announcement, Associated Student Government Rules Chairman Jason Warren resigned at Wednesday night’s Senate meeting, making him the third executive board member to leave the organization this year.
Warren, a Communication junior, said he did not have the dedication required to continue his job leading the rules committee.
“I don’t have the time or commitment,” Warren told senators at the end of the meeting. “At (Tuesday night’s) rules committee meeting, I let my committee get out of control. I let them overstep precedent. If I said I still had it in my heart to continue this job, I would be lying.”
Tuesday’s rules committee meeting, in which members were supposed to decide on ASG constitution and bylaw amendments, lasted until 2 a.m. Committee members discussed adding several amendments to the current guidelines, but senators voted to send the amendments back to committee because some considered them incomplete and unclear.
After Warren’s announcement, ASG executive board members named Noreen Khalid, currently the vice-chairwoman of the rules committee, to the position pending Senate approval next week.
Khalid, a Communication senior, currently serves as ASG’s secretary and parliamentarian. ASG will accept applications from senators this week to fill that position.
The rules chairperson traditionally is selected by a Senate vote during Spring Quarter.
Two other exec board members resigned this year. Tiffany Berry, a Weinberg senior elected by a campuswide vote as student services vice president, quit at the beginning of Fall Quarter to devote more time to volunteering.
Also, ASG treasurer J.D. Robertson resigned from his post in May. He was replaced by Communication junior Edith Rivera.
ASG President Rachel Lopez said she doesn’t recall another time when three executive board members resigned the same year. Lopez said she understands Warren’s decision and realizes the pressures an executive board member might feel.
“We knew that he felt that he couldn’t hold his position,” said Lopez, a Weinberg senior. “I think that a lot of things were pulling him in different directions. If that’s what’s best for him, that’s good for us.”
In addition, ASG passed three bills at Wednesday’s meeting, providing dissection alternatives to undergraduate biology students, allowing textbooks to be sold separately from supplementary materials and requesting improvements in campus accessibility for handicapped students.
The dissection alternative bill was the most controversial measure.
The bill’s authors said some students might have religious or ethical beliefs that don’t permit them to dissect animals. The legislation asks the biology department to provide an alternative curriculum, usually a computer program which simulates the experiment for those students.
“You still have to do the work,” said Tricia Valcarcel, president of Justice for All and the bill’s co-author. “The only thing you don’t have to do is cut up a frog.”
Senators also unanimously passed a bill and its attached resolution calling for an annual increase from $500,000 to $600,000 per year in funding for building renovations benefiting students with disabilities.
Matt Hall, the College Republicans senator and the bill’s co-author, said the legislation was the most direct way to help disabled students.
“In my mind, they have fought against so many obstacles,” said Hall, a Communication sophomore. “We are committed to doing what we can to help them.”
The third bill called on professors to request books be sold separately from supplementary learning materials.
Senators also presented two new bills, one asking administrators to shorten Freshman Freeze and another calling for an online forum to help students coordinate rides around campus.
The Daily’s Torea Frey contributed to this report.
