Internal strife plagues A.S.I.

An Associated Students Inc. internal aide issued Wednesday a scathing critique of an A.S. Senate adviser, accusing him of acquiring dubious powers within the student government.

At a judicial hearing, Ramiro Cabatbat, A.S.I. executive aide for internal affairs, contended Stuart Farber, director of Student Life and Development, has acquired powers reserved for A.S.I. students alone, including the authority to vote in A.S.I. committees. In a slide show presentation highlighting official documents,
Cabatbat presented oral arguments supporting his request that the A.S. Judiciary clarify Farber's position within A.S.I.

"How can an adviser effectively advise if he is actually a part of that body," Cabatbat said. "Lately, the senate adviser has the taut appearance of running the Senate."

The basis for Cabatbat's complaint is that the Senate violated its own bylaws in allowing Farber to object to Cabatbat's attempt to speak during the Senate's April 12 meeting.

Cabatbat contends Farber, Cal State Long Beach President Robert Maxson's representative to the Senate, is not a member of the body. Consequently, according to Cababat, Farber does not have the authority to object to a student's request to speak.

Senate representatives have argued that Farber's status as a nonvoting member of the body is stated in current A.S. bylaws. Cabatbat said the bylaws were illegally amended.

Cabatbat further argued that Farber's status as Senate parliamentarian is another violation of bylaws because the position is supposed to be occupied by a student. The parliamentarian advises the body on questions of rule and procedure.

Cabatbat also claimed that Farber's standing as a voting member of the bylaws committee, A.S.I. Elections Commission and A.S.I. Publications Board is questionable and needs clarification.

"A lot of us rely on Dr. Farber with his experience in running meetings," said Sen. Michael Braga, who was thrust into the role of defending the Senate Wednesday in the absence of A.S.I. legal representation. "If there are questions we can defer to him. We put that trust in him.

"I don't think he's out there to maliciously change the bylaws in any way so that he has more power over students."

Farber recently asserted his status within A.S.I. is representative of CSULB's faculty and student governance, noting students have voting rights in the faculty-dominated Academic Senate.

"It wouldn't bother me either way to be strictly an adviser or a voting member," Farber said. "It would suit me just fine if the bylaws were amended to cut off the adviser's vote."

And, one of Farber's recent votes, the one in favor of the Beach Pride Referendum in the Senate Bylaws Committee, also serves as part of the basis for another complaint seeking to nullify the referendum.

Complainant Scott Strichart said the A.S. Senate did not follow proper procedures in placing the referendum on the March A.S.I. ballot for student elections.
Cabatbat briefly outlined the complaint against the Beach Pride Referendum, contending the Senate violated regulations in the California Education Code.

Cabatbat argued that when the Senate voted to place the referendum on the ballot the same day it was formally approved in the Bylaws Committee, it violated laws that require an item to be publicly posted for one week.

Senate representatives have argued that the action was not improper because the referendum was not formally approved until the next week's meeting when the minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

However, Cabatbat said the Education Code states that a body has to publicly post the item before it actually votes on it.

"That argument is not a valid one because you're trying to justify something after the fact," Cabatbat said.

Strichart finds the Senate's alleged procedural violations "annoying."

"If they don't follow procedures on this who's to say what more they might do that they're not following procedures on," Strichart said after the hearing. "It's important that the referendum is challenged. These are the people who are deciding what happens to a lot of money that goes to the school so they need to be in check."

The Judiciary will conduct another hearing Wednesday to allow Senate Chairwoman Sheryl Mauricio to present arguments defending the Senate's actions. Chief Justice Terence Pickens decided to call the hearing to ensure fairness because a rumor had circulated within A.S.I. that last week's hearing might be canceled.