Student Government Politics at Queens College

UP Misleading Students?
Herman Araya
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: News
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"The "UP" in capital letters might be perceived as a coincidence to some or as a blatant misuse of Student Association resources during the 2007 campaign season."
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Anyone would want to know what it is they're looking at before they sign something.

At the Valentine's Day event held in the Student Union there were several reports of students being asked to sign a sheet at the door. It turned out that this sheet was a student-fee increase referendum requiring signatures in order to get placed on the ballot.

Student Association President Mahendra Singh, a member of the United People party, discounted any accusations that he encouraged workers to collect signatures without telling students what it was for. "I can deny that on record," Singh said. SA Academic Chair Ilysse Baum said that there was "by no means coercion" for students to sign the referendum. They said students should know on their own not to sign their name on something they do not have to sign.

Junior Christine Cameron said she was told to sign in when she arrived at the event. Cameron said she was not informed about what she was signing. However, she was not all that upset about allegations. "It was just giving us a choice to vote" on the issue of a student-fee increase, she said.

Pamela Moore, a senior, said that students were not being denied entry to the Valentine's Day event but were not told what it was they were signing. Moore said people simply told students "sign in," or "sign here."

"They weren't explaining anything," Moore said. At one point a student asked what the sign-in sheet was for, Moore related, and the response was, "We're just trying to get this on the ballot."

Asked how she felt about the event Moore said, "What they did was sneaky … They knew exactly what they were doing."

One student, Isaac, who requested that he be identified by his first name only, said, "I was told that I had to sign it [the paper] to enter, and I saw them call someone over who was entering without signing the sheet and told him to sign it. I did not want to start a fight so I did not protest, but I felt like I had to leave if I did not sign it."

Student Life Director Jen Jarvis downplayed rumors that students were wrongly told to sign the referendum at the Valentine's Day event, saying that students were "confused."

"I was informed that petitioning was happening outside of the party and that if possible could I come upstairs," Jarvis said. She went up to the ballroom and asked the Student Association to move the location of the referendum petition away from the lobby and towards the foyer area. Jarvis said that by moving the referendum table to the hallway "it didn't have this perception of being a sign-in sheet."

Asked whether or not something would be done if the accusations were confirmed Jarvis responded, "It's not for me to determine" and that it is an issue that the Elections Committee would have to deal with.

If the referendum is carried out despite the misbehavior reported to have taken place it will go to the Elections Committee which includes several students selected by the Academic Senate, and those who received recommendations from faculty members.

The accusations against the Student Association after the Valentine's Day event come as election time nears.

The United People party has encountered a bit more pressure after Jonathan Gilad wrote an article titled, "Hold UP Accountable" (Knight News, Feb. 8). The article concerned accusations that the UP party was hostile and threatening Gilad due to the Democratic Student Alliance Party's attempts to create online elections.

The Knight News recently obtained a copy of the Queens College Student Association budget report which included a $600 charge for two full page advertisements appearing in the Dec. 7, 2006 issue of the Knight News. In both advertisements there were several mentions of the United People party. This raises questions of whether or not public Student Association funds were misappropriated to promote the party rather than the Student Association. Both UP and D.S.A. do not receive budgets, while Student Association, under the control of UP, enjoys the largest budget of any organization on campus. Spending Student Association money to promote the UP would place D.S.A. at a disadvantage.

Further highlighting allegations of UP utilizing Student Association resources was an e-mail sent out by Mahendra Singh to over 100 students on campus recruiting people to participate in student government. The e-mail, which utilized hundreds of e-mail addresses belonging to Student Association, began with the words "What's UP?" and the words "Sign UP" followed a little further later. The "UP" in capital letters might be perceived as a coincidence to some or as a blatant misuse of Student Association resources during the 2007 campaign season.

During an interview this past week Singh, Student Association Vice President Saleem Rasul, and Executive Assistant Ilysse Baum swept aside any concerns of wrongdoing. Singh strongly emphasized the separation between the Student Association and the United People party saying that he represents all the students on campus. He attributed the accusations to a great deal of "hassle" as the election time comes closer.

However, since the day of the interview Singh has offered Democratic Student Alliance presidential candidate, Joshua Rubin, the opportunity to use the e-mailing system, provided the party is recognized in the political process. On Feb. 25 Singh also sent out an e-mail stating, "It is brought to my attention that my last message to you, encouraging you to get involved in Student Governance, may have been perceived by some as partisan. As of now, the only sign-up sheets for elections belong to United People, the political party to which I belong."

"I don't know another alternative" and any government would want to have people credited with their accomplishments, Baum said when asked about the reasoning behind including the United People within last year's two full page ads, paid by Student Association funds.

Concerning the situation with weekend students who won't have voting machines available to them Singh said that the Elections Committee will be discussing the idea of absentee ballots that will only be available by request.

Singh stressed that he desires a fair and open election that includes any opposition. He said he found it "crazy" that "invitations have been offered to the opposition" to hold S.A. positions and that they were declined.

"We want free, fair elections," said Rasul.

Over the accusations that there have been non-slates urging students to vote for the UP at polling site stations, when Election Committee guidelines prevent campaigning 50 feet from the polls, Baum emphasized that they are not interested in negative politics. "We promote a 100 percent positive campaign election process and environment for students at Queens College," Baum said.

http://media.www.qcknightnews.com/media/storage/paper564/news/2007/03/01/News/Up.Misleading.Students-2755672.shtml