Former Sen. alleges SG violated law
SG refutes claims of mishandling fall elections commission hearing
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Former Student Government Senator Matthew Breidenstein, pictured here during the Oct. 19 elections commission violation hearing, is accusing SG of violating Florida law and SG statutes during the hearing. |
A former University of North Florida student government senator who was disqualified after the fall 2006 elections is accusing SG officials of breaking Florida law.
During a judicial hearing Feb. 21 to appeal the actions of SG's Elections Commission after the fall 2006 elections, former Sen. Matthew Breidenstein accused SG officials of violating his rights as guaranteed by federal and state law and SG statutes. Breidenstein was disqualified for a "major violation" of SG election statutes by not claiming taxes on his expense statement.
"Somebody needs to make that place [SG] accountable, and you know who can do that? The student body can by paying attention to who they vote for," said Breidenstein, a senior political science major.
In the first of three appeals filed by Breidenstein, he alleged that his due process rights for a fair hearing under SG statutes and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution were not met during the elections violations hearing Oct. 19, 2006. Breidenstein said he was notified by a friend about the violations filed against him two hours before the violations hearing and that he had 30 minutes to prepare a defense before the hearing.
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Campus to air its garbage
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During the Garbage on the Green event March 8, the University of North Florida will perform a waste audit to show students what trash can be recycled and raise environmental awareness. |
The University of North Florida is cleaning up its
act - literally.
Garbage on the Green, scheduled for March 8, will showcase campus waste in the middle of the Green for a trash audit - the first event of its kind at UNF.
"Not only is [the name] descriptive of the event location - mounds of campus trash on the university's 'green,' but you can think of it also meaning that the university is moving towards 'greening' it's garbage by reducing, reusing and recycling more," said Stacy Wheeler, Political Science professor and organizer of the event.
During the waste audit, volunteers will retrieve trash from four different locations on campus, including outside campus areas and trash from inside department buildings.
The results of the waste audit will be announced at the end of the event and a more detailed version will be available March 12. A finalized report will be presented to the university including a detailed analysis and recommendations during the week of March 25.
The details of the audit will include the total number of recyclable and waste items collected from four different locations on campus, Wheeler said. Items will be catalogued and sorted based on weight, volume and content.
The content categories include items that can be recycled, items that cannot be recycled, and items that can be composted.
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Student body presidents discuss future of schools
The University of North Florida Student Government hosted the monthly meeting of the Florida Student Association Feb. 23 in the University Center.
The FSA is a lobbying entity for Florida students. During the day-long conference, public university student body presidents from across the state, along with their staff and advisors met to discuss local and statewide SG and university issues.
Among the subjects discussed in the general meeting was the Pappas Consulting Group Inc.'s recent report on the state of the Florida university system. Frank Harrison, FSA director, encouraged SG officials to read the report and to "look at the diagnosis instead of the prescription they are giving."
Harrison said there has been no definitive reaction from the Board of Governors and the universities about the report and he encouraged people to attend a public hearing in Orlando Feb. 26 to get public comment on
the report.
Mike Fischer, FSA executive director, gave a legislative update report during the general meeting as well. He said the FSA is currently tracking 25 legislative bills and "it's going to be a good, busy legislative session."
After a general meeting, the attendees split into separate councils and held group meetings. The Board of Directors met and discussed a number of upcoming legislative issues, said UNF Student Body President Justin Damiano, a senior majoring in Political Science. The Spinnaker attempted to attend the board meeting but Harrison said the meeting was not open
to reporters.
Damiano said the board voted to support a new technology fee, which was proposed last year by the legislature but stopped by students. The technology
fee bill was
re-written, Damiano said, to be more favorable to students.
"It gives student body presidents joint approval power over the technology fee along
with university presidents,"
Damiano said.
This way, the students can determine how much the fee will be and what the money will be spent on, he said.
The board also discussed Gov. Charlie Crist's recent proposal for no new fees and no tuition increases for the next year, Damiano said.
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