Student Confederation President Nick Terzulli declared a "state of emergency" for the SC on Tuesday to suspend the SC Constitution in order to appoint Kyle Taylor to the position of vice president - an action otherwise unconstitutional. Following the SC Bylaws, the General Assembly, AU's student legislature, approved the declaration at a meeting Tuesday night and gave Terzulli the power to appoint Taylor. Terzulli asked the GA for the "very strict, very minute" power to appoint Taylor. The appointment was previously blocked due to a requirement in the constitution that the VP be nominated from the GA. Terzulli chose Taylor because "the way I was thinking, let's get somebody who knows the job and can do the job well for the next six weeks until the elections started," he said.
Taylor has served as Eagle Nights director during the fall semester. A state of emergency is called when "there is a situation that is a threat to the existence of the SC or GA," according to the SC Constitution. Terzulli said that he had only recently learned of the possibility of a state of emergency.
"I didn't know it was an option until last week," Terzulli said during the meeting. "This is a drastic step; I think this has never been done beforehand, at least in the past three years."
The GA had previously shown support for Taylor, but felt that a decision by the Constitutional and Procedural Review Board, the judicial branch of the SC, must occur before the GA could act.
"When they rule, that is when I feel the GA should step in and show their support," said Tim Meyer, GA representative from the School of Communication.
A sense of the GA resolution, which is used to show the thoughts and wishes of most of the GA, failed to pass by a vote of 10 for, 2 against and 13 abstained, remaining effectively neutral. It became clear that the appointment would be ruled unconstitutional by the CPRB, so the idea of the state of emergency was explored in order to alleviate the problem.
Terzulli proposed the state of emergency to GA Speaker Gordon Simonett and other representatives on Monday night, signing the order to put it into effect around 10 p.m. The GA was then mandated to meet within 24 hours to act on the emergency. A meeting was already scheduled for 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
Many members of the GA expressed their wish that the power supplied to Terzulli be to only appoint Taylor.
"That is all we should give him, that is all he should get," Class of 2007 Rep. Ben Murray said, concerning the power to appoint a VP.
"You will be losing the right for the candidate to come from the General Assembly," Terzulli said of the emergency power, "but you will not be losing the right to confirm him."
The declaration was passed without objection and Terzulli was given the power to appoint Taylor, also without objection. The nomination was immediately recommended to the GA's Government Operations Committee for first reading. The committee must approve the nomination before it can be voted on before the GA.
Committee Chair Graham Gawrysiak called a hearing for Friday so that the matter can be decided at the next GA meeting on Feb. 8.
College of Arts and Sciences Rep. Jason Trombley supported Taylor and said the constitutional requirement was misguided.
"There is no guarantee that someone in the GA actually knows how to fill the programming role," Trombley said while discussing the resolution supporting Taylor. "With six weeks left, we do not need a babysitter."
Taylor will fill the position left open when Marguerite Meyer resigned at the end of the fall semester after she dropped to part-time student status so she could finish incomplete courses.
