Senate repeals referendum
despite student vote
By Kurt Esposito
Assistant
Campus Editor
The senators of Purdue Student Government voted
on Wednesday night to rescind to referendum that students voted in favor
of during the student body elections.
"Student voice has more binding power than any
set of papers should ever have inside PSG," said Jessica Cavallo, student
body president pro tempore. "I feel that rescinding (the referendum)
is making a mockery of PSG by not listening to the student body. We
should respect the students"
During the elections, 1,696 students voted in favor
of the referendum that would have changed representation in the student
senate.
"I believe the students have spoken; this is what
they want," said Jay Kissel, PSG senator. "We should give them what
they want."
In a 22 to eight vote, the senators voted to rescind
those results. There were two abstentions.
Clay Slaughter, PSG senator, said the referendum
was unconstitutional because the gathering of signatures necessary for
the referendum to be voted on by students was done without the knowledge
of the student senate.
He also said the referendum is a "slap in the face"
to students because they were not fully informed about the changes.
He said the referendum should not be considered because only a small
percentage of the student body voted in the election.
Brenda Shea, student body president elect, said,
"I find it amusing that senators are critical of student turnout when
they are the ones responsible for getting their constituencies to vote."
In other PSG business the senators passed a resolution
condemning the acts of vandalism and destruction that occurred Sunday
following Purdue's loss to Notre Dame in the basketball championship
game.
"These actions were uncalled for," said Jim Vaca,
student body president. The resolution also encourages the University
to take every action necessary to locate and punish those responsible
for the vandalism and destruction.
Nicki Elliott, PSG senator and author of the resolution,
said that it is unfortunate that even if those students are held accountable,
the rest of the students and staff at Purdue will still have to pay
for the actions of only a few.
The senators of also voted not to remove Jessica
Cavallo from her position as president pro tempore.
The vote was in response to a letter to the editor
she wrote to the Exponent. In the letter she supported the referendum
for the changes proposed by the Internal Review Committee.
Kyle Kasting, PSG senator, said she is not the
spokesperson for the senate and is therefore entitled to voice her own
opinion.
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