Publication sparks debate at MSA meeting

At last night's Michigan Student Assembly meeting, LSA junior Vikram Sarma, a former MSA member, brought to the assembly's attention a statement that he said led him "to question the integrity of the MSA."

The statement, "Run with the Defend Affirmative Action Party in the Michigan Student Assembly Elections - November" was published in the Activist Newsletter, a publication put out by the Summer Student Assembly.

"Why is MSA endorsing one campaign?" Sarma asked. "This is an assembly that embodies many diverse ideologies, and I don't think it's appropriate that MSA has a newsletter to support one group. MSA is not spending its money properly when the assembly invests its own money toward explicit campaign paraphernalia."

But Sarma noted that, "otherwise, this is a great newsletter."

Caroline Wong, a Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary member, who claimed partial responsibility for this statement, apologized and said it was an oversight. But she did note that the newsletter was "a good step forward for the assembly."

Editor of the publication, Rackham Rep. Jessica Curtin also apologized for the statement.

After the meeting adjourned, MSA Vice President Andy Coulouris and Defend Affirmative Action Party representatives, who are members of the Affirmative Action group BAMN, held a meeting to discuss the issue further. Coulouris said it was not an official meeting, but Curtin, who attended the meeting, as a representative of DAAP, called it official.

Curtin said that the statement "is a really petty oversight on our part. The whole thing is being blown out of proportion."

Coulouris said he and MSA President Bram Elias think some action needs to take place.

He added that it is possible that statement could be a violation of the assembly's code.

At next Tuesday's regular meeting, Elias explained, an MSA representative could move to form an ethics committee of randomly chosen MSA members, who would investigate whether Curtin and other members of the assembly have misused MSA resources.

If MSA votes to form a committee, after a two week investigation, the ethics committee would make a recommendation to the assembly, on how to deal with any potential assembly code violations.

"Bram and I think there is sufficient evidence that will lead us to believe that it's a possibility they misused resources," Coulouris said.

Curtin says she views the potential investigation as a "political witchhunt."

"It's being used as a pretext for a political attack," she added.

Curtin said BAMN offered to delete the statement on all copies currently at distribution spots on campus and redistribute the newsletter.

In other MSA business, Glen Roe Budget Priorities Committee Chair announced that the BPC has an updated application for student groups, and Elias also announced plans to hire a Website manager for MSA's existing Website, www.umich.edu/~msa.

"The Website used to be run on a volunteer basis, so it wasn't always updated," Elias said. "With a Website manager, the Website is going to be updated daily, and we can start to focus a lot more student government on the Web."

Elias said that the Website will also have more enhanced features, including an online student group funding application and an online student book exchange. The student coursepack service was also announced to be implemented as a permanent service once it has undergone analysis for improvement.

09-15-99