The idea of changing the Student Association’s name back to include “government” was highly debated at Monday’s meeting, which supporters say will help students understand what the organization does.

SA reviewed the first three articles of the proposed constitution at its meeting, which defined the roles of the overall organization, the assembly and the new speaker of the assembly position.

The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. In addition to discussing the constitution, the assembly also elected two members to represent the College of Arts and Sciences.

Much of the focus on the constitution was on Article I, which Parliamentarian Ben Jones said defines what the organization is and what it does.

SA doesn’t currently have the word “government” in its title, Jones explained to the assembly.

“Who do we govern?” Jones asked the assembly. “We do not govern any students, we don’t tell anyone what to do. We exist as a voice for students.”

While SA used to have “government” in its title, it was removed in 2000 to better represent its role, Jones said.

“We’re called SA because we’re supposed to be like a labor union for students,” Jones said. “We exist to be a body that represents the voice of the students, not as a body that speaks to the students about what they should do.”

Some assembly members provided reasons why “government” should be added to the organization name, which Vice President Duane Ford supported.

“We’re a body that appropriates almost $3 million of student money, and we pass legislation every session that affects every student in a registered student organization,” Ford said.

Other assembly members agreed with Ford, and some added that changing the association’s name would help clarify the identity of the organization for students unfamiliar with SA or its role on campus.

Recorder Nick Bonafilia said he believed changing SA’s name was “trivial, misguided and pompous.”

The assembly ultimately postponed the motion to add “government” to the name until its next meeting. It also reviewed articles II and III of the proposed constitution.

Article II outlines the responsibilities of all assembly members, while Article III defines and creates the role of speaker of the assembly.

In addition to reviewing and debating the constitution, three candidates ran for two open seats to represent the College of Arts and Sciences.

The assembly elected Richard Ofosuhene, a sophomore chemistry major and Henry Hokura, a freshman international relations major.

Ofosuhene is originally from Ghana, and said he had experience in taking on initiatives while in high school. He said he collected donations to buy trashcans to help clean up his community, something the assembly took note of.

Jones, SA’s parliamentarian, said Ofosuhene’s desire to serve the students really stood out to him.

Hokura said he wanted to join SA to have the chance to exercise his voice at SU.

Ford said Hokura is a second-generation student at Syracuse University, which gave him a unique perspective on certain issues.

Specific issues Hokura brought up included increasing printing quotas and improving the food quality.

Published on October 1, 2013 at 1:10 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27