ASUSU discusses Logan City’s booting policies
Two bills were moved to a second reading at the Associated Students of Utah State University Executive Council meeting on Tuesday evening that will potentially effect booting procedures on campus and protect students who have been requested to serve on jury duty.
ASUSU Bill ECR 05-02, sponsored by ASUSU Executive Vice President Tagg Archibald, was designed because the only campus policies regarding jury duty service are in reference to faculty.
During this past summer semester, Archibald said, a student was called up for jury duty and problems arose concerning the amount of time the student was given to make up the incomplete he obtained while serving.
“This bill is not just to protect the students, but professors and the university as well,” Archibald said.
The bill outlines under what circumstances students can be excused from class work due to civic service, and how they must go about contracting with their professors.
The bill is largely being put in place as a preventative measure, Archibald said, but also embodies USU’s commitment to civic involvement.
ASUSU President Les Essig, read and sponsored a bill that states ASUSU’s support of a revision to Logan City’s controversial booting policy.
Although the policy is in Logan City’s control, Essig said the issue is important to students because the student body is a large majority of those being booted.
Booting creates unsafe environments, requiring students to wander around Logan often in the dark in search of cash, and places them in vulnerable situations, he said, and currently the legality of booting is being called into question.
“[Booting] creates an explosive situation,” said Quinn Millet, a USU student who has filed a complaint against Logan City for their booting policy.
Essig said he is on the agenda for a future Logan City meeting where he will encourage them to review their policy.
Also at the meeting the Indian Student Association put in a request for $800 to fund the annual Diwali celebration on USU campus. The total budget for the event is $8,098, Ram Swaminethen, a representative from ISA said, and due to outside sources of funding and ticket sales of future events, the organization will be completely self-sufficient.
A proposal was also made by Michelle Lundberg, a sophomore in political science, to increase the stipend for ASUSU Executive Council members.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu