For the first time since the beginning of the year, the ASUO Student Senate found itself sharply divided Wednesday when it was asked to consider overriding a veto enacted by ASUO President Jay Breslow.
Breslow vetoed a special request from the Student Bar Association, which asked for $7,733 to start a law school yearbook. He said it would be a tool for alumni relations and fundraising, things he said the incidental fee shouldn’t be used for.
The senate later refused to override the veto — in an 8-6 vote — but only after nearly an hour of debate.
ASUO Vice President Holly
Magner spoke in support of
Breslow’s decision saying that the senate makes other groups raise money before they can have funds from the general surplus. The SBA, at the time of its request, had not yet raised any funds.
“I’ve seen how other groups are treated about fundraising, and sometimes they’re just kicked to the curb,” Magner said.
The senators received a letter from an anonymous student responding to their decision to grant the SBA’s request, citing the same reasons pointed out by Magner.
Several senators, however, said that the SBA had made a special effort to raise money when it asked the Alumni Association for $1,500 after last week’s meeting.
Peter Watts, Student Senate president, said that in the past, vetoes have only been done in cases where technical errors were made, but this particular veto was based on someone’s opinion — Breslow’s.
He “abused his power as the president of the ASUO,” Watts said. “There is absolutely no precedent to support his decision.”
Some who voted against overriding the veto said a yearbook for the law school was not something all students at the University could take advantage of.
Watts, however, said he thought the senate was holding the SBA to a higher standard because it was made up of law students and there was a misperception that the law school had a lot of money.
“I guess I just don’t understand why we’re making the SBA jump through hoops that we don’t make other groups jump through,” Watts said. “The senate’s voting continues to baffle me.”