The ASUO’s leaders said they never requested the removal of the student government’s logo from its office window and they intend to fight the University’s attempts to charge the ASUO for it.
The University’s sign painter, however, said he received a work order from the ASUO and agreed upon a price for removing and replacing the sign.
The student government’s logo has been a source of grief for its leaders for much of this year. The ASUO began the year intending to brand several of the services it provides with its logo. As part of that branding effort, it created a new logo to replace the long-standing one that adorned its office window.
That new logo has since come into ridicule from some quarters and has also been met with disapproval by the EMU Board of Directors’ House Committee, which must approve the logo for it to become official. Members of that committee said creating the logo did not take into account enough perspectives across campus.
However, before it became apparent the logo would cause such trouble, ASUO spokesperson Curtis Haley had a conversation with the University’s sign-painter, Mike Timshel, about removing the existing logo. That conversation took place in February, Haley said. He said the ASUO made no official request to have the logo removed.
Timshel e-mailed Haley in March to say he would remove the sign soon and proposed his price for doing so. However, the date passed and Timshel didn’t come, and Haley said he assumed there would be no action until the new logo was approved.
Then, on April 19, University employees arrived at the ASUO’s office and removed the logo.
Timshel said after he sent the e-mail, the University moved his shop, meaning he could not get around to removing the logo until April 19.
“From our perspective, (ASUO President) Emma (Kallaway) hadn’t signed off on anything,” Haley said. “I hadn’t signed off on anything. We were really surprised about what had happened.”
However, Timshel said he received a work order from Haley, agreeing upon a price of $40 per hour for a day and a half of work. He said he intends to paint the new logo onto the office by early next week.
Some ASUO leaders said they are interested in disputing the charges. At the April 21 ASUO Senate meeting, ASUO Vice President Getachew Kassa said, “We never put in any sort of formal request. We never signed anything. We never agreed to anything.”
But, he added, “Sometimes they just say, ‘Aww, we’ll take it out of your budget, anyway.’”
Sen. Nick Gower said he would “love to fight the battle” against Facilities Services over the charges.
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Removal of logo creates confusion
Daily Emerald
April 28, 2010
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