USG voted on a new bill regarding sensitive information from conversations with the Board of Trustees and confirmed Associate Judge Nathanial Shot in their fifth meeting of the winter quarter.
A new temporary committee has been created to get student representation on the Board of Trustees. This session USG voted on bill 59, allowing the committee to redact sensitive information from its discussions with the Board of Trustees.
Pro Tempore Colton Arciniaga clarified that “if certain information were to get out, it could seriously damage USG’s ability to have discussions about representation on the Board.” Arciniaga also discussed a mechanism for any member of USG to go to the judicial branch if they disagree with a piece of information being redacted and have it unredacted. He concluded his statement by noting that anyone caught releasing redacted information without authorization would be subject to penalties at the discretion of the USG Supreme Court.
Senator Luke Miller voiced his hesitation with the bill and expressed his desire for clarification. He asked for hypothetical examples of where confidentiality might be needed. “I’m really trying to understand why this level of confidentiality is needed for conversations with the Board of Trustees,” he said.
Co-author Senator Tyler Miller responded that in the committee’s conversations with the Board, they have already requested certain things remain confidential. “The entire point is to get students’ foot in the door, to be very clear, we are not trying to get a news reporter into the Board of Trustees room,” he said.
The bill is essentially a safety mechanism that would “allow them [the Board] to know that we are taking this seriously and respecting their privacy as well as the school’s,” he continued.
Senator Shaben pointed out to other senators that “any member of USG has the right to this information, if you are curious about this committee, you can request information on it.”
Senator DenBraber said, “Given that we’ve made great strides recently in building a better relationship with the administration, I believe that this is the next necessary step that we need to take.” He agreed with Senator Shaben that the information would be accessible in extreme cases.
Confirming associate justice Nathan Shot was another of USG’s objectives in Tuesday’s meeting. Shot, given a chance to introduce himself, said he was an associate justice last year but had gone abroad. When given a chance to ask Shot questions, the senators were silent, leading Vice President Zach Headly to inquire, “Nobody’s gonna do the ‘what is ethics’ question?”
After stressing his experience with a packed judicial docket last year, Shot was unanimously voted in as an associate judge.
