Tuesday night's Duke Student Government legislative meeting started with a bang but ended in a whimper.
After a prolonged, often heated 30-minute debate on whether or not to give the ad hoc Ethics Initiative Committee permanent status, and after two head counts to ascertain whether enough legislators were present to call a vote, a quorum was not reached and the legislative agenda had to be postponed.
Several DSG members were disappointed at the lack of a quorum, which requires 29 legislators present. After 8:15, only 28 legislators attended the meeting.
"I think the fact that we didn't have a quorum is a shame because we didn't get to a lot of business that we should have," said Trinity freshman Halley Guren, chair of the DSG Ethics Initiative Committee.
Trinity freshman and DSG legislator Lori Fixley said she agreed. "I think it's important that we take care of the business that we have, fund groups [and] charter groups, and if we don't have enough people here to vote on that, then we certainly can't begin to get anything done."
During the debate, DSG members questioned the Ethics Initiative. "Definitely 'ethics' is the watchword of the year. I think the [Ethics Initiative] is a great idea," said Trinity junior Matt Ameika, a DSG legislator. "I'm just worried about the ethicality of the Ethics Initiative itself."
Another important inquiry among the DSG legislature consisted of how to measure ethics on campus; no solutions to the question, however, were proposed at the meeting.
Trinity junior Randy Fink, DSG executive vice president, supported the proposal. "What we need to do now is realize that ethics is an important issue at [the University], recognize the work that's already been done and go ahead and approve [this measure]," Fink said. "We have gotten support across the campus, from 10 different departments, the Hart Leadership Program in Ethics, the Center for Applied Ethics at the Engineering School.... Everybody wants this to happen."
Part of the Ethics Initiative Committee's proposal is to place ads in The Chronicle every Monday and Wednesday to raise awareness of ethics issues. Referring to the ads, Trinity freshman and DSG legislator Bianca Motley said that she is apprehensive that students might associate The Chronicle with DSG.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: A proposal to change the face of undergraduate recreation was made by Trinity junior Jason Goode, DSG vice president for facilities and athletics, adding that a successful aerobics program in Trent should be made permanent. "The aerobics program should be organized through a director of student recreation, a full-time employee of the University," he said.
In addition, an amendment to the Student Organization Finance Committee bylaws was passed, thereby allowing the legislature to be informed in greater detail about the purposes, activities and budgets of student organizations.
Other issues brought up, but not discussed in detail, included the establishment of a committee to award additional credits for laboratory courses and the provision of financial aid for international students.
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