BY JANE KRULL
Daily News Writer
Published April 3, 2001
The Michigan Student Assembly"s first full meeting of its new term ran smoothly last night as newly elected President Matt Nolan aggressively assumed his position.
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The assembly"s five committees and 18 commissions elected their leaders. Committees elected chairs and vice chairs from the new MSA body and commissions elected chairs from the entire student body.
LSA Rep. Javier Restrepo beat out fellow LSA Rep. Peter Apel for Budget Priorities Committee chair in a 22-17 vote. The BPC is one of the main sources of funding for the University"s student groups, handling over $160,000 each year. LSA Rep. Zach Slates was elected as Restrepo"s vice chair as well as External Relations Committee vice chair.
"MSA made a good decision in choosing experience when voting," Restrepo said. "My goal is to expand monetary resources to all student groups."
The assembly"s other primary source for student funding is the Community Service Commission. LSA sophomores Alicia Johnson and Linnaea Eberts were elected as co-chairs of the CSC.
"I think Linnaea and I are going to be an outstanding team in assuring that community service groups get the fullest funding possible," Johnson said.
The most debated election at the meeting was the leadership of the Peace and Justice Commission. LSA junior Bryan Schone ran against the teams of LSA freshman Rachel Fisher and Kinesiology junior Tom Wharry, and LSA Rep. Jessica Curtin and LSA sophomore Agnes Aleobua. Fisher and Wharry beat Curtin and Aleobua in a vote of 25-12-3.
"Now is a good time to define what P & J is going to do with activism on campus," Fisher said. "We"re excited to be in charge of this commission."
The Rules and Elections Committee will be headed by LSA Rep. John Simpson, who nudged out fellow LSA Rep. Dean Wang for the position. The Campus Governance Committee chair is now headed by LSA Rep. Liz Mullane, the Communications Committee will be led by LSA Rep. Sarah Boot and LSA Rep. Reza Breakstone will chair the External Relations Committee.
In other business, the assembly renewed the Tax Exempt Textbook Taskforce and gave a $1,000 disbursement to the Academic Affairs Commission for its Advice Online Program that is currently up and running.
