[Steeltrap]

The president of the College Republicans was forced to apologize, and here's something from the student newspaper on it:


[ Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 ]

USG debates photos
The group made an ad hoc committee to discuss responses to photos on former Town Sen. Brian Battaglia's Web site.


By Bridget Smith
Collegian Staff Writer
Last night, Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President Ian Rosenberger recommended the formation of a committee to investigate whether senators who attended College Republicans chair Brian Battaglia's controversial Halloween party should be impeached.

Almost 70 students attended last night's USG Senate meeting to voice their concerns to student leaders, most condemning inaction by USG members who were at Battaglia's party.

Rosenberger told the Senate and the gallery he wanted a temporary committee to make sure he and senators were well-informed about the situation surrounding each USG member's involvement in the issue before disciplining them.

If the proposed committee calls for the impeachment of three senators who attended the party, Andy Banducci, Vicky Cangelosi and Matt Ritsko, they would be unable to perform their duties until impeachment proceedings concluded.

If removed from office, the three would be banned from running for future Senate seats.

Rosenberger told the Senate that although the senators in question were not dressed in offensive costumes, they had a responsibility to speak out against actions that didn't represent their constituencies.

Although Rosenberger cannot determine senators' removal from office, he can request the resignations of Frank Camarota, executive govermental relations director, and Julia Graham, a Supreme Court clerk, who were at the party. However, he said he currently has no plans to do so.

Rosenberger said four of the five USG members implicated in the controversy had issued statements of regret for their involvement in the issue. Graham had not yet done so.

USG Vice President Takkeem Morgan, who relinquished his seat as the Senate chair to avoid a conflict of interest -- a white man in blackface was meant to portray him in one of the offensive costumes -- said while the College Republicans have First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, they should not hide behind them.

"That is absolutely not a justification," he said.

Morgan called the issue a community-wide one, and asked senators to consider the involved members' roles as campus leaders instead of the legality of the issue.

"That's what most of the pain comes from; that's where most of the disgrace comes from," he added.

Rosenberger said he was working with Allies and the Interfraternity Council to determine how USG can help facilitate cultural change to avoid future controversies like this.

"[We're] trying not to show a bias, but at the same time, we are part of the community," Morgan said.

Jamie Ziegenfuss, a member of Allies, was among 10 students who addressed the Senate to express disgust at the events.

He thanked East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko for quickly responding to concerns and resigning from the College Republicans earlier this week. To others, he was less forgiving.

"We say how dare you," he said. "There is no question you had the right to do what you did, but there are more issues here."

Former Town Sen. Melissa Curry urged the Senate to avoid making hasty decisions regarding the possible impeachment proceedings.

"Without knowing all of the information, you can't possibly know the extent of their involvement," she said.

Following the open student forum, the Senate introduced a resolution to form the investigative committee. The resolution had not passed through the Senate's Internal Affairs committee, so a two-thirds majority vote was required to consider it.

After debate about the legislation's constitutionality, the Senate entered into an executive session to debate the committee's formation, meaning the meeting was closed to the public, press and both Rosenberger and Morgan.

Reporters from The Daily Collegian requested that the meeting remain open, citing that the topic was a public issue. Members of the Senate chose to keep the meeting closed.

When the session was re-opened, the Senate passed the resolution, 10-4-5, officially forming the committee to investigate the character of the three senators in question. At this time, it is unclear how long the committee will take to determine whether to proceed with an impeachment.

Chris Wilburn contributed to this story for the Collegian.



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