The divisions in the 9th ASSU Undergraduate Senate were on full display at last night’s meeting, the last of the year. A number of animated debates preceded confirmation of the new Elections Commission and the approval of a fund transfer for a pilot shuttle program to the San Jose and San Francisco airports at the end of spring quarter.

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Joel Lewenstein

ASSU Senator Jose Benchimol ‘08 speaks out against the sit-in at President Hennessy’s office last week in an address to the Undergraduate Senate last night. Benchimol, the communications chair, also unsuccessfully opposed a shuttle program that takes students to airports.

Outgoing Elections Commissioner Bernard Fraga ‘08 and all three members of the new Elections Commission — including Elections Commissioner Ryan Woessner ‘10 — were present at the meeting to answer senators’ questions, which mostly concerned the future implementation of the “fair campaign” label. The label — given to candidates who followed a set of campaign rules prescribed by the Elections Commission — was new in April’s elections.

When Senator Luukas Ilves ‘09 requested time to question the new Elections Commission, Senator Corinne Prudhomme ‘09 called his questioning “disrespectful” and redundant. Ilves had raised similar concerns about the makeup of the new commission at the Senate’s last meeting.

Stuart Baimel ‘09 cited some “small violations” of the fair campaign policies that all candidates committed. He and several other senators pressed Woessner to explain how he would improve and implement the fair campaign policies during his term.

“As Elections Commissioner, I want to make sure fair campaign labels are enforced to a much greater extent,” Woessner said. He declined to elaborate further, citing his need for time to understand the nature of his position and the kind of reforms he would be constitutionally permitted to implement.

Despite the debate, the new Elections Commission was unanimously confirmed.

Senators spent the second half of the meeting debating the merits and implementation of a bill proposing to transfer money from the general fee reserve to fund a pilot shuttle program to the area’s two largest airports at the end of spring quarter.

The plan, part of the campaign platform of ASSU President Hershey Avula ‘08, was scrutinized by senators concerned about the amount of money it would require and uncertainty over logistics.

The program’s most visible opponent was Communications Chair Jose Benchimol ‘08. Benchimol — who opened the meeting with a critique of the recent Sweat-Free protests — was concerned about the cost of the program and the benchmarks that would be used to evaluate its success.

“There is no data because this is a novel service,” Avula replied. “Quite frankly, the idea has received overwhelmingly positive support.”

Deputy Chair Eugene Nho ‘10 echoed Avula and said he hoped the program would boost the Senate’s image and credibility among students.

“Students will think, wow, the ASSU is actually doing something for us,” Nho said.

The Senate eventually approved the program. Benchimol was the only dissenting vote.