SAC liaison resigns
There are eight liaisons on the SAC Executive Board, each representing one of the following categories of SAC groups: Cultural, Performing Arts, Political Action, Publications, Recreation & Hobbies, Religious, Special Interests and Sports. The Special Interest category is composed of groups such as Circle K, Habitat for Humanity, JHU Pugwash and the Public Health Students Forum.
Deb said that his main role as the Special Interest Liaison was "being part of the Board and making decisions about budgets. Each liaison takes in proposals from each of their groups. I took in proposals from all the Special Interest groups."
Student Council Treasurer and SAC Chairman Noel de Santos said that the Special Interest liaison "looks after all the Special Interest groups. All proposals have to be passed through the liaison first to make sure that all the kinks can be ironed out by that liaison. The liaisons are there to make sure that all the groups are in line and to make sure that none of the groups have problems."
De Santos said that there are certain qualities that the liasons require. "Our liaisons tend to be people who come from positions of experience. They are really a source of experience and knowledge that the groups can go to easily and ask questions. Also, it is broken down into categories so that each liaison is able to specialize and better explain the needs, financial and otherwise, of the groups in the categories," said de Santos.
When asked about the reasons for his resignation, Deb felt that it was in his best interests to resign. He said, "I didn't appreciate being part of the Board. I didn't think I was getting anything out of it."
De Santos also commented on the need to have the elections immediately following Deb's resignation. "We follow the same protocol that we do for when we have the liaison elections in the end of the year. Unfortunately, because the timing of Arka's resignation was so close to a GA, we had to rush things a little bit more than I would like...But to be fair to the Special Interest category so that- they have someone there that is answerable to them and looking out for them, we felt it would be in the best interests of the group to have the elections as soon as possible. Arka was unwilling to stay on until next month's GA" so the elections were held this month.
Addressing his sudden departure, Deb said, "Unfortunately, I was going back and forth on this- I should have resigned early in January so we could've taken nominations earlier."
De Santos felt that it would hurt the functioning of the GA to go without a Special Interest Liason until next month's GA meeting. "I thought that not having a liaison for a whole month is detrimental, especially in the spring semester when activity and programming increases dramatically," he said.
Although any member of the GA can run for the position as a liaison, Seibert ran uncontested. However, both Deb and de Santos predict that the change will not cause any disruption for the SAC Executive Board. Deb said, "He [Seibert] has been at the Executive Board meetings all year long. He's been very involved. He's put in a lot of great input- I think he is motivated enough to do this for the rest of the year."
De Santos spoke on Seibert's behalf. "Because he is already well versed in SAC policy, funding, and otherwise, I think he will be a fantastic liaison for them because he knows all the procedures already. I don't think the Special Interest category will be affected detrimentally in any way," said de Santos.
Deb will continue to be involved in SAC as the president of Habitat for Humanity. He said, "All the presidents and treasurers of groups have to be involved- but I don't think I'll make an effort to make any structural changes in SAC."
Elections for the eight liaisons are usually held in April. During that month, the first GA takes place on the first Monday of the month and nominations are made. A second GA takes place on the third Monday of the month.