Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Republicans CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 grams and to visit the elections commissioner about Donehue. He also said he would file formal charges at the police station. Donehue said he was angry be cause Shipman, who had partici pated in Donehue’s initial cam paign planning, had announced his presidential candidacy earli er that day at SG President Ankit Patel’s first subpoena hearing. “Last semester, he had asked me if I was going to run for presi dent, and I told him no,” Shipman later said. Shipman had been intimately involved with attacks on Patel, college Republicans Communica-tions Director Adam Piper retracted the statement, however, hours af ter Donehue’s confrontation with Shipman. Piper said his decisions were influenced by events that su perceded his control. The follow ing week, Shipman said, he dropped all charges against Donehue. “We were told to retract the press release and the charges would be dropped,” Donehue said. Robinson said she contacted Shipman to discuss what he planned to do about Donehue. “I called J.D. after the incident was reported, and he told me that he knew about College Republicans’ press release and that I’d better handle The Gamecock and make sure that ar ticle was never printed,” Robinson said. “He furthermore said that his chances of winning the elec tion weren’t looking good and that, to win the student-body elec tion, he would need to prosecute Wesley for verbal assault.” Robinson said Shipman then told her that the entire College Republicans executive board I needed to resign and demanded that College Republicans release a statement endorsing his charac ter and candidacy. She said Shipman later apologized and called his actions “rash.” Shipman offered a different ex planation of his actions. “I agreed to drop the charges regardless of what happened,” he said. “That was a hard decision.” Donehue spoke out against what he called a lack of SG in tegrity in a speech before the College Republicans last Tuesday night. “I think that what happened to me was an example of the non sense and political gibberish that goes on in Student Government, and I’mready to fight that,” said Donehue, who announced the creation of an explorato ry committee for his SG presidential candidacy. Shipman said he is un fazed by the possibility of Donehue s canaiaacy. “If the Elections Commission will let him run and CSJC (Carolina Student Judicial Council) will let him stay in school, I won’t have a problem with it,” he said. Elections commissioner Brooke Vickery said the issue will be on the commission’s agenda when it meets this Sunday. Vickery said that, while no rules directly address Shipman’s situation, candidates must adhere to the Carolinian Creed during the elections process, an agreement that includes a personal-integrity clause. “I want to make sure that I look into it,” Vickery said. “It’s some thing that I’ll talk to the Elections Commission about, but it’s a deci sion that will be made by the group.” v Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail. com uonnue s cam paign planning, Donehue said. Shortly after the subpoena hearing, the College Republicans re leased a state ment denounc ing Shipman’s we were toia to retract the press release and the charges would be dropped.” WESLEY DONEHUE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS MEMBER ON A NEWS RELEASE DENOUNCING LIBERAL ARTS SEN. J.D. SHIPMAN'S ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SG PRESIDENT ANKIT PATEL Judicial council and SG clash over amending constitution BY ROB SEAL THE GAMECOCK Carolina Student Judicial Council and Student Government are butting heads over the role of CSJC in the proposed SG Constitution. CSJC is the group that hears evidence when there is an alleged infraction of the student code of conduct and assigns sanctions if needed. SG President Ankit Patel is at tempting to amend the portion of the SG Constitution that deals with the selection process for members of CSJC. Patel is attempting to get the 1,500 student signatures required to amend the Constitution with out a Student Senate vote. “The reason we sought signa tures from the Student Body is because the Senate, in particular the Rules Committee, refused to bring the Constitution to the floor,” Patel said. Patel’s suggested revision would change the makeup of the Judicial Committee that selects the repre sentatives to hear cases regarding SG Constitutional af- Patel fairs. “In the new proposal we have established a committee of six members,” Patel said. The mem bers would be the Student Body president and vice president, the Residence Hall Association pres ident and vice president, and two members currently serving on CSJC, one of whom must be the chief justice. CSJC President Candi Hauglum said she opposes this proposed amendment. “Two-thirds of the committee he proposes consists of individu als who have little to no idea of what we do in CSJC,” said Hauglum. “The potential results of a group composed largely of uninformed students choosing who can sit on disciplinary cas es are appalling.” In the selection process cur rently in use, candidates apply via a written application, Hauglum says. “They must participate in both a group process where we chal lenge them with various scenar ios relevant to the operations of CSJC and an individual inter view,” said Hauglum. “We re quire that all of our members at tend a certain percentage of these interviews and group processes so that they may make informed decisions on potential Council members.” Both Patel and Hauglum have said that the new constitution needs to address CSJC. “I feel that we need to clarify our selection process in the Student * Government Constitution,” Hauglum said. “But I also feel that there is room for change. Right now the Constitution is very fuzzy on how the process works; some feel that we are following the Constitution, some feel that we aren’t. We need to make our pro cess clear.” Patel said that the current CSJC selection process does not reflect what is in the SG Constitution. “I feel the new Constitution not only sets a better policy, but one that we will be able to fol low,” Patel said. If the petition for the new con stitution does not have 1,500 sig natures, the Constitution \yill have to be ratified through the Student Senate. “There are parts of the pro posed Constitution that I agree with,” Hauglum said. “The pro cedure for how Student Government challenges are han dled is close to what we discussed. and compromised on.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com — I Lottery February 20, 2003 Priority Reservations Lottery 2nd Floor Lobby Russell House February 20, 2003 9:00 A.M. - 1st Ballroom Date 10:00 A.M. - 2nd Ballroom Date For more information, contact the Event Services Office at 777-7127 or stop by Russell House 218 Russell House University Union Priority Reservations Deadlines FaH 2003 Carolina Productions.by February 18, 2003 (See STAF 3.25 Policy at www.sc.edu/polides/staf/staf325.html) Registered Student Organizations.by February 20, 2003 (See STAF 3.25 Policy at www.sc.edu/policies/staf/staf325.html) Other....after February 24, 2003 (See STAF 3.25 Policy at www.sc.edu/policies/staf/staf325.html) NOTE: Academic Space will not be reserved until September 2003 Because of high demand for space in the Russell House a lottery system is used to ensure equal distribution of space to registered student organizations. The highest level of demand is for Ballroom reservations, however, the lottery system will apply to all reservable spaces in the Russell House. APOLLO NIGHT AUDITIONS wanted: Kiki Shepard sandman Sam and a Master of ceremonies if Interested, please come to the Russell House Suite 235 at 6:00pm Feb. 17th and 18th Apollo Night will be held In the Russell House Ballroom Tuesday, Feb 25 2003 S 730pm-930pm www.sa.sc.edu/cp Experience the World Without Leaving Home Carolina's Global Community (formerly known as NAD A) Invites You to an Open House Thursday February 13, 7-9 pm South Quad Lounge • Learn about the community • Enjoy refreshments • Meet follow residents • Live In beautiful South Quad y Prepare for international work experience by immersing yourself in this unique international and cultural environment! » • j ' 1 ' i