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The Chronicle T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2016
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 92
Community ‘We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard’ DSG faces attendance, voting inconsistencies celebrates unionization Rachel Chason and Sarah Kerman The Chronicle Faculty, students and Durham community members gathered Monday evening to celebrate faculty unionization. Approximately 80 people gathered at the Chapel for a victory rally following the announcement Friday that a majority of adjunct faculty voted for representation by the Service Employees International Union. Of the 203 ballots cast in the election, 174 (85.7 percent) were cast in favor of unionization and 29 against union representation. “People who are vulnerable are never in a good position to advocate for themselves,” said MJ Sharp, an instructor in the Center for Documentary Studies, who spoke at the rally. “This is a profound opportunity for structural change. We want a University— and we voted for a University—where our colleagues teaching positions are just as important to us as our own.” The unionization effort was led by Duke Teaching First, an organization of non-tenure track or contingent faculty. After the results are certified, the SEIU will represent approximately 300 nonregular rank, non-tenure track faculty in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Documentary Studies and the Graduate School. See UNION RALLY on Page 12
Ian Jaffe | The Chronicle Lecturing Fellow Matteo Gilebbi was among the speakers who expressed excitement for the new faculty union.
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Graphic by Dottie Kontopoulos | The Chronicle
Likhitha Butchireddygari The Chronicle Duke Student Government’s public records contain inconsistencies in senate attendance and voting records and show a lack of enforcement of attendance policies. According to the records, as of 7 p.m. Monday, 24 of the 57 senators currently have or have had an attendance violation, defined as two or more unexcused absences. Twelve senators have had three or more unexcused absences, which is constitutional grounds for removal, and the remaining 12 have had two unexcused absences at some point during the year—which can be considered being in bad standing and entails a loss of voting privileges, according to DSG’s house rules. Senators with two or more unexcused absences can be referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for nominating justices to the DSG Judiciary and reviewing allegations of senator misconduct, before they can be considered in bad standing or removed by the Senate. In light of attendance issues and issues caused by senators leaving meetings early, at its March 6 meeting, the executive board discussed removing those with three or more unexcused absences, capping the number of allowed excused absences—12 senators have at least three excused absences and one has eight excused absences—and taking roll at the
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beginning and end of meetings to account for senators who leave early. “We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” said DSG President Keizra Mecklai, a senior, at the meeting. Senators respond The Chronicle contacted several senators who have been in bad standing about their potential removal. However, many replied that their attendance record was incorrect. DSG’s attendance records have been updated several times recently to change the number of senators who have missed enough meetings for removal or could be considered in bad standing. According to the DSG house rules, to be excused for a full absence or leave a meeting early, a senator must email Guarco before the meeting with an excuse. Many of the senators who contested their record said that they had sent emails to Guarco about their absence and that their absences were reported incorrectly as unexcused. “People have emailed John [Guarco], but the record hasn’t been kept adequately,” said junior Tanner Lockhead, vice president for Durham and regional affairs. Freshman Stuart Ki, senator for Durham and regional affairs, also noted that his attendance record was incorrect. On March 6, the attendance record showed Ki with three unexcused absences. After The Chronicle contacted Ki, the record was changed to two unexcused absences.
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“It was just a miscommunication,” Ki wrote in an email. “I believe it was in the beginning of the semester, when there were a lot of transitions and everything was starting up. EVP Guarco has a lot going on managing the Senate, and I don’t blame him.” One of the senators who would have been considered in bad standing, freshman Ian Chang, wrote in an email that he resigned Feb. 21. However, the current attendance and voting record marks him as attending the Feb. 24 senate meeting and voting during a roll-call vote. “I am not sure why I am marked as present and voting for the [Feb. 24] meeting,” Chang wrote in an email. “There is another Senator Chang, which may have caused confusion.” The other Senator Chang, freshman Jason Chang, was also marked present and voting for the Feb. 24 meeting. Ian Chang was removed from the attendance record during Spring Break. Guarco noted in an email that the discrepancy was due to a switch in executive secretaries, who are responsible for keeping track of the attendance and voting records, which happened at the beginning of the semester. The two executive secretaries are freshmen Victoria Wong and Carolyn Sun, a graphic designer for The Chronicle. When asked about inconsistencies in the See DSG ATTENDANCE on Page 4
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