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Show Assembly hung up on procedure By DAN STEGGELL Chronicle Staff A lot can happen at a meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) Assembly. Thursday's meeting meet-ing was no exception: At it, a bill outlining the formation of College Councils received unanimous approval. The ASUU budget was once again sent back to the budget steering committee of the assembly. A petition asking for a delay in closure of Penrose Drive was circulated and signed. And after the representatives of the College of Business left the meeting early, a ca!! for quorum was made... Wendy Love of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences made the call. Todd Hayes, assembly chairman, called her "out of order." According to the ASUU Constitution; "There can be no business transacted by members of an assembly as the assembly unless a quorum is present." A constitutional quorum of the Assembly is 33 members. At the time Miss Love made her "call for quorum," there were 32 members including includ-ing Chairman Hayes present according to Harris Vincent, assistant to the Dean of Students, Leonard McGee, Organizations Board member and this writer. Miss Love made another quorum call. Chairman Hayes counted the members present in the room, stated there was a constitutional 33, and proceeded on with the meeting. An "appeal to the decision of the chair" was made by Wendy Love and was defeated defeat-ed by the remaining assembly members. "I'm ruling that there is a quorum," said Mr. Hayes. "1 don't have to say how many members are here." Chairman Hayes told Miss Love that she should recall previous discussion concerning concern-ing "obstructionists" in the assembly and that he would talk to her after the meeting. Pete Dixon, an assembly member, commented com-mented on the quorum call procedure: "This is just a technique of getting around a bad policy. If we don't allow for borderline border-line situations, then everytime someone doesn't want something to pass, they can wal k out of the room. " Last July 1, the ASUU Judiciary ruled that any action taken by the assembly when a constitutional quorum was not present would be ruled "null and void." Pete Dixon is also the sponsor of Assembly bill number 48 which states: "Be it enacted. That the Assembly interpret inter-pret Quorum to signify that once Constitutional Constitu-tional quorum has been established, it shall be considered that a quorum is present throughout the entire meeting until the Chairman rules no quorum to be present, or until his decision ruling that a quorum exists is successfully appealed." |