Shaun Smith was named president of the student body for the 52nd administration on Tuesday after the elections took an unexpected turn. His competitor Elisha Diaz dropped out of the race before a runoff, clearing the way for Smith. In this latest episode, CoogTV student-news program @UH interviews Smith in studio. Later, they offer a few suggestions for Spring Break plans, including on-campus activities and events in Austin for South by Southwest.
Whether it was premeditated or not I think what Tanzeem did was unethical. While I support Shaun being President I think Tanzeem should step down or be forced to. It’s disappotining to see what appears to be SGA and the school letting Tanzeem’s actions be overlooked.
Alternatively, Shaun could ask him to resign. If he doesn’t it makes me question Shaun’s values also.
I completely agree. I’m also surprised to see how the campus is turning a blind eye to Tanzeem’s actions.
I really think if the administration wants to show any shred of ethics, Tanzeem needs to step down. He clearly broke university policies, and I don’t see how someone like him would be anything more than a distraction.
I’m a little confused – what was done that was unethical?
Once again RedVolution has frauded their way through another election. This would happen to be about the 4th election in a row. No one talks about how the SGA covered up the fact that Sam Perez (3rd place candidate) filed a complaint against the Redvolution Party after Elisha Diaz conceded to now go into a runoff against Redvolution. The Attorney General (Redvolution Appointed) and the Election Commissioner both denied the appeal. The Election Commission Rules state
Section V.E.1 – A candidate running for campus-wide office (President and Vice President or an At-large Senate seat) must receive a majority (50%+1 vote) of the votes cast to be seated.
Section V. E. 3 – If a candidate is disqualified after the ballot is finalized any vote cast for that candidate will be still tallied in the total votes used to determine the percentage majority.
Clearly Shaun Smith did not get 50% +1 majority vote (he received 49.5%), therefore he should not be seated. Second since Elisha Diaz conceded (disqualified) his votes still go toward the general election so therefore a runoff still must be held yet the Redvolution cabinet covered this up with their own Attorney General. The Daily Cougar was too aware of this claim and did not report on this as well. Sounds like the good ol’ boy network to me.
The Election Commissioner responsibilities
Section II.B.4 ii. Remain impartial to any candidates or parties participating in the election.
I believe our election commissioner was not being impartial in his decision to agree to appeal the decision to go into a runoff the Perez/Selvidge and gave Redvolution the victory. Corruption is evident in UH SGA. It is Disgusting!
As someone who was in SGA 10 years ago and doesn’t have a stake in this race, I have to say that your logic is pretty thin. Conceding is not the same thing as being disqualified. Therefore a complaint on that basis would rightfully be denied.
The logic is more thick than you can ever portray. If a person conceded they then disqualified themselves from the race. If you read the election commission rules and regulations it does not have terminology in it to refer to a concession, therefore it goes under the verbage of disqualification because that is exactly what it is- a disqualification. If it is not then why wasn’t there a runoff??? So to correct your thin statement, No it was not rightfully denied!
Disqualification indicates that someone who was once qualified to run for office is no longer qualified. That’s distinctly different from quitting.
Thank you for just agreeing to my previous statement. If you were in the race and you concede then you are no longer qualified to run for office. There is no terminology in the constitution and quitting, it is disqualification. Thanks for agreeing, we appreciate you Mr. Warren. 🙂
I seem to recall reading comprehension being stronger among UH students when I was there.