 "Photo: Thien Sok")
Members of the Academic Senate spent much of Monday’s meeting playing catch-up.
Complying with the feds
Two measures bringing the U into compliance with federal law were passed. One would create an interim rule for reporting statistics and policies concerning sexual assault cases to bring the U up to date with the federal Clery Act, which requires universities to report such information. The other rule would require the university to notify students of penalties and procedures related to peer-to-peer file sharing, which is required by a provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Complaints generated by the recording industry arrive at the U by the dozens every week, and the policy passed Monday was meant to clarify policies regarding the use of U networks to download copyrighted material.
Senators engaged in a lengthy debate about the subject, including whether regulation of U networks would interfere with the legal transfer of media files associated with course work and whether the new rules unfairly shift the burden of proof to students when the industry alleges illegal behavior.
Media council moves forward
The senate also approved sweeping changes to the structure of student media. The new Student Media Council would combine the Publication and Broadcast councils, which oversee all student publications and KUTE.
The measure narrowly passed after senators voiced concerns about ambiguous language concerning censorship of student media. The proposal said student media “shall be free of illegal censorship,” prompting several senators to question the meaning of the word “illegal,” and the existence of forms of “legal censorship.”
ASUU matters
Associated Students of the University of Utah President Tayler Clough spoke about changes to student election rules that would reduce the cap on spending from $10,000 to $6,500 by limiting the use of posters and banners on campus and establishing new restrictions on the amount of time candidates can spend campaigning.
“We are trying to focus student campaigns on issues rather than hot dogs,” Clough said.
He also addressed the student mentoring program, which would pay U students to help local high school students fill out college applications. The proposal encountered several questions in ASUU Assembly and Senate debate and would be revised for clarity, Clough said.
“It’s pretty vague, the proposal we have right now,” he said.
A set of new policies governing financial reporting and resource management, referred to as internal controls, were also passed Monday with the goal of reducing mistakes, fraud and incompetence in the reporting.
