A motion to impeach Student Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 failed to reach the floor last night because the majority of the voting Assembly did not think there were enough reasons to discuss Artzer's removal.
A crowd of more than 100 who filled the lecture hall in 2 Rockefeller Center greeted Artzer's saved presidency with a solid minute of resounding applause.
"I'm terribly pleased about the outcome, of course, and I think that with the majority of students behind me, as I have suspected because of their hard work, we can start up on the things that we're supposed to do - which is get to implement things that we're working on for students," Artzer said.
"I look forward to having this behind us. I'm really happy with the outcome," she said.
The motion, introduced by Jeff Bell '96, was rejected for discussion when 20 Assembly members voted to dismiss and three abstained. Nineteen Assembly members, including most of the seven Executive Committee members who called for Artzer's resignation in a public statement Monday, voted in favor of discussing her removal.
Kenji Sugahara '95, who waivered back and forth Monday night on his decision to sign the letter, voted not to discuss the impeachment motion tonight.
Sugahara said he took an informal poll of his constituency yesterday afternoon, and found more than 50 percent supported Artzer. For that reason, Sugahara said he had to represent the students he serves, despite his own opinion.
According to the Student Assembly's Rules of Order, all new motions that are not on the agenda and are introduced during a general meeting need three-fifths of the Assembly vote to allow for discussion.
If a motion receives enough votes - in this case, Bell's motion needed 26 votes - the motion is then open to the general Assembly for discussion. To pass the motion after discussion, a majority of votes is needed, except for impeachment motions, which need two-thirds of the Assembly's votes.
At the start of last night's meeting, Assembly Vice-president Steve Costalas '94 motioned the meeting be moderated by a neutral chair. Costalas nominated Tim Rodenberger '95, president of the 1995 Class Council. Rodenberger's nomination was confirmed by the rest of the Assembly.
"The circumstances surrounding the meeting make myself uncomfortable without a neutral chair," said Costalas, who under normal circumstances would chair the meeting himself.
Soon after the impeachment motion failed, Costalas called for a motion of confidence in Artzer, which he later withdrew.
Following the withdrawal of this motion he proceeded to call on the Assembly to support Artzer.
"For the student government to continue to function we need to put this week behind us," Costalas said. "I hope the entire Executive Committee will do so. I hope the General Assembly will do so."
Costalas's short speech to the Assembly was met with applause by the Assembly. But much of the earlier crowd who left soon after the impeachment vote failed did not hear Costalas's statement.
Another motion that was not on the agenda was also introduced at last night's meeting. The motion, sponsored by Dave Robinson '96, asked that $1,000 be given to fund any needs of the boycott committee in order to make effective the Assembly-sponsored boycott of Dartmouth Dining Services scheduled for one week from today.
The Assembly voted 27 in favor of the motion, 14 against with one abstention.
At first Robinson's motion was not discussed because members thought motions required a two-thirds vote in order to be discussed.
But Rodenberger pointed out that it actually takes a three-fifths vote to bring the motion under discussion according to the Assembly's Rule of Order, copies of which were distributed at the start of last night's meeting.
Before taking a second vote of the motion, Robinson was questioned on the amount requested.
"Well $500 is not enough and $1500 is too much," Robinson said. "The idea is to give the Executive Committee some power and contingency in case it comes up with a brilliant idea."
Mark Waterstraat '94, one of the Assembly members in charge of the boycott, said the money was unnecessary.
"The boycott committee is not planning to spend any more money except on communications," Waterstraat said. The motion to discuss the matter failed twice.
There was dissent among committee members about whether the boycott was the best path to take.
"There is no way with one week's notice that we'll be able to mobilize the entire college," Tyrone Thomas '94, the communication co-chair, said. "This thing is going to fail miserably.
Based on a meeting he had with Treasurer Lyn Hutton and Director of dining Services Pete Napolitano earlier this week, Thomas said he believed neither himself, the Executive Committee, the Student Assembly nor the student body at large had enough knowledge to make an informed decision.
But Waterstraat said no matter how people feel about the boycott now, the Assembly's boycott still needs to be supported because the motion was passed last week.
