Officer go-round at Chico State

Student leaders and faculty senators shifted seats amongst themselves this week, as the end of the school year signaled new governmental officers at the university.

Leonard Fisk, a computer science professor, was elected 2003-04 chair of the Academic Senate on May 13 after a short campaign speech in which he called for the faculty body to be less reactive and “more activist” in seeking out issues in which to become involved. “We don’t want to be surprised,” he said, with the administration springing things on the senate when it could have had a voice early on.

Fisk triumphed over Marc Siegall. (Fisk himself ran for chair last year and lost.) Sam Edelman was elected vice chair, and Celeste Jones is secretary.

Before the vote, Fisk took issue with the “unfortunate” and “inappropriate” change in nomination deadlines that led to a just-elected senator being ineligible for the officer race. “We need to live with it for now,” said 2002-03 Chair Jim Postma, who at the meeting was presented with a gavel in appreciation for his service.

The Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) meeting, also on the 13th, was the more emotional of the two, with both joking and tears as 2002-03 officers yielded their chairs to the newly elected student leaders. The new executive vice president, Adam Dondro, who will lead the GAC meetings, was presented with a “survival kit” with contents ranging from breath mints to a Bugs Bunny tie.

Several noted the GAC’s year went smoothly and the varied personalities melded into a tight-knit group.

Outgoing A.S. President Jimmy Reed left the group with a not-so-subtle bit of advice: “Don’t kiss ass, kick ass next year.”

As an aside, new President Michael Dailey, going over the A.S. investment report, pointed out the poor performance of the market. “We are not what I like to call ‘dominating,'” he said, adding a soon-regretted dig at the expensive computerized information system forced upon the school by the CSU Chancellor’s Office: “If we invest in CMS we might be OK.”

On next year’s agenda for both bodies: money troubles that Chancellor Charles Reed recently called "the mother of all budget deficits" that could drag on for two years.