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Minutes from 8/21/03
This summer, in between slaving away in Park Hall and general
goofing off, I stopped by the hall for a little relief from
the heat. As I walked down from the Arch, I found that my way
was blocked by a tour for new students. Now, while I am very
grateful that our beautiful hall is one of the first things
potential freshmen see on their way through campus, I was bit
put off upon hearing the story told in front of the hall about
the nature of our rivalry with the illiterates across. I’m sure
many of you took the tour when you were first considering this
institute of higher learning, and you were all fed the same
malarkey about the Brick Heap not having any windows because
we shot them all out. While I am sure that shooting Fort Poetry
over there would be fun, that’s not what happened. They have
no windows because they have bad taste and chose an ugly architectural
style. Maybe they were hoping to imitate other cults of obscurity,
like the Masons, or the Shriners, only without the cool cars
or fez. Yet another failing on their part.
No, when I describe our rivalry, I like to refer to us as
Gryffindor and Slytherin. Like the snakes they are, they have
to resort to dirty tricks to try to beat us, and yet they still
fail. As we saw in last year’s intersociety debate. So, to all
our guests, when you’re telling your friends where you spent
your Thursday night, remember that the rivalry is as simple
as this: We are a Debate Society that is Literate, They are
a Literary Society that is Debatable.
This has been a public service announcement, I hope you had
fun.
And now the Minutes from Thursday, the 21st of August, 2003.
Mr. Addison got us started on a civic minded note with “Be
it resolved, Rape Shield Laws should not be universally
enforced.”
Next was Ms. Hines who, though she agreed with Mr. Addison,
whished to point out that Rape Shield laws did not rule out
all information about the victim as he suggested.
Mr. Lewis rose in support of the resolution stating that juries
are the bedrock of our legal system and need to be presented
with all the information available.
Ms. Parker corrected Mr. Addison by mentioning that Rape Shield
laws are not universally enforced, and in fact many states do
not have them.
Ms. Prabhakar was against the resolution because society’s
view of female sexuality being as cloistered as it is Rape is
a fundamentally different crime and should be treated as such
in court.
Mr. Miller pointed out that we have an adversarial system of
justice and that social taboos are not what’s on trial, so rape
is no different from any other violent crime.
Ms. Bell said that you are not innocent until proven guilty
in the court of public opinion and your peers can punish you
worse than the government can. An open trial can be as traumatic
as the rape itself, so we need the special laws.
The Question was called and the resolution failed 5/15 and
3/8 for the guest vote.
Next, Mr. Smith showed us just how much fun politics could
be with “BiR, There should be no recall
in the state of California.”
Mr. Miller was pro-Terminator and pointed out that Arnold does
have a degree in Economics.
Ms. Steinberg said that the state has failed the people, and
so they must protect their interests by electing a new representative.
Mr. Cole said that the constitution of CA gives the people
the right to boot losers out of office and they are just exercising
their right.
Mr. Moulds countered that it is the constitution itself that
it causing all the problems and that they might as well keep
their governor since replacing him will make no difference.
Mr. Lewis, in true Todd Lewis fashion, said that the problem
with California is the Liberals and that CA is in such financial
trouble because of all the liberal gov. programs they are supporting.
The Question was mercifully called and the resolution failed
9/11 with Ms. Ballou gracefully abstaining. It also failed 0/2
in the alumni vote and 0/7 in the guest vote.
Next rose Mr. Cole with “BiR: The 16th
amendment should be repealed and the Fair Tax Plan proposed
by John Linder be adopted.”
Mr. Gallagher was so excited by this resolution that he forgot
to keep time. Fortunately for the office of Vice President,
he was next to speak, stating that he was “for-ish” the resolution
and that the money not being taxed would be spent on capital
improvement and go straight into the economy. Who understands
these Economics majors anyway?
In a show of Economics solidarity, Mr. Lewis rose next to point
out that this plan is all about rich people being cheap bastards.
The poor pay most of the taxes anyway and this would make them
pay more.
As we were now out of vehement Economists, the question was
called and the resolution failed 3/1 and 1/7 in the guest vote,
but passed 2/1 in the Alumni vote.
Mr. Trivedi then enlightened us on his worthy presidential
goals for this next semester with a very neat handout. We held
a special election for the office of Historian, since Mr. Gross
was forced to return to Savannah this semester and could not
fulfill his office. But there was a bit of a mess up on my part
and the election was postponed until tonight.
In other notes, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Findling announced their
intention to become Mr. and Mrs. Mary Ellen, which we all knew
was going to happen, but it was still surprising that she gave
in so fast. I would have made him beg. Congratulations to you
both, I know your dog will be happy. The meeting was wrapped
up with a detailed critic’s report courtesy of Ms. Parker and
we adjourned to Little Italy for fun and food.
Here Endeth the Minutes, thank you for listening,
Sincerely, etc.
Rachel Aaron
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University of Georgia 