Is it a bird? A plane? A banana?
The meeting was called to order and began with UGA Hillel proposing that we begin some sort of debate series with them. Ms. Pearl announced that Dues are in fact, still due.
In old business Mr. Ballard's resolution re-newing the tournament committee passed twenty-eight to nothing and we moved to new business.
Ms. Keyes-Blumer pointed out that Developing democracies are usually unstable as all get out, and that if we don't fund building Palestine someone else will, namely Iran. Unfortunately she failed to present her resolution, making her the first person to fail to present a resolution that was specifically on the middle east since Ralph Reed. Clearly, the torch has been passed.
Mr. Addison then presented
BIR, The University of Georgia should ban all Greek organizations from campus. RS, Matt Addison.
Although they present themselves as helping to build you into a better person, they often harm the morals of their members and in fact sometimes distribute illegal goods such as booze.
Mr. Dowell then killed the resolution as written by suggesting that Academic Service Fraternities do not fit the paradigm that Mr. Addison brought up, I assume he killed it because the resolution was immediately amended to read “The University of Georgia should ban all general and social Greek organizations from campus.”
Ms. Keyes-Bloomer then rose to say that Fraternities, regardless of stripe, are a good way for minorities to become involved on campus and are an excellent way of improving diversity. Also banning them would have no effect on the behavior cited.
Ms. Koval rose to point out that these organizations are all about self-selection.
Mr. Misztal rose to oppose because he felt they bring back values we are losing that are good, even though those same organizations have socially unacceptable standards for membership.
Mr. Moulds supported the resolution and mentioned some stories about hazing in business fraternities with no Greek letters. He pointed out that when students can pool a lot of money to do wacky and illegal things they are more likely to do them. Since they do nothing educational they can easily just go off campus anyhow.
Mr. Williamson supported the resolution because the Greeks have too much power on campus.
Mr. Hansen made an analogy to cow tuberculosis control with respect to golphers. Should we ban greeks we will find that their distasteful qualities will spread, killing us all.
Mr. Theiss said that these organizations are not all sex, drugs and rock and roll. I think he actually meant sex, drugs, and Keney-Chesney. Either way, what they are about is building social connections after moving away from home. If Lewis Fish had stayed at the party, someone probably would have taken care of him.
Mr. D. Weiss said that bad things can go down at frats, but the answer is reform, not abolition. People joining fraternities are not branching out of their comfort zone.
Mr. Pearl rose to point out that single family neighborhoods are opposed to fraternities moving in, and he thought their reasons were good.
A Guest rose to say that creating social cliques that are familiar to you is natural, and therefore this resolution does nothing.
Ms. Prabahkar seconded that the point of Greek orgs is to make social connections, and fraternities don't force you to join them.
The question was called and failed five to eleven among members and failed zero to four among guests.
Mr. Steinberg then rose to draw a comparison between the Harvard/Yale rivalry and people coming to UGA Games. He presented,
BIR, sports are the most unifying factor at American Universities.
Mr. Addison then rose to say that at UGA football dominates everything whether you like it or not. Thereby, it's a defining part of everyones life at UGA.
Ms. Prabahkar opposed the resolution because American University is not clearly defined. Some don't have teams, and leaving ampus to get away does not constitute a unifying factor.
Ms. Hershman then rose to point out her friends going to art colleges do not have sports teams. There, art is the unifying factor. Some people disputed whether they were universities.
Somebody noted that we ought to figure out what the heck they are, so concidentally a University is an institution offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees in at least two subjects, regardless of how related those subjects might be. So Pratt and UGA would be universities, whereas West point and Amherst would not be. The jury is still out on Playah U.
Mr. Richards said that sports in general are important, but the emphasis is not really warranted.
A Guest rose to say that it's not the sport but the culture around it, which in our case is a culture of alcohol.
Ms. Crawford supported the resolution but disputed similarities between Yale, Harvard, and UGA. Ivies do not have sports scholarships.
Mr. Moulds supported the resolution since they recruit some people to this university, they create name recognition, and they bring alumni back; they certainly aren't returning to drink.
A Guest then rose to say that drugs generally could be considered a unifying factor.
Mr. Ballard then said there isn't really one thing that trumps all in terms of unification, except perhaps the actual reason for our coming here: to get an education.
Mr. Pearl then rose to say we experience a variety of viewpoints, but everyone probably feels the same way about the Tate preacher. He was then shot down by Mr. Miller, who apparently likes him.
The question was called and failed two to twelve among members and zero to one among guests.
It was noted that the resolution unified us against it.
Mr. Williamson then rose to present
BIR: The United States congress should mandate that judges give similar sentences to offenders convicted of similar offenses. Respectfully, J. Matthew Williamson.
After all, equality is important, and it is theoretically likely that uniform punishments do not fall under the constitution. Resolving the question could improve US legitimacy.
Mr. Misztal rose to say that flexability is an important thing; no two crimes are absolutely alike.
Mr. Moulds supported the resolution because equality is a fundamental value, and because the point of the Criminal Justice system is retribution, not rehabilitation.
Ms. Servidio brought up the fact that expecting different people to impartially administer guidelines equally in all cases is unrealistic.
Ms. Wilkinson said that changing to one across the board sentence will show us just how bad some sentences are, especially the death penalty.
Mr. Hansen made a utilitarian appeal saying that Justice is what is best for every party, and that if we look at Justice as utility we will realize that we need an impartial spectator to determine what is Just.
Mr. Pearl said that there is a big difference in sentences based on motive. All that matters is that we remove people from society to the extent that this protects society.
A Guest rose to say that Justice ought to be nothing more than a tool of the state, and that we ought to execute everyone who breaks the law, thus ending this arbitrary lottery of Justice.
The question was called and failed two to twelve among members and failed zero to three among guests.
Mr. Theiss then presented
BIR, The DLS should adjourn to Gumby's after Thursday meetings. RS. JHT.
He said it's better to force people to carpool, plus Gumby's takes credit cards and it's closer to where newer members live.
Mr. Misztal said that people are going to eat wherever they want, and that we traditionally switch establishments when they get too seedy. It's too much of a pain to leave things in the hall if we went to Gumby's plus we'd have to sit outside since that's the only place with enough space.
Mr. Miller said that if we're hungry we should eat before coming He also said that we could fix the seating problem by simply letting fewer people into the society.
Ms. Pearl said that Geographic conditions are not the most vital element in a place to eat.
Mr. Steinberg said that he enjoys both company and debate, but that gas is expensive and he doesn't want to drive places.
Ms. Wilkinson asked if there was really any pizza place that didn't have a meth lab, and if we don't go to Little Italy, who will?
Mr. Dowell prefers Little Italy because there are ocassions when he'd like to go to a bar downtown after the meeting.
The question failed four to seven among members and nothing to nothing among guests.
It was noted that Ms. Pearl Abstained. We were then adjourned subject to Mr. Ballards critics report.
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