By Alex Kurt

Regent Nicholas Truso sent an admonishing letter to President Kevin May before Easter.

The letter criticized the outgoing president for his actions surrounding the student body vote on a constitutional amendment that rearranged several SJS board positions and names.

Specifically, Truso accused May of sidestepping SJS constitutional procedures in presenting the amendment to the student body the morning of the vote.

Truso urged his colleague to “do the right thing” and later explained that he was urging May to recall the amendment.

SJS President Kevin May did not respond to a letter from Regent Nicholas Truso Monday.

“I’m not ready to give a response,” May said. “I haven’t decided if a response is necessary yet.”

“Bill of Rights” presented

Sophomore Erik Anderson presented the senate with his proposed “Student Bill of Rights” Monday.

Anderson said he was seeking endorsement and advice from the senators regarding his bill, which applies specifically to SJU students.

The proposed bill, which Anderson hopes to implement in the J-Book, includes the provision that St. John’s University “respects political and personal expression and will not regulate the personal beliefs of students on or off campus.”

Anderson said that the provision was prompted by an incident on Election Day in November in which he was asked by Life Safety officers to leave the footbridge overpassing I-94, from which he was displaying a Patty Wetterling campaign sign.

“I checked the rules about this, and as far as I can tell it was perfectly legal,” Anderson said. “I’ve actually got Tim Pawlenty’s campaign lawyer on my side on this one.”

The bill also proposes that St. John’s University “gives amnesty to students who are violating University policy but are acting in the interest of the safety of himself or the safety of other people.”

“I’ve talked to a lot of the residential life staff, and they really like that one,” Anderson said.

Constituent response

Activities and Allocations Board Auditor Kurt Sorensen read a letter Monday from a constituent who opposed the elimination of credit-based class registration and housing.

The constituent was alerted to the possibility after reading the April 19 issue of The Record, which reported that SJU was considering elimination of the credit-based system in favor of a randomized process.

Sorensen asked for input as to whether the SJS should discuss the possible policy change. A decision has not yet been made.

Filed under: News, Student Senates by Alex Kurt