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| Future of classes sought by senators |
Jennifer
Brannock
Faculty Senate Beat |
Laura McCarthy | The Appalachian
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If you happen to catch
any 1960s sci-fi flick about the “world of the future,”
you will notice recurring themes such as flying cars, video phones
and written messages transmitted in a matter of seconds. Visions
like these paved the way for e-mail to be “the wave of the
future.”
Two Student Government Association cabinet members
have resigned and been replaced in less than a week.
Tasha K. King, director of public affairs, and
Andy T. Ball, director of state and national affairs, both resigned
last Monday.
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Student Body President
Ryan M. Eller appointed Luke Dyer and Chad C. Oakley to fill the
respective positions last Thursday. The senate still has to approve
the appointments.
“It’s been in the works for a while,
crunch time came last week, and some decisions had to be made, both
on mine and the cabinet’s part,” said Eller, who would
not comment on the specifics of the resignations. “They’re
two isolated incidents, neither cabinet member left on negative
terms.”
“I feel like it’s a good thing, I get
to move forward and still work closely with everyone here,”
said Ball, who was recently appointed vice president of public affairs
for the Association of Student Governments. “I’ll still
be very active in communicating with SGA here and statewide.”
Ball had no comment on the reason for his resignation
but said it was voluntary.
Despite repeated attempts, King could not be
reached for comment at press time.
The resignations were not announced to the senate
at last Tuesday’s SGA meeting, though Ball and King were not
seated with the rest of the cabinet.
“The [resignations] were not because of
any problem they had with us on any type of personal or political
level at all,” said Eller. “These folks are cabinet members
of Ezell and I, bottom line, they’re there to do the work we
need them to do.”
The resignations came as a surprise to Oakley,
the new director of state and national affairs.
“Just my experience with SGA last year,
there were never any rumors going around about somebody leaving,
everybody was set,” said Oakley. “I don’t even remember
reading about [a resignation] in the paper my first two or three
years here.”
Oakley, a senior political science major, served
as a senator last year.
“I went to state and national affairs committee
meetings a lot last year and developed a relationship with Ryan;
I also worked on his campaign,” said Oakley. “The [platform]
goals are something I’m familiar with.”
Dyer, a junior criminal justice major, has not
been in SGA previously, but said his experience as a resident assistant
and public relations work at the Committee for Integrity at Appalachian
(CIA) has prepared him for the position.
“The other cabinet members have helped me
out a lot,” said Dyer. “I still have a lot to learn, but
I’m trying to learn it as fast as I can.”
Both Oakley and Dyer applied for cabinet positions
last year and were elected as off-campus senators this year. They
vacated their seats when appointed to cabinet.
“We’re going to be working over the
next few weeks to build a level of trust with the [new members]
and the rest of the cabinet,” said Eller. “ This has been
a horrible thing for us to deal with. But in the end I think the
students are going to get the most for what they’re paying
for.” |
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