News

Granger picked as SGA senator

By Ray Hafner
Senior Staff Writer

An often outspoken critic of the Student Government Association was added to the roster of senators Wednesday night after the Senate narrowly approved her nomination.

The 6-4 vote allowed Monica Granger to fill the Senate seat vacated by Temitope Ayoola when he resigned over winter break. The Senate had previously blocked by President Dawona Milleris nomination of Granger because of what some senators called an unprofessional way of presenting herself last semester when she criticized the Senate.

"A liability is not something you want to bring on this ship and make it the Titanic," Sen. Katawna Walker said. Walker said she worried that Granger may damage SGAis reputation and burn bridges in the administration. 

Speaker Pro Tempore David Burkley spoke in favor of Granger, saying it was important to include voices that might not always agree with the majority of the Senate.

"We owe it to the students for their Senate to be a diverse one," he said.

Granger, a junior biophysics major, said after the meeting that she did not think she was out of line last semester when she criticized Speaker of the Senate Jeff Hill for barring a senator from speaking. She said her words were misconstrued and that sheid like to put the whole incident behind her.

Granger was sworn into the Senate, as were Oladapo Olaleye and Jordan Nassar, who are also filling vacated seats.

Several senators at the meeting also spoke in response to an article in The Daily Cougar on Wednesday ("Ex-senators blame SGA leadership," News) in which former senators John Poole and April Spreeman-Harter criticized SGA for what they called a lack of leadership.

Burkley said Poole and Spreeman-Harter should not have expected the Senate to prod them along.

"SGA is an organization for leaders, not for those who wish to be led," he said. 

Walker criticized Poole for not keeping the Senate abreast of developments in the residence halls, his constituency.

UH Police Chief Robert Wilson spoke at the meeting and urged the Senate to draft a letter to UHis Vice President for Student Affairs Elwyn Lee in order to ask that a "Walk in the Dark" be held to identify security concerns on campus.

The Senate also passed a bill that would allow students to use their meal plans in Ericis and Barronis at the UH Hilton. This would open up the eating options for on-campus students on the weekends.

 Send comments to dcnews@mail.uh.edu