Organization protests BEC

Four Front is disappointed about the Ali/Robinson disqualification.

By Carolina Astrain

Published Nov. 10, 2006

Four Front members paraded in Brady Commons Wednesday armed with posters to protest the Missouri Students Association's Student Court decision to eliminate presidential and vice presidential candidates Kelley Robinson and Sameera Ali without providing an oral hearing.

The candidates were eliminated because they violated the Board of Elections Commissioners handbook rules and interfered with other slates' campaign material.

Many of the posters placed blame on the BEC. The group of protesters walked through the food court and then trailed out to Speaker's Circle and circled back to Brady Commons.

"Sameera and Kelley are the candidates that mostly represent us and have our interest at heart, and three people are taking that away from us," said Chris Gu, vice president of the Asian American Association. "A handful of fliers do not justify Sameera and Kelley getting kicked out of the election."

After receiving complaints, the Brady Commons manager asked the group to move outside the building. The protesters refused and proclaimed freedom of speech but agreed to conduct their activities in silence.

"On behalf on the union, there's no problem with what they're doing, but if we're going to tell one group to follow the rules, we need to tell others," Student Life Director Mark Lucas said about the protesters. "It's a matter of being consistent."

Lance White, president of Students Advocating the Multicultural Experience, disagreed.

"It's just another way of trying to shut up the minority voice," White said.

Junior Soham Sutaria said he saw the protesters' signs in Brady Food Court.

"Honestly, I didn't think it was done well," he said. "If they really believed in their cause, they would be much more organized. This year, for every fine I think you get one point added to your slate. If the rules specifically said this, they should have considered them before breaking the rules. I guess it's fair for them to be kicked out then."

The protest began at noon and continued until 1:30 p.m. to correlate with a meet-and-greet with the remaining presidential and vice presidential candidates Corey Gibson and Chelsea Johnson and Rachel Anderson and Andrew Cafourek.

"I think any communication of student voice is great," Cafourek said. "I think it's a little misdirected by blaming the other slates. We all agree that there's a problem with the BEC — everybody else here has fines, too."

Gibson agreed that a flaw exists within the BEC's system and said Robinson and Ali's elimination was unfortunate.

"Our check is the court, which follows the MSA bylaws," BEC Chairwoman Michelle Compton said. "Anybody can come write bylaws and is encouraged to do so."

Robinson said Anderson, Gibson and the BEC filed a formal complaint. Robinson said other slates have broken rules that are clearly stated and have not been fined.

"I think this is unfair and violates clearly stated rules," Robinson said. "There are a lot of things going on that don't appear to be fair. And in terms of what we're doing now, Sameera and I are still requesting an oral hearing from the court."

In last year's MSA presidential election, MSA President John Andersen faced a similar situation and was allowed a trial.

"I think its good to see people fired-up about the election," Andersen said. "I don't think it was right for Student Court not to hear Sameera and Kelley in trial. I think it was a mistake. I know I had that opportunity last year when I got fined."

After the protest, members filtered into the Multicultural Center to discuss ways to further project their ideas to the campus. Lucas and Multicultural Affairs Director Pablo Mendoza spoke to the group about reserving a place outside of Brady Commons to conduct its protest for the rest of the week.