Editorial
Has Anything Changed?

This week’s alterations to ASUC Senate Bill 51 are relatively minor; taking money to pay Student Action Executive candidate’s legal fees from the ASUC Auxiliaries Office instead of the legal defense fund is still robbing Peter to pay Paul. But one thing’s for sure: It shows the current administration’s tendency to fight this battle on duplicitous terms.

Moving the burden from one fund to another doesn’t change the fact that student fees will still be ultimately siphoned off to pay for the legal bill incurred over the summer by Student Action executive candidates—attempts to characterize it otherwise are distractions.

To listen to advocates of SB 51 at Wednesday night’s senate meeting, one would think that this maneuver is not only in the best interests of UC Berkeley students, but that the switch resolves the reimbursement issue. But the problems with the issue go much deeper than a funding source technicality.

The campus response, embodied in the increasingly popular Facebook group “Oren Gabriel Should Pay His Own Legal Fees,” comes from anger over Student Action’s arrogance: The candidates filed a lawsuit, knowing the money would have to come from somewhere, before exhausting the internal appeals process.

By claiming that outside council was necessary to keep the Judicial Council from violating the ASUC constitution, the executive candidates are subverting the original intent of the checks and balances established in the bylaws.

Student Action is correct that a judgment against them in this summer’s appeal would have constituted double jeopardy, but it makes one wonder why the executive candidates would choose now, as opposed to, say, last spring’s chalking period, to follow the letter of the law.

No matter what we say, Student Action did win an electoral majority, a strong one. But if they are so engaged in protecting democracy, then there is an obvious solution: put SB 51 to a student referendum. Let’s see what students really want.

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