Senate meeting summary — in part

Tonight we presented before the ASUO (student government) Senate and it went better than we expected. ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz put us at the top of his update for the body and passed around the letter his office prepared earlier and all 18 of the senators present signed. The Senate received us with hearty applause and warm raps on the EMU Board Room table, the highest form of adulation in their repertoire. Dotters-Katz stood alongside us. That, in and of itself, was probably the most remarkable part of the meeting. We’ve printed some negative editorials about Dotters-Katz, but his ability to see what was best for his constituents as ASUO President is laudable and moving. In a way, that is the most gratifying endorsement we have gotten. Dotters-Katz and several senators said flatly: If the third and fourth conditions we have set for the end of our strike are not met, then we are in grave danger of having our substantial contract with the ASUO cut completely. And it’s difficult to see how that wouldn’t be the end of the Emerald. Their basic argument: they pay for an independent student newspaper. If our organization is headed by a University professor, or if someone who is not a student has control over our newsroom, then we are not an independent student newspaper and not fulfilling our contract. Those are the Senate’s words, not ours. I, Alex Tomchak Scott, feel kind of scabby reporting on even part of an ASUO Senate meeting, considering that that is what I am paid by the Emerald to do. But I will assure you that the Senate meeting, still far from over at midnight Wednesday, contained much else that was exciting and crucial. And I won’t report a word until the strike is over.

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