The Student Assembly (S.A.) responded to the recent controversy surrounding Napster at yesterday’s meeting, pressing Cornell officials to keep access to Napster open on the University server. They also introduced the candidates for the Fall 2000 Assembly elections and considered housing measures.
S.A. members voted to request that President Hunter Rawlings III “take no further action on the proposed access ban of Napster on Cornell’s server.”
The assembly passed this resolution as a response to a letter the University recently received from attorneys for recording artists Metallica and Dr. Dre. The attorneys sent their letter to 20 universities all over the country and have requested that, by Sept. 22, the University make a decision regarding Napster access.
“All this requests is that the president [Rawlings] not take a stance on this issue until the courts decide,” said assembly member Derrick Zandpour ’02.
The S.A. passed the resolution almost unanimously, 14 to 1 to 1. “This resolution clearly states that President Rawlings should remember the students and forget about Dre,” said S.A. representative Mike Brown ’02.
The Assembly then focused on issues affecting freshmen, discussing a resolution concerning University housing for new students.
“I’m especially concerned because students are living in lounges,” said assembly representative Mark Greenbaum ’02.
“They’re not getting their full freshman experience,” added S.A. member Lisa Adelman ’02.
If passed, the Student Assembly will hold a public hearing to “investigate this matter…to address the comments, questions and concerns of the student body.”
“We should at least have a discussion as to why this occurs year after year,” said S.A. representative Michael Bronstein ’02.
The S.A. focused on freshmen earlier in the meeting as well, announcing the names of the 24 fresh-faced first year students vying for four New Student At-Large Representative positions.
“Thank you for completing the time-consuming process of becoming a candidate. … Good luck,” said S.A. President Uzo Asonye ’01.
Archived article by Maggie Frank