At its Wednesday meeting, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) met with Judicial Board (J-Board) representatives, and approved funding for a bus trip to the upcoming men's hockey game at Colby in addition to two other proposals.
According to J-Board Advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Laura Lee and J-Board Chair Sarah Richards '10, nine academic and five social cases were presented before the J-Board during the last academic year.
Richards said that the J-Board's annual report was made electronically this year for the first time, and all students received a link to view the report via e-mail.
"We decided not to print [the report] this year because we thought it would be a waste of paper," she said.
Richards also said that the report was the first in which the J-Board provided a breakdown of the 14 cases, a change that came from a discussion with BSG and internal discussion within the board.
Lee opened the floor for questions about J-Board, adding that, "We obviously can't talk about the details of specific cases."
Class of 2013 BSG Representative Leah Greenberg '13 asked about the selection process to the J-Board.
Richards explained that there is a written application, an individual interview and a group interview. She added that the pool of students "we're encouraging to apply is representative of the student body as a whole."
"Having the Judicial Board on campus is a positive thing because it allows the accused's case to receive proper consideration," wrote At-Large Representative and Operations Director Jordan Francke '13 in an e-mail to the Orient.
"Having peers on the board might seem a little intimidating and the students themselves might appear elitist and above the other students on campus," wrote Francke. "In reality, though, the board can see things from the student's perspective a lot more clearly when actual students are on the board."
At-Large Representative Kata Solow '10 asked whether the J-Board looked to precedents in making their decisions for cases.
"Precedent is very important; it's something we look at for every case," answered Richards. "We've accessed precedents going back to the 90s."
"If we were to depart from the precedent, it's important we have a really strong, well-articulated justification for why we depart from the precedence," she added.
BSG President Mike Dooley '10 wanted to know about the way the J-Board talked to the first years this year.
"I remember matriculation, it was so intimidating," Richards said. "It was a mechanical intimidating institution."
"That's the wrong first impression to give to first years," said Richards. "It should be special because your peers are making the decisions—it's the person sitting next you in class making the decision so it doesn't come from on-high."
Following the J-Board presentation, BSG turned to three proposals on its agenda.
BSG approved $550 in funding for a bus to Colby on Friday, December 11 to support the men's hockey team. Bus and game tickets can be acquired on a first-come, first-serve basis.
BSG also allocated $550 to a Health Services event, scheduled for one day of reading period, during which three massage therapists will be hired to work with students, offering head, neck and shoulder massages for three to four hours.
BSG approved the proposal to follow-up on the Entertainment Board (E-board) discussion in the spring semester. Specifically, the proposal asked the E-Board Representative to make a presentation to BSG. That meeting will be held on February 3.
Dooley closed the meeting with final thoughts, noting that the BSG newsletter would be distributed on Thursday in student mailboxes, along with 20 percent coupons to the bookstore that BSG approved earlier in the year.
BSG Vice President Anirudh Sreekrishnan '12 announced that BSG made enough money from the dodge ball tournament fundraiser to adopt a polar bear family.