A vote will take place for a new cyberbullying policy at Student Association’s next meeting.

Taylor Carr, chair of SA’s Student Life Committee, announced the vote at Monday’s meeting. SA President Neal Casey also said there would be major announcements about MayFest over the next few weeks, but did not release any more information.

Carr met last week with Gerald Martin, director of the Office of Judicial Affairs, to discuss the cyberbullying policy, he said. The policy would have a two-tiered approach: policy change and education, Carr said.

On the policy side, the Office of Judicial Affairs and SA would aim to update the current student Code of Conduct, which contains no mention of cyberbullying, Carr said. The Code of Conduct needs to be brought into the 21st century, as bullying has always been around, but the form it now takes is often online, he said.

From an educational standpoint, Carr stressed the need to educate students to become more active in stopping cyberbullying.

‘What happens is that hundreds of thousands of people are seeing it and are now a passive bystander to cyberbullying,’ he said. ‘What we try to do is educate them, that when you see this cyberbullying, here’s what you can do, here are the steps you can take, here’s the resources that are available.’

Carr and the representatives of the other groups involved do not have any plans for how to implement these ideals of education, he said. Those groups include the Pan-Hellenic Council, SA, Residence Hall Association and Pride Union.

Up to this point, the groups have mainly focused on the necessary policy changes, Carr said. After next week’s meeting, they should begin making plans for educating students about the policy and cyberbullying, he said.

Casey, SA president, expressed his enthusiasm for this policy during the meeting.

‘We’re really excited about what we’re going to be able to deliver with this one,’ he said.

After the meeting, Casey also said he is very happy with the progress SA has made so far in his term. The last piece of legislation the assembly voted on, however, was a minor change to the student activity codes nearly a month ago on March 1.

Despite this apparent lull in proceedings, Casey said he did not see the recent lack of legislation as an issue, but rather as a demonstration of a calculated and prudent approach by SA’s committees.

‘We’re not going to sit here and pass bills just for the sake of passing bills with no teeth behind them,’ Casey said. ‘We’re going to make sure we can pass them with some weight behind them, so we can get something to happen.’

Other business discussed:

• The results of the meal plan survey will be ready for next week, said Assemblymember PJ Alampi.

• SA is working with the staff in Ernie Davis Hall to get an artist to the dining hall to paint a mural, Assemblymember David Woody said.

• Carr said Blockbuster is the only possible option for students to get an easier and cheaper way to rent movies because Redbox and Netflix were not interested when members of SA contacted them.

spcotter@syr.edu

Published on March 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm