ASSU senators once again postponed a vote on former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s appointment as a Hoover Institution Distinguished Fellow at their meeting last night, citing a need to ensure that the bill is properly written. This is the second week in a row that the bill has been postponed.

Senator Stuart Baimel ‘09, the bill’s author, advocated tabling the bill at yesterday’s meeting. He emphasized that before the bill comes to a vote, he would like to receive feedback from individual senators as well as other students interested in the issues surrounding Rumsfeld’s appointment.

“I made the bill by myself basically, and I submitted it for consideration by myself,” Baimel said. “I was hoping to get input as the process went on before the vote. But there hasn’t been enough time for that to happen.”

The majority of the Senate supported the motion to postpone the vote in order to ensure that the voice of the student body is accurately represented.

“I am actually glad that it has been tabled because as of now, the bill was not satisfactory to anyone, and it was not even satisfactory to the author,” said Undergraduate Senate Chair Priyanka Sharma ‘09. “This is the opinion that the Senate is expressing, so it might as well be a powerful one.”

A few senators, however, expressed reservations about postponing the vote, citing fears that the decision will incur further delays.

“I am just worried that [the vote] will just keep getting delayed more and more,” said Senator Tomas Vacek ‘10. “I definitely support voting on the bill next week at the latest.”

Over the course of the week, Baimel hopes to meet with senators and students to discuss the bill’s wording and structure in order to make changes that accurately reflect the majority’s take on the issues presented.

“There is a question of tone and what sort of tack you take,” Baimel said. “I take the tack that irrespective of whether Rumsfeld is a good or a bad person, the cost of bringing him here to the University is higher than the benefits.”

Baimel said that he is willing to consider other ways to phrase the issue at hand.

“Some people want to insert language about war crimes and ethics,” he continued. “I, personally, do not support that, but I am willing to meet with people and see if some sort of compromise can be reached.”

The Senate’s primary focus while voting on the bill is still to represent the opinions of the majority of the student population on campus.

“I really am a proponent of voting on this resolution and also simultaneously for senators to make informed votes on the resolution which are representative of the undergraduate student body,” said Senator Patrick Cordova ‘09. “I want to balance those.”

Cordova reiterated other senators’ concerns about deferring the vote.

“If the author of this resolution has questions about how this bill is to be structured, I am certainly behind him in that, but also, I strongly encourage there to be a timeline set with this issue,” he said. “Let’s put a date on it, let’s vote on it, let’s get feedback on it and let’s pass this bill.”

Although the voting on the Rumsfeld resolution has been pushed back, the Senate did pass a bill to financially endorse the ASSU Airport Shuttle at last night’s meeting, along with a bill to renew the ASSU Art Grants Program. The Senate is also prepared for this week’s Bike Light Extravaganza.

Starting today and for the remainder of the week between noon and 1 p.m. in White Plaza, senators will be giving out free bike lights that would typically cost $25 to $30. They will also be handing out free Jamba Juice with the lights.