Posted on 10/12/2001 6:06:30 PM PDT by anymouse
The Residence Hall Association (RHA) voted last night against recommending that the Department of Residence Life allow students to hang American flags outside their residence hall windows.
The decision came after two recounts. The first vote tied, with RHA President Jorge Barrera, a senior electrical engineering major, casting a deciding vote in favor.
The 2001-2002 Residence Hall Handbook forbids anything to hang outside room windows for safety reasons. Exceptions are made to this rule during check-in at the beginning of fall semesters when banners with hall names are displayed on the building.
RHA delegates argued that the resolution violated freedom of speech by allowing only for American flags, and no other flags or objects, to be hung from hall windows. Students expressed concern that allowing only American flags to be flown would create an exclusionary environment and nullify campus claims of diversity.
Other RHA members countered with arguments that the American flag takes precedent over others within U.S. borders and that those of other nationalities could seek permission to hang their flags on an individual basis.
Chris Bernard, a presenter of the resolution, said that the proposal did not infringe upon the First Amendment.
Though the original vote was tied, with Barrera casting a deciding vote in favor, the issue was revisted at the end of the meeting. The officers ruled that in the first vote, proxies -- votes filed by a member on behalf of an absent delegate -- were miscounted. The association took two additional votes to decide the matter.
Delegates were instructed to vote as they had before so that a recount could be taken. Both votes were 30 in favor and 33 against, with two abstentions. It was decided by RHA executives that the original vote had been miscounted and the second and third ones were the actual decision of the council.
In other business, RHA approved a resolution to recommend that the Department of Residence Life allow T.O. Walton Hall 24-hour visitation on a trial period, with a final decision on the implementation expected at the end of the semester.
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Can imagine mass protests at every A&M football game until this stupid flag ban is overturned.
Aggie alumni start writting the A&M Regents and Alumni Association.
They get rid of all the animals that kick.
One is a bottom feeding scum sucker and the other is a fish.
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