Last night the Student Government Association addressed the effect on students of the merging of FleetBoston Financial with Bank of America and the recognition of Charles DiMare, director of the Student Legal Services office.

Also during the meeting, which was the last regular scheduled meeting for the fall semester, the Rules and Ethics Committee announced the dismissal of charges brought on to Senator Gladys Franco and SGA Speaker Jared Nokes.

In November, Nokes was accused of ignoring the SGA constitution and violating numerous bylaws in a petition for his impeachment filed by senators Gladys Franco and Eduardo Bustamante.

Franco was accused of, among other offenses, failure to adhere to an enactment of the SGA.

“This was more of a result of lack of communication between Franco and the coordinating council,” said Rules and Ethics Chair Joe Giarusso when commenting on the charges against Franco for ignoring a requirement to provide a detailed individual report from a trip to San Francisco, Calif. for conferences on race and ethnicity during the spring of 2003.

All discussion of charges was dismissed, although the charges could be brought to the floor with a three-fourth majority vote.

Chair Jason Bissonnette, who also announced his resignation from his senate position after four years of service, passed a resolution concerning the recent announcement that FleetBoston Financial will merge with Bank of America. The motion concerned the benefits the UMass community receives through Fleet Bank including fee free withdrawals from ATMs, free checking accounts and payroll check cashing at any FleetBoston Financial branch. In the merger announcement, Bank of America stated that it would look into relationships currently in place under Fleet. The senate enacted that University administrators would work to maintain the benefits that have direct effects on students.

In an act of recognition, Senator Adrienne Girard brought a motion to the floor to congratulate DiMare for his 25th year anniversary of becoming a practicing attorney. The motion also commended DiMare for his many years of service to students at UMass. President Dave Carr also worked on the motion, but was absent from the meeting.

Also announced at the meeting was the resignation of the Levi O’Brien, Chair of Administrative Affairs.

“[Senator O’Brien] is quitting senate for personal reasons,” said Associate Speaker Christopher Eckle. “He’s taken on a lot this semester, and he felt that he couldn’t give his best to the SGA.”

Senator James Brenan was appointed as the new Chair of Administrative Affairs.

Senator Dan Pomeroy was also appointed to a new position last night, as Chair of the RSO Advocacy Committee.

Motions to appoint Lisa Jollimore and Stacy Canepari to the SCERA Governing Board were passed. Katy Donaghey was appointed to the SLSO Governing Board.

According to Nokes, the SGA will have 15 vacant seats next semester. For more information on becoming involved with the senate, call the SGA office at 545-0342.