In a close vote, the Student Association Senate rejected President Jim Fischer’s nomination of Tom Rainey to sit on the University Committee on Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Fischer said the committee’s purpose is to advise and develop policies for the NIU ROTC. He said the rejection was “a funny thing” because the committee meets only once or twice per year “if at all.”

“I appointed Tom because he has applied for the committee for two years and has shown interest in the position. I also think the committee needs a student who does not support everything ROTC does.”

SA Speaker Tom Zur said he voted against Rainey because, “We could find a better person to work with ROTC and their committee rather than someone who believes they should not exist.”

Zur’s statement was based upon Rainey’s response to one of his questions. “I asked him (Rainey) if he thought ROTC should even exist and he said no.” Zur said he is planning to apply for the vacant committee seat.

SA Sen. Joe Annunzio said, “From what I’ve seen of his political views, Rainey would not be fair and unbaised in dealing with the committee.” Annunzio also said he plans to apply for the committee assignment.

ainey called the rejection “an act of discrimination against my political views.”

SA Sen. Michael Goldstein said, “The senators did not consider Tom and what he can do for the school as a whole. Rather, they were putting their own political views ahead of their duties as public servants.

“The interview was conducted in a non-serious manner, with a lot of the senators laughing and giggling. Also, many of the senators expected him to have a working knowledge of ROTC,” Goldstein said. “This is not always the best thing because someone who is not immediately familiar with the inner workings of a committee can assimilate the knowledge he gains in working with the committee in order to generate new ideas and viewpoints,” he said.

In other business, the senate unanimously voted to accept the resignation of former SA Sen. Thomas A. Gary. “I wasn’t ready this time, but I’ll be back,” he said.

SA Vice President Cam Davis said Gary’s replacement will be chosen from a list of people who ran for senate this fall but were not elected. “The on-campus runner-up with the most votes who is interested in the position will be contacted first and then brought before the senate for confirmation,” Davis said.