By
Erin Mahoney
Arizona Daily Wildcat
ASUA officials may shake up Senate structure
Faced in recent years with accusations of non-accountability and elitism, the ASUA Senate may face a legislative makeover in coming years.
Senators are researching several proposals that aim to change the current Senate structure - consisting of 10 senators, elected by the undergraduate student body - to include representatives from different University of Arizona colleges.
Proponents say that building a Senate with delegates from each college would be a better model in representing all students.
"A restructuring of some kind is necessary," said ASUA Sen. Matt Bailey, whose election platform included such a proposal. "(But) It will be a coalition of senators that will have to support it."
Although no formal proposition has been made, ASUA President Ben Graff said he is concerned with increasing student interest in the Associated Students, and added that he would support a plan that would combine at-large senators with representatives from different colleges.
Any restructuring plan should be approved by the student body, Bailey said.
"It's something that's going to take a great deal of time," Bailey said. "Nobody wants to pass it without it going to a ballot."
Both the 1998-1999 and the 1999-2000 Senates have considered restructuring proposals, but none of the plans has come to fruition.
Last year, former Sens. Julie Burkhart and Ray Quintero sponsored a survey of about 200 students, many of whom approved of a change in Senate structure.
In March, ASUA senators asked for advice from different colleges, but ran out of time at the end of the semester. Quintero said he hopes senators will pick up the issue.
"It's something that definitely needs to be looked at," he said. "It was basically up to this Senate."
Graff, a former senator and a former executive vice president, said a change in Senate structure could increase senators' accountability.
"If the Senate shows the initiative this year, it's something I want to have," Graff said. "It's something I can't do on my own."
But not everyone is convinced that the Senate should change.
Executive Vice President Erick Negri, who leads the Senate, said he would need to be convinced that the student body would benefit from a restructuring proposal.
"The Senate we have this year is extremely diverse," Negri said. "They do as much as they can to get every student's voice in their discussions."
Sen. Roby Schapira said he would be cautious of a plan that would favor college representation over senators-at-large.
"If there are 10 best candidates... these are the people that need to be represented," he said. "I don't know if there are enough issues in each individual college."
A Senate comprised entirely of college representatives would be unfair to larger programs, Sen. Rebecca Broky said.
"My college is the college of architecture, and it's very small," she said. "I don't feel that it (a college-representation plan) is a good way to represent students."
At Arizona State University, two senators are elected to represent each college - a total of 22 student senators. Raquel Wood, executive vice president for the Associated Students of ASU, said this plan increases diversity.
"Every college attracts a little bit different kind of student," Wood said. "What we're doing here, it works. This way, the bigger colleges don't dwarf the smaller ones."
But ASASU's system does have its drawbacks, Wood said, and some colleges can't find participants.
"Every year, you get two or three colleges that don't participate," she admitted.
Graff said he would be strictly opposed to a Senate structure similar to ASU's.
"What I fear...is that you end up with a group of individual lobbyists," Graff said. "No one's looking at the big picture. No one's looking out for the entire student body.
"If there's a benefit to be seeen, it's through a combination (of general and college representatives)."
In any structure it is difficult to represent the interests of so many students, Negri said.
"They are doing a good job, but they can't cover every single area," he said.
But in the end, Schapira said, senators are individually accountable to the students.
"I'm here looking out for the best interests of the students," he said. "The most important thing it comes down to is that I have to justify myself."
