 |
 |
By Amanda Riddle
Arizona Daily Wildcat
December 9, 1996
Students involved next year in programs and organizations that fall under the Associated Student's jurisdiction will benefit more from a new government structure, the chairman of the Undergraduate Senate said Friday.Senate Chairman Gilbert Davidson chaired ASUA's Constitutional Convention, held Thursday and Friday, which drew about 30 University of Arizona students.
"We didn't have as much student input as I would have liked, but we got a lot of good ideas," Davidson said.
The ideas students suggested at the forum will be structured as amendments to the proposed constitution, and both will be voted on at the second Senate meeting of the spring semester, Jan. 29. The Senate will also discuss unresolved issues brought up at the forum at the first Senate meeting Jan. 22.
Davidson said everyone who attended voted in favor of the new structure on response cards that ASUA handed out.
The new constitution will be a much smaller document than the current one and will create a simpler government for students to understand, Davidson said.
The split of the Graduate and Professional Student Council from ASUA in October required ASUA to create the new structure, he said in an earlier interview.
The administrative vice president, formerly the vice president of programs and services, will preside over the services ASUA provides to students and the Tucson community.
The executive vice president, formerly the vice president of clubs and organizations, will preside over the Senate and Appropriations Board.
ASUA President Rhonda Wilson said that under the new system, there are more checks and balances.
The system states that Senate votes must be passed by the president to take effect. If the president vetoes the Senate's decision, someone from a special council can initiate a meeting to vote on the veto. The special council will consist of the president, the two vice-presidents and two senators.
Davidson said ASUA held the convention as an opportunity for students to come and voice their concerns about the proposed constitution.
Students expressed concerns over the number of Senate seats, which the proposal increased from eight to 10.
However, Gilbert said that with the increase, the Senate will be a better representation of the student body.
One student suggested that ASUA should increase the representative nature of the Senate by electing one member from each of the 10 college advisory councils, increasing the seats to 20.
Hilla Yaniv, ASUA treasurer, responded that that would cause too much conflict because everyone is pulling for different things. On the other hand, senators elected by the campus as a whole vote for issues that effect the entire campus.
Friday, some students said there is a need for more Senators while others said they wanted to stay with the status quo because an increase will make it more difficult to get issues passed.
Another discussion arose over whether the role of the executive vice president includes clubs and organizations.
Erin Russell, ASUA vice president for clubs and organizations, said the executive vice president is still going to know everything about clubs and organizations. "They're still going to be in charge of that plus the Senate," she said.
"If you give the Senate exactly the job I'm doing this year, it's a burden for one Senator to do," she said.
Either way, Russell said students still have one person to go to, but it is a little easier for clubs because the vice president has an office, while Senators do not.
However, Davidson said the Senator heading the Appropriations Board would be the one in charge of clubs and organizations.
"The Appropriations Board is a body that was approved to give out money (to clubs and organizations) and a Senator should be able to approve the board's vote," he said.
The role of all positions will be stated in the constitutional bylaws, which must be created before the Senate votes on the constitution. The bylaws will be created over the winter break.
|
|
|