SMC constitution faces amendments, evaluation
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Saint Mary's Editor
In response to the confusion with the 2000 student body presidential elections, Board of Governance approved several measures to amend and continually evaluate their constitution Tuesday.
Angie Little, student body vice president, and Michelle Nagle, student body vice president-elect, presented a proposal for a constitutional oversight committee that would be responsible for investigating the constitution in relation to the changing needs of the student body.
The committee, which is chaired by the vice president, should be convened at the discretion of the vice president and is responsible for discussing amendments to be presented to Board of Governance. It would be convened only when needed in response to a complaint or other dispute that indicated need for evaluation, Little said.
"The only role this committee has is to recommend amendments. The committee has the responsibility of researching and investigating," Nagle said.
Little and Nagle said that members serving on the committee should be elected, although attendance at committee meetings is open to the public.
"We talked a lot about who should serve on the committee, and we felt that they should be women voted on by the student body," Little said. "Basically, this is a forum for research, and closing those meetings would be at the discretion of the vice president."
The proposal was passed with three members abstaining.
The board also discussed amendments to the constitution regarding election bylaws.
"These are all recommendations from me as interim elections commissioner regarding the bylaws," said Bridget Heffernan, who served as interim commissioner for the 2000 presidential election. "Most of these are clarifications of current bylaws, and none of them are changing what is in the constitution."
The drafted amendments clarify several ambiguous election situations. Amendments address appropriate action in the potential vacancy of an elections commissioner because of candidacy or other reasons, the jurisdiction limits of the Elections Committee, the function of the appeals board and confidentiality of members' names, endorsement of candidates by Elections Committee members and run-off procedures.
The amendment states that in a run-off situation where the run-off ends in a tie, "the total raw votes from the primary election and the run-off will be added." Furthermore, should another tie occur, appropriate action will be at the discretion of the Elections Committee.
Some members expressed concern that the drafted amendments did not address what students were discontent with in the 2000 election.
"It seemed what people were concerned about was that they didn't know who to go to if they had a concern," said Akmaral Omorova. "We need to make clear who people can go to if they have a concern [about the elections process.]"
Off-campus commissioner Beth Beatty also called the board's attention to the fact that off-campus voting procedures needed to be specified.
"This year voting occurred in the dining hall and the off-campus lounge. If you want to say that off-campus voting should remain only in the lounge, that needs to be changed," Beatty said.
The amendments were passed with the stipulation that clarifications regarding direction of elections complaints from students and off-campus voting locations would be included in the final draft. Members also passed the amendments with the understanding that they will not be in effect for class elections, as originally expected.
"These candidates went into the election with an understanding of the bylaws they were given," student body president Nancy Midden said. "It wouldn't be fair to change them now."
Amendments will be effective for the Class of 2004 fall elections.
The board also decided to send two election issues to the newly established constitutional oversight committee, when questions regarding candidacy eligibility and campaign finance were addressed.
Omorova, a candidate for president of the diversity board, requested funding for her campaign. Traditionally, Board of Governance will assist in funding for candidates who cannot afford campaign costs to ensure that any student can run for office.
"How we vote on this sets a precedent, and we have to be sensitive to that," said mission commissioner Molly Kahn. "We have to consider how we deal with this looking like favoritism, or if we ask for a demonstration of need."
While the board approved Omorova's request, some concern was raised about the amount of financial help that should be given. The board decided to send the issue to the constitutional oversight committee for discussion regarding developing standards for financial assistance.
Members also discussed candidacy requirements for elections. Currently, before elections begin, the elections commissioner must submit names of candidates to Academic Affairs and Residence Life to determine if candidates are in good academic and social standing. Candidates who are not in good standing in either category are disqualified.
"We need to clarify what we mean by academic and social standing," said Crissie Renner, elections commissioner and student body president-elect. Questions were raised about appropriate courses of action if a candidate were to fall out of good social or academic standing during an election.
"If a complaint was filed by a student concerning social standing, students may feel that person would not be a good president or vice president," Nagle added. "If they were elected, they would not be held accountable."
Some members expressed concern over the fact that if an officer fell into bad standing during office, she could be impeached.
"It's hard to draw the line here," Beatty said.
The board opted to send the issue to the oversight committee for further discussion.
In other BOG news
u The Winter Carnival will be held Friday through Sunday in conjunction with Little Sibs Weekend. Events include a student-run prayer service, a dinner for spring athletes, the College Bowl competition, a bonfire and a concert event in Dalloway's sponsored by Student Activities Board.
uResidence Hall Association elections will be Thursday in the dining hall. Voting times will be 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to
7 p.m. Class elections will be today in the dining hall. Voting times are the same as RHA election times.
All News Stories for Wednesday, February 23, 2000
