Some of the major changes to the constitution that students and committee members discussed included the formation of a new judiciary branch, a revised method for electing student senators and senate approval of the Student Finance Committee (SFC) budget.
The committee also discussed the need for diversity representatives and the relationship of the current committees to the senate.
Junior Class President and committee chair Jun Matsui '03 said that the most important change to the constitution is the addition of a judiciary branch. "This whole system of checks and balances-this is it," said Matsui. "This is the biggest thing we've come up with."
The main duties of proposed judiciary committee would be to address grievances, act as an on-going review and recognition committee for clubs, create an archive system and take charge of constitutional review and amendment. The proposed judiciary committee would consist of a chairperson, three non-senators and two senators.
Former SFC Chair Will Johnson '03 cautioned against senators serving on the judiciary committee. "I can just foresee it causing problems," said Johnson. Members of the ad hoc committee explained that allowing two senators to serve on the judiciary committee would facilitate communication between the two branches.
Luke Swarthout '04 also questioned the function of a body that would constantly modify the constitution. "The reason we're amending this constitution [now] is because it sucks. It's like humor reading, but I'm wary of a group that's continuously revising it." Swarthout said, adding that he wanted to know who would decide when to amend the constitution.
Jolene Negre '03 raised other objections to the proposed changes concerning the diversity seats on the senate. The present constitution allows for five diversity seats, to which affinity groups elect a member from their organization as a member of the senate, though some do not exercise this right. Under the proposed changes, these five seats would no longer exist.
Negre said that the diversity seats are an important component of the senate. "The diversity representative ensures that somebody is going to stand up and say 'you're not treating us fairly here,'" said Negre, who mentioned last year's senate debate over theme housing as a time when the diversity seats would have been valuable.
Committee member Mike Flood '03 also said that they have encountered problems when deciding which groups should have diversity seats.
Matsui expressed concern that over-representation could cause potential problems. Alternatively, other students suggested that a liaison from any SFC recognized group should be allowed to speak at senate meetings.
"Maybe the importance is not the voting because the one vote out of 45 isn't going to make a difference," said Swarthout. "It seems like the important part of the diversity seat is the speech and not the vote."
Freshman Class President and committee member Christian Sanchez '05 expressed disagreement. "They have a more direct voice if they have a representative they elect in the senate," said Sanchez. "Why they don't function now is because it hasn't been encouraged and going below this role would be worse."
Students and members of the ad hoc committee also discussed the relationship of the senate and the current committees. Proposed changes include simply electing students to the senate and then asking them to volunteer for committees.
"People are elected to CPR [Committee on Priorities and Resources] and they care a lot about CPR but they don't give a shit about anything else in the senate," said committee member Julie Babayan '03. "They don't give a shit about theme housing or about phone service."
Committee member Dave Babbott '05 agreed. "You have to be a senator first if you're on the senate and you have to have a passion for the whole thing," said Babbott.
Swarthout advocated separating the roles of the senate from the roles of these committees. "Too often we have somebody running for the library committee not because they want to be on the library committee, but because they want to be on the senate. Let's divorce these two things," said Swarthout.
Debate also centered on the method of electing representatives. Matsui said that the problem of election of representatives focused on how best to represent the student body.
One proposed idea was regional representation, which would mean electing senators from various dorm areas. An alternate idea was a 10-person class council elected from each class, with a class chair for each council. Others proposed a combination of the two systems.
Approximately 10 students were present to discuss the changes that the ad hoc committee is proposing. No student senators, besides those already on the ad hoc committee, were present.
The next open forum will be held within the next two weeks. The ad hoc committee's next meeting will be on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the basement of Valentine.