Judiciary Council (JC) Chair Andre Deckrow '06 led the discussion of revisions, which are a combination of changes recommended by the JC and ones devised by senators themselves. According to Deckrow, the most significant changes to the constitution will be combining the discretionary, programming and appeals accounts into one, requiring that all referenda be submitted to the election committee at least one week before a scheduled election, raising the maximum number of committees on which a senator can sit simultaneously from two to four and implementing a one week time limit on the use of the presidential veto. The revised constitution will also allow all current students, including outgoing seniors, to vote in AAS elections held at any point during the academic year.
Senator Rosalyn Foster '05 motioned unsuccessfully to raise the percentage of students' signatures needed to put a referendum on a ballot without the support of the senate from 10 percent to 20 percent. Foster cited the benefit of having a greater percentage of informed and interested students.
Discussion over revisions became heated, and at one point Foster moved to suspend one aspect of Robert's Rules-which govern meetings of the AAS-that requires all speakers to be recognized by the vice-president. The motion was not approved. Senator Dan Reiss '05, upset at the result of the vote, decided to protest by lying down between the last two rows of chairs for the next 30 minutes.
Treasurer Paris Wallace '04 presented the Budgetary Committee's (BC) weekly funding recommendations, which the senate passed unanimously after one increase in funding. The BC recommended denying all funding to the Science-Fiction/Fantasy and Anime clubs for a workshop they plan to host due to their failure to present contracts. The senate reversed this decision after the event's organizers explained that the money was for transportation and lodging costs only, and therefore contracts were unneccesary. Senators also questioned the BC's recommendation that the AAS allot funds to the Men's Rugby Team to purchase new away jerseys but eventually approved it.