Another amendment previously proposed by Senator Emily Silberstein '06 and Josh Stein '08, meant to increase the requirements for amending the constitution by petition, met a similar fate with 45 minutes left before the ballot went live.
Rothschild's proposed amendment, meant to restructure the AAS to reduce the number of senators and open up a number of college committee seats, was voted down by the senate last week in what was thought to be the body's final word on the matter. But after last week's meeting, Rothschild circulated a petition intending to bring the matter directly before student referendum.
Because of an issue with the distinction in the AAS constitution between an "election" and a "special vote," Elections Committee Chair Stein found it necessary for the senate to consider the matter again. The senate voted to leave the matter off yesterday's ballot by a margin of 13-11.
Rothschild pledged to challenge the decision with a Judiciary Council appeal, expressing concern that "the senate violated the word and spirit of the constitution."
Silberstein's proposed amendment has met a fate just as complex. After the senate voted the amendment onto yesterday's referendum at last week's meeting, President Mike Simmons '06 vetoed the matter to force further discussion this week.
The senators responded last Wednesday night by overriding his veto in a controversial e-mail vote, but chose to reconsider the matter at this week's meeting after Simmons explained the concerns he heard among student constituents.
Russell Kornblith '06 was one such constituent who attended the meeting to voice his thoughts. "It looks really bad when you're making it harder to railroad amendments through," he explained, "to pass an amendment in the middle of the night without letting people know."
"It certainly creates the perception that the senate is a closed body that wants to protect its power and govern by fiat," Kornblith added.
Silberstein responded by pointing out that further openness is the purpose of her amendment. "This was not intending to disempower the student body," she explained. "It's really looking to encourage a lively, thoughtful debate into what's going on."
The senate voted by a margin of 14-10 to postpone that debate to another date and leave the amendment off yesterday's ballot.
Among the hours of amendment wrangling, a number of senators expressed their desire to focus the AAS's energy on something other than itself.
Senator Rob Cobbs '06 mentioned that continual auto-amendment was part of the body's problem and not necessarily a solution.
"The senate's not terribly effective in part because we keep changing," Cobbs stressed. "We are tinting the windows on a car that does not run." Many expressed agreement with his desire to move on to other senate business.
Yesterday's ballot did not ultimately present a constitutional amendment to the student body. It did, though, include questions on major discretionary allotments towards the spring formal and spring concerts. According to the AAS constitution, funding decisions in excess of $10,000 require approval by student referendum. Polling was still open at the time The Student went to press.