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Joint Unit to Weigh Constitution Draft

By Paul A. Engelmayer

In an attempt to end an impasse over the constitution for the proposed undergraduate council, Dean Rosovsky has selected three Faculty Council members to meet with four student leaders and try to fashion a mutually acceptable document.

Because the Faculty Council expressed "quite a few doubts...about a variety of aspects" of the constitution at a meeting last week with student representatives, Rosovsky said last night he has given all council members "a verbal order" to give the constitution "a close reading" and to forward suggestions to the student-faculty committee.

Rosovsky declined to assess the likelihood that the joint group will agree on a compromise constitution, saying that "there were many questions asked" about the document at last week's session.

The new unit will probably begin meeting within a week, Sidney Verba '53, associate dean of the Faculty and one of the three council members appointed by Rosovsky, said last night, adding he has "no idea" how long the group will take to agree.

He predicted that most discussion will focus upon "the big issue": a controversial plank in the constitution guaranteeing seven minority organizations fractional votes on the proposed council's executive committee. He said he is unsure whether the council is philosophically opposed to special representation for minorities and that council sentiments "depend very heavily on exactly how the proposal will be worked out."

We, the Students

Faculty Council members have been particularly critical of that recently adopted provision, but have also expressed doubts about the complex procedure under which the undergraduate council would disburse funds, and about the preamble to the constitution, which council members say appears to grant students unduly sweeping powers.

Verba said he and the two other professors tapped by Rosovsky are "more or less representative" of the council, but stressed that the three members "are not empowered to commit the Faculty

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