Council Will Vote New Constitution

The Undergraduate Council will vote today and tomorrow on a new constitution and bylaws suggested by the council's reevaluation committee.

Because fewer than 30 students from the 88-member council attended last night's meeting--and three quarters of the council must approve changes to the constitution--the council was forced to conduct a phone vote this week.

Results will not be released until Wednesday, said Vice Chair David L. Hanselman '94.

Council members present at last night's meeting still debated the recommendations for four hours, but some said the phone voting is not a good option because so many students will be voting on the important changes without having heard the debate.

If the new constitution is passed, the council will only have three committees: finance, campus life and student affairs. Only one chair will be allowed for each committee, and there will be no ad-hoc committees.

If the accompanying bylaws are passed, the council will draw up a budget at the beginning of each aca- demic year that will allocate roughly 60 percent to grants, 25 percent to committees and 15 percent to operations.

Under current procedures, surplus money in grants is rolled over to next term's grants. The new bylaws will mandate that the extra money goes to the campus life committee, and excess amounts from both operations and campus life will go to house committees.

Rene Reyes '95, one of the members who opposed the decision to take a phone vote, said there was enough confusion among the attending members. "[The absent members] have no idea what has gone on in debate...It would be very irresponsible...It would be a mistake," Reyes said.

"We shouldn't jump into a quick vote just to get it over with," Victor Chiu '95 said.

Randall A. Fine '96, co-chair of the reevaluation committee that sponsored the package, said. "Let's try something new... It's not going to take us from bad to good. It's going to take us from bad to a little bit better."

Parliamentarian Adam J. Hertzman '95 said the bylaws will institutionalize many reforms made this year regarding elections and finance committee procedures. The bylaws would also tighten attendance requirements for council members.

The constitution will also prevent the vice chair from supervising general elections if the executive intends to seek a council-wide office that term.

"I am very sure that [the package] will pass, and if it doesn't, then it will in the fall," Hertzman said in an interview after the meeting.

Other members, however, voiced concerns against the package and the way last night's meeting was conducted.

"My biggest concern is that when we ignore our procedural rules, we lose our legitimacy as a government," Reyes said in an interview after the meeting.

"[The] fact that you conduct a vote and make a binding statement in the absence of a quorum is very irresponsible. It deserves the consideration of a full 88-member council... I think you can take a lot more pride in the result when you know it's been done procedurally correct and done with more than a mere quarter of the Undergraduate Council," Reyes said.

Council member Mohammad S. Yassin '93 agreed. "The problem is not as much the structure of the U.C., but rather the process by which it is conducted." Yassin said one of the most significant problems of the council was evidenced by the fact that fewer than 30 members attended to debate the constitution.

In other business, Chair Michael P. Beys '94 recognized Allan M. Grumet '94-93 as the council's outstanding member of the spring semester. Grumet has served on the reevaluation committee

Under current procedures, surplus money in grants is rolled over to next term's grants. The new bylaws will mandate that the extra money goes to the campus life committee, and excess amounts from both operations and campus life will go to house committees.

Rene Reyes '95, one of the members who opposed the decision to take a phone vote, said there was enough confusion among the attending members. "[The absent members] have no idea what has gone on in debate...It would be very irresponsible...It would be a mistake," Reyes said.

"We shouldn't jump into a quick vote just to get it over with," Victor Chiu '95 said.

Randall A. Fine '96, co-chair of the reevaluation committee that sponsored the package, said. "Let's try something new... It's not going to take us from bad to good. It's going to take us from bad to a little bit better."

Parliamentarian Adam J. Hertzman '95 said the bylaws will institutionalize many reforms made this year regarding elections and finance committee procedures. The bylaws would also tighten attendance requirements for council members.

The constitution will also prevent the vice chair from supervising general elections if the executive intends to seek a council-wide office that term.

"I am very sure that [the package] will pass, and if it doesn't, then it will in the fall," Hertzman said in an interview after the meeting.

Other members, however, voiced concerns against the package and the way last night's meeting was conducted.

"My biggest concern is that when we ignore our procedural rules, we lose our legitimacy as a government," Reyes said in an interview after the meeting.

"[The] fact that you conduct a vote and make a binding statement in the absence of a quorum is very irresponsible. It deserves the consideration of a full 88-member council... I think you can take a lot more pride in the result when you know it's been done procedurally correct and done with more than a mere quarter of the Undergraduate Council," Reyes said.

Council member Mohammad S. Yassin '93 agreed. "The problem is not as much the structure of the U.C., but rather the process by which it is conducted." Yassin said one of the most significant problems of the council was evidenced by the fact that fewer than 30 members attended to debate the constitution.

In other business, Chair Michael P. Beys '94 recognized Allan M. Grumet '94-93 as the council's outstanding member of the spring semester. Grumet has served on the reevaluation committee