By Randy Barnes
The proposed constitution for the TC Student Senate provides few changes over the present constitution which has been in effect since 1946.
The only changes which really draw one’s attention are in the first two sections of Article 1 and deal with the number of senators and the Senate elec tions.
Freshman classes are equally represented with a class presi dent and four senators each in the Senate. However, since the officers are all sophomores this gives the upper class an edge in the voting.
The proposed constitution al lows for two more sophomore senators and three more fresh men senators. This would tend to equalize the representation of the classes because the vice president and treasurer would still be sophomores. Sopho mores would then command nine votes while the freshmen would have eight votes in the Senate.
The president, a sophomore, may only vote in case of ties, but in the new constitution he may appoint a parliamentarian and the constitution does not specify that the parliamentarian be a member of the Senate.
Elections under the proposed document would be held in the spring for the officers and two of the six sophomore senators. The other four sophomore sen ators, the class presidents, and the freshmen senators would be elected in the fall. This com pares with the present method of electing officers in the spring and all the senators and the class presidents in the fall.
The proposed constitution does present some alterations which comprise a step forward for the Senate. One such valid change is the requiring of an up todate treasurer’s report every meeting.
However, it also produces some fumbling blocks, such as a twothirds vote required to admit a guest who is not a student, faculty member, or administrator.
Thus the proposed constitu tion is at best a revision of the present one and presents few outstanding changes, whatever the real problems are, the real solutions are not in the pro posed constitution. Many guide lines in the present constitution are not followed, but are re stated almost word for word in the proposed constitution.
One cannot believe that re stating 5 sections will make it effective. It would appear to be more probable to amend the present one where it is realy weak and first see if guidelines can be followed before they are drafted.