Council Gets Draft of Constitution Monday, Waives Straw Vote Data

Ten weeks of work will have their climax Monday evening when the Student Council receives the newly completed constitution from its Constitution sub-committee.

Although approval by the Dean's Office and the Council itself must be secured before the document can be submitted to the student body for ratification, Edric A. Weld, Jr. '46, secretary of the Council, predicted that the undergraduates will probably receive the same constitution as well the Council Monday night.

Ratification procedure, Weld pointed out, is up to the Council and has not yet been definitely determined. However the actual balloting is carried out, he added, the College will have an opportunity to read the constitution as well as the Committee report in the House and University libraries before the final vote.

Abandon Straw Vote

With only 32 persons present at the seven House forums held last week, the Constitution Committee was forced to abandon its plan of following the straw vote dictates of the College on controversial issues of Council makeup. With so few undergraduates present, Weld asserted, the votes meant next to nothing. "Under the circumstances," he said, "we have decided to go ahead and put out the best constitution the Committee can put out independently."

Only in Lowell House, where ten undergraduates turned out for the meeting, was a vote taken. By a two to one ratio, the conferees approved a proposal that the Student council "have the power to elect three members to the Council by a two-thirds vote of the whole council, such men to be chosen for their outstanding ability, special skills, or particular knowledge complementary to the functioning of the Council."

The other issue scheduled for decision by the House forums was that of House versus a combination of House and Class elections. The Lowell House ballot favored House elections by the same two to one vote. The present procedure of solely Class representation, Weld said, was abandoned in the early-October meetings.