Cornell Students, Faculty, Employees to Vote On Abolishing Controversial University Senate

Students, faculty and employees at Cornell University will vote today and tomorrow on whether to abolish the Cornell University Senate, an elected body that administers Cornell's $18.5 million extracurricular activities budget.

The results of the vote will indicate university-wide opinion on the Senate, but will not bind the Senate to any action.

Two student athletes at Cornell circulated a petition proposing the vote on the Senate after the Senate voted to cut $6000 from Cornell's athletic and physical education budgets last December. The cut was less than 1 per cent of the total athletic budget.

The petition drew over 1500 signatures from students, and led the administration to include the question of abolishing the Senate on this week's regular ballots for Senate representatives.

The opponents of the Senate charge that it is unrepresentative because most people vote in Senate elections without knowing anything about the candidates. They also charge that students are not responsible enough to properly administer $18.5 million.

Cornell administers set up the Senate following the armed student takeover of a campus building in 1969, during which students complained that they had no direct power in the university. The Senate is composed of 133 elected members--60 students, 60 faculty members and 13 employees.

Cathy Panagoulias, a reporter for the Cornell Daily Sun, said yesterday that the vote on the referendum will probably be in favor of maintaining the Senate. She added that the Senate will probably restructure itself if there is a substantial vote in favor of abolishing it.