Committee Advises Council On Referendum

The Committee on College Life (COCL) recommended yesterday that the Undergraduate Council place a third question on is repeat referendum and that the vote be held in conjunction with house committees and appointed students.

The addition to the ballot would allow students to decide whether to distribute unspent funds at the end of the year to house committees. Already on the referendum are questions on the term bill fee hike and the elimination of the check-box option on student term bills to waive the council fee.

But Anjalee C. Davis '96, the organizer of the original five-issue petition, said the COCL's recommendation was unsatisfactory. After the meeting she vowed to contact every signatory on the original petition and have them sign separately for each of the five issues.

"We have a list, and we'll approach them individually," Davis said.

She also said she will not cooperate with the COCL's recommendations and will ignore the COCL's suggestion that she appoint the students needed to oversee the elections.

Also in the package of recommendations was a suggestion to hold the referendum from May 9 to 11 , one week later than scheduled, and for the polling to be a collaborative effort of the council, the house and students appointed by Davis.

The COCL recommendations follow on the heels of an Undergraduate Council vote on Sunday to invalidate last week's referendum on the fee hike, in part because of constitutional violations and election misconduct.

The council voted to redo the ref- erendum next week on two of the five originalissues. The council also decided that thereferendum will be binding if more than half thestudent body votes.

The COCL is an advisory body composed offaculty, administrators and council members.

The council will discuss at this Sunday'smeeting whether to place the third issue on itsreferendum.

L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of the College, saidat the meeting he "would strongly hope" that thecouncil will admit the third issue.

The COCL agreed not to bring the fourth andfifth issues on Davis' petition to a student vote.Those issues deal with semiannual generalelections and popular election elections of thecouncil president vice president, secretary andtreasurer.

"It does strike me that there is a qualitativedifference between the first three [issues] andthe last two," Jewett said at the meeting.

Jewett also said at the meeting that he feltreluctant rushing a referendum to the studentsregarding issues as important as those the councilexcluded.

He said he hoped next fall's candidates for thecouncil would include the two excluded issues ontheir platforms.

Much of the COCL's discussion focused onwhether the council should play a role inadministering the referendum, eliminatingproposals such as hiring a third party.

The compromise solution allowed for checks onthe council and on the house committees, both ofwhom, most member agreed, have vested interest inthe outcome of the referendum.

Davis, however, said she would have no part inthe agreement and that she would continue hercampaign to get the original petition onto thereferendum. She said she will ask students to signfor all five questions, even though the newreferendum will present students with a vote onthree of them.

Davis called the council executive board'sdecision to void four of the questions on thepetition "an insult to the intelligence of thestudent body" and accused the council last nightof stalling.

"Maybe the 1,680 of us should get together inSanders Theater and chant we want all five,'"Davis said last night.

But Council President Carey W. Gabay '94 saidthe original petition "didn't give students thechoice of the picking which of the question theywanted on the referendum."

"For me, it's a matter of packing [thepetition]," Gabay said.

"Our constitution says that any question may besubmitted for a referendum if it gets 10 percentof the student body," Gabay added. "It saysquestion, not questions.

The COCL is an advisory body composed offaculty, administrators and council members.

The council will discuss at this Sunday'smeeting whether to place the third issue on itsreferendum.

L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of the College, saidat the meeting he "would strongly hope" that thecouncil will admit the third issue.

The COCL agreed not to bring the fourth andfifth issues on Davis' petition to a student vote.Those issues deal with semiannual generalelections and popular election elections of thecouncil president vice president, secretary andtreasurer.

"It does strike me that there is a qualitativedifference between the first three [issues] andthe last two," Jewett said at the meeting.

Jewett also said at the meeting that he feltreluctant rushing a referendum to the studentsregarding issues as important as those the councilexcluded.

He said he hoped next fall's candidates for thecouncil would include the two excluded issues ontheir platforms.

Much of the COCL's discussion focused onwhether the council should play a role inadministering the referendum, eliminatingproposals such as hiring a third party.

The compromise solution allowed for checks onthe council and on the house committees, both ofwhom, most member agreed, have vested interest inthe outcome of the referendum.

Davis, however, said she would have no part inthe agreement and that she would continue hercampaign to get the original petition onto thereferendum. She said she will ask students to signfor all five questions, even though the newreferendum will present students with a vote onthree of them.

Davis called the council executive board'sdecision to void four of the questions on thepetition "an insult to the intelligence of thestudent body" and accused the council last nightof stalling.

"Maybe the 1,680 of us should get together inSanders Theater and chant we want all five,'"Davis said last night.

But Council President Carey W. Gabay '94 saidthe original petition "didn't give students thechoice of the picking which of the question theywanted on the referendum."

"For me, it's a matter of packing [thepetition]," Gabay said.

"Our constitution says that any question may besubmitted for a referendum if it gets 10 percentof the student body," Gabay added. "It saysquestion, not questions.