Absent U.C. Members Could See Penalties

At last night's meeting, the Undergraduate Council moved toward passing a constitutional amendment that would penalize members who failed to vote on constitutional amendments.

The amendment followed the expulsion of nine council members for poor attendance earlier in the evening.

The bill, which would make it easier to amend the council's constitution, received 35 of the approximately 67 "yes" votes currently required to pass a constitutional amendment. The remaining votes will be collected via phone and e-mail during the coming week.

The bill's sponsors said they felt that the current amendment procedure makes constitutional change an unnecessarily difficult process.

The process requires three-quarters of the Council to vote for an amendment in order for it to pass, and counts abstentions and failures to vote as "no" votes.

"We need to curb the power of the delinquent to control the student government at this school," said bill sponsor Noah Z. Seton '00.

In addition to the attendance penalties, the amendment would require three-fourths of the council to vote on any constitutional amendment for it to pass. In addition, half of those voting would have to vote either for or against the bill--no abstentions would be allowed.

"The best argument for this bill is that apathy--the failure to vote--should not kill a bill," said Council treasurer Beth A. Stewart '00.

Council members who spoke against the bill said they acknowledged that poor attendance was an obstacle for constitutional reform, but that enabling fewer members to make substantial change would not address the real problem--member apathy.

"This is one solution, but I don't think it's the right solution. If you are an elected member and you aren't voting on a constitutional amendment, you should be expelled," said Council Vice-President Mark A. Price '98.

According to Price, 11 of the 90 representatives elected this fall have resigned to date.

Yesterday's bill will be followed at the next council meeting by several other constitutional amendments--including one that would significantly reduce the size of the council.

At a recent meeting of the Ivy Council, a coalition of student government from the eight Ivy League colleges, representatives from other schools expressed surprise at the size of Harvard's student government.

The average Ivy League student government has about 25 to 30 members, each of whom usually has a specific position, said Council member Adam S. Vaina '98.

In other business, the council voted unanimously to allocate more than $13,000 to the First-year Formal.