Senate sponsoring conference on its constitution

Students will gather to discuss the flaws and problems with the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Constitution at an open forum known around campus as the Constitutional Convention in Eaton Hall this Friday at 3:00 p.m.

The forum comes in the midst of continued controversy over the role of culture representatives and their voting powers in student government. The latest manifestation of this protracted conflict happened two weeks ago when The Primary Source spearheaded a failed referendum to create a conservative culture representative.

The Constitutional Convention will be a forum for discussion of any problems students have with the Constitution and will not be limited to a culture rep debate. Although much of the student body is unfamiliar with the Constitution's specifics, some Senate members see the convention as a welcome opportunity to make needed changes.

"The more familiar I become with the Constitution, the more flaws I discover," Senate Parliamentarian Adam Koeppel said.

Among the failings the Constitution is criticized for is the fact that there can only be two presidential candidates and that all executive board positions except the president are selected "in house." The positions of treasurer, president, and vice president have substantial interaction with students and there should be student input on their selection, Koeppel said.

The most visible topic is, of course, the culture rep system, which has spawned the most disagreement. Though the culture rep amendment failed earlier this month, a not insignificant number of 512 students voted in favor of it. The Source accomplished its goal of sparking campus discussion about the flaws of the culture rep system, according to Source Editor Emeritus Sam Dangremond, and debate on campus did not end with the vote.

"There needs to be more dialogue," Dangremond said. "The Source does not have all the answers, but it has some ideas."

One such idea is reinstating the principle of "one man, one vote" to the Senate, which many have said is comprised by the existence of the culture reps.

Dangremond and other Source members attended Sunday night's Senate meeting in the hopes of compelling such a dialogue, but were "pleasantly surprised" when TCU President Melissa Carson announced that she and TCU Historian Alison Clarke had already taken the initiative to plan this Friday's event.

Carson is committed to several such meetings throughout the year, according to Dangremond. Students, senators, minorities, conservatives, and culture reps should "come together at the same table to hash it out," he said.

While the convention's discussion will most likely center on the culture reps, sophomore senator Chike Aguh says that this issue is a byproduct of another of the Senate's problems: its lack of visibility to the students. "Students don't see us," he said at the meeting.

Aguh, who serves as co-chair of the Senate committee on Culture, Ethnicity and Community Affairs (CECA) on which all four current culture reps sit, pointed to the lack of Senate outreach as the source for campus discontent and the culture rep dispute.

Friday's open forum will be an attempt to breach the gap between students and the Senate. "Hopefully there'll be some input from students who care," Koeppel said. Students are encouraged to e-mail the Senate with any suggestions for the Constitution.

The Senate will continue to work on constitutional issues after Friday's forum, Koeppel said, and it is possible that next spring's ballot may contain proposed amendments to the Constitution. Any special elections that take place between now and then will probably not address the Senate's Constitution, according to Koeppel.

Other issues that may come up at the forum include the Senate's committee system and the lobbying role that some senators have undertaken with the administration. Neither question is formally addressed by the Constitution, which should embed certain committees into the system and decide whether senators can work on projects without the support of the Senate, Koeppel said.

The Senate's Constitution can only be changed through a vote by the student body. Though referenda tend to come from within the Senate, any student can propose amendments or an entirely new constitution.

"Constitutional amendments are proposed almost every year, it seems like," Koeppel said. Such student interest is positive since it "reflects that a lot of people want to be involved."