After five weeks of debate, the Student Assembly last night voted down an amendment that tightened the rules governing membership attendance.
The attendance amendment, sponsored by Case Dorkey '99 and Ben Hill '98, was defeated by a vote of 24 to five. A constitutional amendment requires support from at least three-fourths of active Assembly members, or 29 people, Assembly Parliamentarian Seth Kelly '99 said.
The attendance resolution called for members to lose their voting status if they miss a combined total of three general or committee meetings in a term.
It would have allowed members with revoked voting privileges to remain on their committees and have their status voted upon at the end of the term by the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee.
Hill said he thought the resolution was the "fairest solution" to the debate between members who thought the amendment would remove power from the MIAC and members who wanted to make members more accountable.
But Assembly Executive Vice President Kelii Opulauoho '96 said he thought attending Assembly meetings was not as important as being accountable to the people who elected them and who they represent.
"There are times when it is not important for you to be at meetings," he said. "What is going on at the meeting may not be things your constituents need to know."
Opulauoho said members could be doing more important things for their constituency, at times, if they attended organization meetings or spoke on panels rather than attending Assembly meetings. Attending another organization's meeting instead of an Assembly meeting would be considered an unexcused absence under the proposed amendment.
Assembly member Rex Morey '99 said he has missed three meetings this term, one because he was speaking on a panel and another because he was working, but he still knows what the Assembly is doing.
But other Assembly members argued the amendment would improve the Assembly's efficiency.
Assembly member Kate Berkeley '99 said the amendment is not a form of policing, but a means of making the Assembly more efficient.
"People who don't come to enough meetings don't know what is going on," she said.
Assembly President-elect Jon Heavey '97 said, "I'd like to voice my support for this and see it for next year's Assembly."
Assembly member Bill Kartalopoulos '97 said he "wasn't fond of the original resolution, but the fact that we haven't had enough members to vote on it speaks the need for it."
"Even though [the attendance amendment] was defeated, it was still supported," Vice President of Communications Jonah Sonnenborn '99 said after the meeting. "The majority of the members think it is essential to the efficiency and functioning of the Assembly."
Sonnenborn said he thought Hill would reintroduce the amendment at a later date.
Sonnenborn said the Assembly will sponsor a town meeting on May 21. He said the Assembly has not decided on a theme for the meeting.
Current Assembly President Jim Rich '96 said Heavey and Swift, the vice president-elect, will be coming to all executive committee meetings so they can be aware of the goings-on of the Assembly and learn to understand procedure.
