The Student Assembly last night amended its constitution to allow new members to join the Assembly on a rolling basis, and it prepared letters that explain refund possibilities for Dash card accounts.
Case Dorkey '99 proposed a constitutional amendment, which will negate a rule that prohibited membership petitions after the third Sunday of a given term.
With the new amendment, the constitution now reads, "All petitions may be received on an on-going basis."
"It really opens the door for a lot more flexibility," Assembly Vice President Chris Swift '98 said, because it makes the Assembly more open to students who wish to participate.
"It's continuing the theme that we want to improve the internal structure," Swift said.
The letters, addressed to freshmen and transfer students, inform students that they can receive refunds for money they deposited in discretionary accounts because they believed it could be used to purchase books.
In addition, money students had intended for dining options, which they had mistakenly placed in discretionary accounts, will be refunded.
"Transfers are not normally permitted," according to the letter, "and these are the only two exceptions which will be made for this term only."
The Assembly prepared the letters for distribution at last night's meeting, and they should appear in students' Hinman boxes today or tomorrow.
The Assembly did not have a parliamentarian at last night's meeting, but it hopes to have one by next week. The parliamentarian, who is not an Assembly member, oversees the organizational structure of the meetings.
The Membership and Internal Affairs committee currently has an open seat, Swift said, which they are looking to fill.
In his report from the Committee on Student Life, Steve Salemi '97, the committee's vice president, said they were looking into ways to increase student access to the weight room and the amount of equipment available there.
Dominic LaValle '99, in the report of the Committee on Student Services, said his committee is investigating the policy of locking all but one of the doors in residence halls.
