Assembly discusses attendance issues
Lacking enough members to vote on a resolution last night that called for a constitutional amendment on meeting attendance, the Student Assembly discussed the resolution and committee activity. In order to ratify an amendment to the constitution, three-fourths of the voting members of the Assembly must pass it. Only 26 of the 29 members needed were present last night, so the resolution could not be brought to a vote. Sponsored by Ben Hill '98 and Case Dorkey '99, the attendance amendment was first presented three weeks ago and has been discussed and tabled every week since. The attendance amendment, which calls for members to lose their voting status on the Assembly if they miss a combination of three general or committee meetings each term, was altered again last week to gain more support among members. Dorkey presented changes he made to the attendance amendment and answered questions posed by Assembly members about the resolution. Changes made to the amendment include a call for attendance to be taken at the beginning and end of meetings, for an absence to be excused if the meeting's time has been changed and for members who lose their voting privileges due to absence to be allowed to retain their committee positions. Dorkey said he and Hill tried to address two sides to the attendance resolution with the changes. Dorkey said some members were concerned the amendment would take power away from the membership and internal affairs committee. He said the amendment, in its newest form, would add to the role of the membership and internal affairs committee by giving the committee the power to evaluate the status of members at the end of each term whose voting privileges had been revoked. The Assembly would retain its current rules governing removal of members which states that the committee must meet to review members and decide if a member may remain a part of the Assembly. The other issue of concern was the lack of incentive for members to attend meetings, Dorkey said. He said members will have an incentive to attend meetings if they know they will lose their voting privileges otherwise. "We are really trying to work on something the whole Assembly can vote for," Dorkey said.