The Whitworthian

Issue date: 2/27/07 Last Updated: 8/9/07

Thomas Robinson/Whitworthian ASWC Executive Vice President Andrea Naccarato, Ballard senator Amy Moos and Warren senator Caroline Davis discuss changes to the ASWC constitution last week during a subcommittee meeting.

Students will have the opportunity to vote March 5 on significant changes to the ASWC constitution. The Assembly voted to bring the proposal to students with a 17-1 vote, after spending two days with the proposal under intense revision and scrutiny in subcommittee.

Students will also vote on an amendment on March 5. The Assembly passed the amendment with a vote of 18-0.

The constitutional revisions must be ratified by two-thirds of all students who vote according to the current ASWC constitution.

The last time the ASWC constitution changed was in 2002 according to the ASWC Web site. Last year, ASWC passed a change to the constitution that students ultimately rejected.

Whitworthian editor-in-chief and senior Peter Smelser proposed the representation system that reshapes the organization based on zones.

The zone system eliminates senator positions. All elected members aside from the President, Executive Vice President and the Financial Vice President would instead be called representatives.

Representatives would come from three different areas. There would be six voting members for on-campus zones, three for off-campus and three at-large voting members. In addition, the senior class coordinator would still be hired, but would have a vote in the assembly.

Zone one consists of McMillan, Ballard and Schumacher Halls; zone two, Warren Hall; zone three, Baldwin-Jenkins plus all freshman Village dorms; zone four, Arend Hall; zone five, Stewart and Boppell Halls and zone six, Duvall Hall.

One change the proposal poses is less representation. Five positions would be lost.

Smelser said he believes the campus is currently over represented. One voting member currently represents 110 students. Under the proposed system, there would be approximately 150 on-campus students represented for every voting member.

"There are student governments at larger schools that have as many voting members as we do, and we only have around 2,000 undergrads," Smelser said.

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