MSA constitution revision would kill student vote
Published March 9, 2004
Students could have no vote in any Missouri Students Association Senate restructuring plans if a revised constitution up for discussion at the next MSA Senate meeting passes.
If the revised constitution is approved by three-fifths of the Senate and then two-thirds of the student body, the section of the current constitution regarding Senate structure would be moved to the bylaws so students would not vote on any restructuring of the Senate.
Senate Speaker Damon Ferlazzo said the change in the constitution is necessary because the Senate needs to be able to make changes quickly if the restructuring plan does not work.
"We want it to be flexible enough that if it doesn't work, we can make changes quicker than with a referendum," Engelkenjohn said.
Ferlazzo said students still would have a say in restructuring changes.
"Just because students won't vote doesn't mean they'll have no voice in the issue," he said. "There will be an open forum where students can express their concerns."
If the constitutional revision is passed, the bylaws would require three-fourths of the Senate to approve any restructuring plan, Ferlazzo said.
"It will be very scaled-down," he said. "It won't be as specific, so when changes need to be made, students do not need to make them. Most of the students do not care about Senate numbers."
The Operations Committee is working on a plan to restructure the Senate. With this change, the Senate would not need the student body to vote on any restructuring plan, Ferlazzo said.
"This will allow us to work with the numbers in Senate," Clerk Greg Chase said.
Revisions to the constitution also would change the impeachment process so the Senate could impeach the president, as it could now, but Student Court would decide the punishment or acquittal, Ferlazzo said.
"It would mimic the United States' process of removing someone from office," he said.
Chase said the current impeachment process allows the Senate to hear the impeachment trial.
"The trial will be in the hands of the Student Court, not Senate anymore," he said. "It used to only require two-thirds of the Senate to remove someone from office. We want to give everybody a fair chance."
One concern with the new impeachment process is that justices might be biased because the president appoints them.
"We would be fair and impartial," Chief Justice Natalee Binkholder said. "Technically the president appoints justices. There is a long interview process candidates go through. The president approves the candidates, but he usually doesn't know them. They are selected because of qualifications, not friendships."
Chase said the Operations Committee worked carefully to make sure they prepared the revised constitution, so it covered what the Senate needed revised.
"We're working to clarify the constitution to make sure we're covering what we want emphasis on," he said. "It's extremely hard to pass a constitutional amendment, so we want to make sure it's good the first time."
The change also would move the description of the structure and organization of the Senate and the executive branch from the constitution to the MSA bylaws.