Mirror - Vol. 26, No. 10 - November 30, 2000

              TheMirror
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY
Volume 26,Number 10 www.fairfieldniirror.com Thursday, November 30,2000
Senate sends constitution to students
Fairfield undergraduates to vote on Senate approved revisions on Dec. 5
M^M
ByAli Moonan
STAFFWRITER
Creating a programming board to
bringbetter concerts and movies to cam-pus.
Electingpresidentsofeach class at
Fairfield. Involvingmore people in stu-dent
government.
These are only some ofthe changes
thatwill take place, supporters say, ifstu-dents
approve a new Fairfield Univer-sity
StudentAssociation (FUSA) consti-tution
in voting expected to be held De-cember
5.
"The new constitution is being writ-ten
for the students, giving them more
ofa chance to be involved," said Ken
Dunaj '02, co-author ofthe new consti-tution
alongwithAmandaBetz '02.
FUSApresident Kevin Hayes shared
Dunaj's enthusiasm, adding,"The new
constitution will open FUSAup to the
student body. ...It's something I've
wantedto seehappensince Iwas afresh-man"
The constitution, approved 22-2 by
theFUSASenate onTuesdaynight, still
has to be approved by Hayes andWill-iam
SchimpfVice President ofStudent
Affairs. But their approval was ex-pected,
pavingthewayfor the votingon
Dec. 5.
FUSAofficers said the voting site is
still to be determined.
At aninformational meetingonTues-day
night, many concerns were ex-pressedbythe
public concerningthenew
constitution. Betz, Dunaj andHayes an-swered
the manyquestions concerning
the constitution and clarified several is-sues.
Under the revised constitution:
* The annual election ofstudent posi-tions
shifts fromJanuary toApril, effec-tive
in 2001.
*Aprogrammingbranch is being cre-ated,
whichwillbein charge ofthemany
activities FUSAsponsors. This allows
people in charge ofactivities, such as
major concerts and dances, to put all of
their effort in planningthese events.
* Separate presidents, vice presidents
and treasurers of all classes will be
elected bypopular vote.
* Three new branches will be formed:
executive, legislative andprogramming.
Within these three branches, duties will
be divided equallyamongmembers ac-cording
to theirjob description, so there
is no confusion overwho is in charge of
what
*Anelection code will be implemented.
Right now, an election commission is
elected each year, and they create new
Photo:Ali Moonan
SenatorKenneth Dunaj V2 (left),Vice President ofSenateAmandaBetz *02 (center)
and FUSAPi-esidentKevinHayes'01(right)discussI,TJSAsnew(institution with the senateonTuesdayevening.
rules to hold theelections. Thenewelec-tion
code will provide stability and con-sistency
inFUSAelections.
FUSA is also looking to join other
universities across the nation byupdat-ing
the FUSAwebsite and putting the
constitution on the internet, makingit
easily accessible to all.
Betz and Dunaj stressed that the pro-posed
constitution will affect the student
body. One majorjob was to get more
Foracopyofthenew
FUSAconstitutkm,visit
www&irfiddmimKOQm
students involved, supporters said.
"More students will have the opportu-nity
to run for office,"Hayes added.
Itwas hard togauge student reactions
tothe constitutional changesbecausethe
documentwas still being revisedTues-day
night. FUSAhas made little effort
to publicize the constitutional changes.
However,manycurrent senatorswere
enthusiastic Allison Goodwin '04 swho
upports the new constitution. "[Asa
freshman] it will affect us the most,"she
said. The new constitution is "more
readerfriendly to the studentbody/'said
Goodwin. Jordan Schibler'03 agreed.
"FUSA needed the change," he said.
"[The new constitution] is balancing
everything out."
"It's more cut and dry too. Ifpeople
have a problem they can come and look
at the constitution," said Betz.
Former FUSA president
criticizes proposedchanges
ByAliMoonan
STAFFWRITER
One ofthe authors ofthe current
FUSAconstitutionwarnsthat proposed
changes to provide more elected posi-tions
and voting for a slate ofstudents
"couldbe divisive rather than unifying."
"People aren't going to necessarily
know what they are voting for," said
MarkReed '96, formerFUSApresident.
Hebelieves thatwhile the FUSApresi-dent
and senators should be decided by
popular vote, many other positions
shouldbe appointed by the president to
provide a trusting relationship within
FUSA
"I think the president, in order to be
effective, has to have the power to ap-pointvice
presidents andthe treasurer,"
said Reed, who currently serves as the
assistant director for annual giving at
Fairfield.
Reed also warns ofhaving too many
See"REED"onp.2
COMPARINGTHECONSTITUTIONS
Underthecurrentconstitution:
t/ Three branches: executive, legislative andjudicial
• ManyFUSApositions appointed, such as Senate president
%/ No set election code
%/ Constitution ratified every five years
Underthenewconstitution:
i/ Three branches: executive, legislative and progranitning
• Manv FUSA positions elected
nted
This Week... Campus Life
20 questions with
BarbaraAskew
seepage3
Commentary
NewFUSAconstitution
a big secret?
seepage4
A&E
Bela Fleckimpressive
at Quick Center
seepage6
Sports
Hockey breaks
Quinnipiac's
win streak
seepage8