Reform Bills Bolster Council's Credibility

This coming Sunday night, the Undergraduate Council will have an opportunity to redeem itself from its historic irrelevancy. After unnecessary delays, three bills are scheduled to come to the floor of the council's weekly meeting which, when combined, will grease the political machine so as to make it more responsive to voters.

The first and most significant bill is actually called the "Council Size-Reducing Constitutional Amendment Resolution"--a grand name for a simple concept: cut the number of representatives. Currently, there are more spaces available for seats on the council than there are candidates to run for those seats. At best, a house's political field will be contested so that only one or two candidates do not get the positions for which they vie. By cutting the number of available positions, the council can hope for competitive district elections in upcoming races.

The second step away from legislative ineptitude involves making the council's leadership less protected by the privileges of incumbency. Up for debate on Sunday is "The Moderator Bill," which we support. Although we realize that the council president currently has the power to cede the chair during meetings, we feel that a technocratic moderator ought to be in charge of the weekly meetings in the style of the British Parliament. We do not believe that this will depoliticize the meetings' agenda to a great extent, but we do think that this will encourage more substantial debate and discussion than currently exists.

The third step toward relevancy is called "The Recall Reform Bill." This bill is intended to expedite the "recall," or removal, of a council executive. So if the council president does something politically unpopular, he or she can be removed after a petition supported by 10 percent of the electorate and a subsequent two-thirds majority of voting undergraduates. This is still a high hurdle for removal from executive office, but if an issue so excites the populace that the removal of a council officer becomes expedient, we support the ability of the student body to remove said officer.

In the interests of a more relevant and representative student government that is imbued with the spirit of popular democracy, we urge the council to pass the above-named reform bills.