| Summary: | Page 4, January 20,1995 the CONCORDIAN Student Association Constitution up for revision by student body Students can vote on their constitution for the first time in 12 years Meghan Lulf News Editor F or the first time in 12 years, the Concordia College Student Association Constitution stands to be revised. The SA Judicial Council, working with Student Senate and the Political Affairs Commission, has proposed several changes to the document. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Concordia students will have the opportunity to vote on these changes. Concordia's student body gave the Judicial Council the authority to change minor details, such as grammatical errors and gender-biased wording in an election held Nov. 18. The proposed revisions to go before voters next week deal with more significant changes. Work on revision of tbe Constitution began "as soon as [the Judicial Council] could get on it" said justice Erick Felsch. Felsch stated he and the other four justices, Chief Justice Katie Corwin and Justices Ted Horan, Jon Birkeland and Heather Mack, had been working on the revisions every Sunday beginning after the first block of the first semester. "We set up times that we were going to look at specific articles and we published [the times] all over campus and gave a copy to the senate and everybody in SA. If they had any suggestions or any •concerns they could come and talk to us," Felsh explained. The list of revisions fills approximately five pages, and they range from a change of definition to the dates of student senate elections. Political Affairs Commissioner Kyle Knutson is optimistic about the changes and feels that they are warranted. Knutson cited the fact that revision has not taken place in 12 years and that "there were a lot of little things that needed to be updated" as a reason for constitutional review. For example, the revisions could eliminate a Student Concerns Board that has not been in existence since 1991. One of the major proposed constitutional changes has to do with Campus Ministries. Article 4 of the constitution deals explicitly with Campus Ministries, detailing the several changes concerning selection of Campus Ministry Commissioners, their terms, powers and budgets of Campus Ministries. Knutson sees these changes as "benefiting everyone [in the student body]" and believes the revisions "will cause a lot less controversy." Not every proposed revision is as simple as new budgets or appointment provisions. One controversial revision is election dates for Student Senators. The revision seeks to incorporate same-day senate and presidential elections. Some members of the Judicial Council fear that same-day elections would force candidates to choose between running for one position when they might be competent for both. Chief Justice Katie Corwin says another reason she feels that same-day elections would not be beneficial is if this change occured, senators could vote on election by-laws,. possibly changing polling procedures from one year to the next "I don't think we should have something so inconsistent with such a big issue," Corwin said. On the other side of the debate, many feel that tbe change would benefit election procedures. Knutson advocates that "[this revision] will greatly increase voter turnout and greatly keep the students interested in what is going on." More than one legislative change has been proposed. Besides changes dealing with election dates, election terms will also be on the ballot . The amended Constitution, if ratified, would read "[senators] will serve a 12-month term from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in March." Knutson describes the time put into revising the Student Association Constitution as "time spent benefiting the students." To have a say in tbe changes, students may vote Jan. 25. The voting times are: Knutson Center, 8 ajn.- 6:30 pjn.; Grant Center, during lunch and supper. photo by Kirsten Winters Richard Purrington performs in Concordia's speech meet last weekend. if&fott. D ittne of The CMconttiM, a story was cooceraing the popularity increase of May Seminar Socia Bit* waa audited tt Tell Us What's Happening! The Concordian is always looking for news. Hey! That's our job. Make it your's too. Tell us what you know. A hot tip, a scandalous story. Or write a story. The Concordian F.RO. 104,299-3826 Concordia Speech Team Results On the weekend of January 6-7, the Concordia College speech team traveled to a speech tournament at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, After driving through a mild blizzard of snow and wind, and a mild blizzard of billboards congratulating the Cornhuskers on their national championship in football, the results were as follows: Eric Wolffs senior, placed 1st in Informative Speaking and 5th in Impromptu Speaking. Sarah Jones, senior, made it to the semifinaJs of Prose Interpretation. ^ Jason Edwards, junior, placed 6th in Communication Analysis, Rick Purrington, sophomore, placed 2nd in ^ Dramatic Interpretation, and 3rd in Duo with Travis Boerboora. *• - ^ < Kansas State University, Wichita State University, the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, and the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. Results at Concordia's tournament were as follows: Sarah Jones, senior, placed 5th in 'Duo with Tmyte Boerboom. Rick Purrington, sophomore, placed 5th in Prose Interpretation. Travis Boerboora, sophomore, placed 4th in Poetry Interpretation and 5th in Duo with Sarah Jones. The jeesults at the Moorhead State Tournament were as follows: Eric Wolflf, senior, placed 1st in Informative Speaking, 1st in After-dinner Speaking, and 1st in Extemporaneous Speaking. Sarah Jones; senior, made it to the semifinals of Prose Interpretation. Natalie DiebU junior* placed 4tfc in Monaative Speaking, \ \ -\o - Nathan Schuetze^ freshman, placed 5tJ*% Informative Speaking and made it to ials * ^ s . l#$•3&!& m. ^ g ra^nmfiSS; m *to* WlO»' feglifinals of Pros^ l i ^ ^ i m ^ n ^ HR v^Concordia^s teara placed third overall behind* ^ On the •weekend of Jaw _ Concordia College speech team hosted ffie sTalk of the Tundra speech tournament which ^ Kansas State University and the University s Vas immediately followed by a tournament of Wfeconsin-Eau Claire. at Moorfeead State University, Tbe back-to- % back tournaments were well attended by -1 regional colleges and universities, including^
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