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Students face constitution question on ballot
UNL students will have a choice between two
forms of student government blueprints in next
week's election.
A vote for the new constitution, recently drawn
up, is actually a vote for a 15-member executive
board form of student government. A no vote is, in
effect, a vote to continue the present 35-member
senate form of student government.
A constitutional convention was called this
semester by a three-fourths majority vote of all the
elected members of the ASUN Senate. The
convention was made up of ASUN senators and
executives. Little doubt seemed to exist among
ASUN senators at that time that the present
constitution needed remodeling.
According to ASUN President Steve Fowler,
"everyone was convinced that the new constitution
was the way to go." However, it appears everyone
doesn't think the new constitution is faultless.
There is a controversy among candidates running
for ASUN executive positions as to the merit of the
revamped document.
The intention of the new constitution's authors
was "to decentralize the power in student
government and provide for greater involvement and
participation in decision making."
According to the present ASUN executives, "the
Executive Committee (three executives, speaker
protem and three senators) does most of the planning
and originating. The senate merely acts as a rubber
stamp."
Said Fowler: "This has been the general rule in
ASU N for several years."
The ASUN president said the members of the
constitutional convention felt the senate has not been
a very effective body. The size now is too large tor
in-depth discussion, he added.
Fowler said the new constitution is a more
consistent and workable document than the old one,
which he said is difficult to follow and sometimes
ambiguous.
ASUN second vice presidential candidate Doug
Voegler said too little time was spent investigating
various forms of student government. He said he is
against the new constitution because he doesn't think
it will help make student government any more
effective.
ASUN presidential candidate Bill Schwartzkopf
said he doesn't think student representation would be
as good witn trie introduction ot a 10-memoer
Executive Board. He said that the College of Arts end
Sciences would have too much power while the
smaller colleges might lose some representation.
According to ASUN Electoral Commissioner
Duane Sneddeker, seats on the board would be, as
they are now, by direct apportionment from all UNL
colleges. He said representation will depend on the
number of students enrolled in each college when
elections are held for board members.
Sneddeker said representation on the Executive
Board would probably consist of about four
representatives from the College of Arts and Sciences,
four from graduates and professionals, three from
Teachers College and one each from the other four
colleges.
Sneddeker said the Executive Board would be a
much more representative group because "as far as 1
can see now the decisions are made by the Executive
Committee. It could probably be said with tome
justice that the present senate has no function."
ASUN
Presidential candidate Steve Christensen said a
15-member Board would give one party an
opportunity to sweep the elections.
"A 15-member Board would be an elitist body,"
he added.
Minorities would lose whatever representation
they have now, he said. "We are confident that the
new constitution is going to fail."
Presidential candidates Bruce Beecher and Roy
Baldwin are both senators, and were members of the
constitutional convention that wrote the
controversial document. Baldwin supports the
adoption of the new constitution.
At a debate of ASUN presidential candidates
Wednesday, Beecher reversed his position and said he
would not vote for or support the passage of the new
constitution.
He said his major objection to the new
constitution is the provision for recall of any
executive board appointee by a two-thirds vote of the
body.
Schwartzkopf found fault in the present
constitution as well as the new. The current
constitution requires that two-thirds of the senate
vote either for or against a bill or it fails for lack of
voting.
"A lot of bills failed with 23 senators voting for
and none) against," Schwartzkopf stated.
The authors of the new constitution changed the
voting requirement. For a piece of general legislation
to pass, all that would be required would be a simple
majority of all board members present.
Chairman of the Executive Board would be elected
by other members of the Board. Sneddeker said he at
first objected to the chairman not being directly
elected by students.
"Later I became convinced that direct election of
the chairman would only encourage the same type of
senate-executive relationship we have now," he said.
If the board finds it cant work with the chairman
they can remove him and elect another board
member to tha position, he said.
Baldwin said the pew constitution's most
important advantage is changing from very strong
president to a situation in which the real power
comes from the Executive Board.
In the spring of 1989 a less revolutionary
constitution was put on the ballot but failed because
of lack of voting. With 1,273 students voting that
spring, 1,093 favored the new constitution and 154
voted against it. At least 2,700 voters were needed to
make the elections valid, but only 7.2 per cent of the
students on the Lincoln campuses voted.
That constitution's major difference from the old
one was that it would have changed senate seat
apportionment from a college system of
representation to a mixed system of at-large district
and advisory board representation.
This spring's new constitution will face the same
test as that ill-fared document did. The current
constitution has the advantage and it will win by
default if too few students vote.
The present constitution requires that a majority
vote, with at least 30 per cent of the eligible students
voting, is needed to enact a new const'tution. Or, an
affirmative vote of 15 per cent of the eligible voters
when less than 30 per cent of the eligible students
vote.
Suter moves
into ombudsman position
After only a few days in office, UNL's
new ombudsman concedes it would be
"easy to blow the whole thing."
"The situations which an ombudsman
must mediate are often emotion-charged
and delicate," said James T. Suter. "If
he's to retain credibility with the
University community, the ombudsman
must be objective and fair in his
negotiations."
Suter, associate professor of planning
and architecture, was appointed Saturday
Sutsr .. , . it could ba "easy to blow tha vSioSa ttilnj.'
by the NU Board of Regents, the result of
a drive by ASUN for the creation of an
ombudsman position.
In 532 Oldfather, students, faculty
and administrators can reveal their gripes
in strict confidence. And there will be no
forms to fill out, no administrative red
tape.
The ombudsman's role is to use
persuasion and reason to mediate
conflicts which formal University
channels have been unable to resolve,
Suter said.
"Access to information is power," he
said, and he's been assured access to all
information available to the chancellor.
Although the ombudsman can't force
members of the University community to
negotiate or accept recommendations, his
ultimate weapon lies in the public forum,
Suter added.
"The office doesn't align with any
group," he continued. It doesn't report to
the administration, students or faculty
but serves them, he said.
"The only way to serve divergent
groups' interests is to seek equity, not to
satisfy one group's needs at the expense
of anothers."
"Although often described as an
advocate, the ombudsman shouldn't be a
crusader until all the information is clear
and the alternatives are outlined. Perhaps
then he can be an advocate of a
solution," Suter said.
The proposal passed by ASUN doesn't
stipulate that the ombudsman must be a
faculty member. However, Suter said he
thinks tha ombudsman should at least
qualify for a faculty appointment.
"Unless he has taculty status, the
ombudsman can't deal with faculty,"
Suter said. He added that if a faculty
member becomes permanent
ombudsman, he'll lose credibility with
the faculty.
That's why Suter agreed to continue as
ombudsman only for the rest of this term
and next school year.
"The function and position of the
ombudsman is important, but the person
isn't important," tie said. No one should
stay in the office long enough to become
an institution, he said.
Suter was nominated for the
appointment by a search committee of
students, faculty and administrators
which solicited names from the
University community. The ombudsman
can be removed by a majority vote of the
committee.
Currently, the office is supported by
University funds, Suter said. ASUN voted
Wednesday to allocate $500 to support
the ombudsman office.
However, Suter said he would like
ASUN next year to finance five to ten per
cent of the $1 7C3 ombudsman budget
to solidify the ombudsman's independent
position, he said.
"If student input is proportionately
too little, then the aura that the office is
supported by the student body is lost,"
Suter added.
One of the few rules he's made, Suter
said, is "this office will never function so
the ombudsman is hard to reach."
Although part-time ombudsman now,
Suter said it might be a full-time job next
year, depending on the work load.
The office is open every day with a
secretary on duty at least five hours a
day. Suter is in the office Monday
mornings, all day Tuesday and
Wednesday mornings. He also intends to
have the office open in the summer.
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1972
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THE DAILYNEBRASKAN,
, PAGE. 7
