University of Virginia Library

Students To Elect
Council President

By Donn Kessler
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, April
28 and 29, the student body as a whole
for the first time will elect a President
and Vice-President of the Student
Council.

The change in the election procedures
is only one of three basic changes in the
Council constitution which is just taking
effect. The revised constitution was
approved by the student body in voting
which took place last semester.

Former System

Previously, all Student Council
officers, President and Vice-President
included, were elected by the outgoing
Council members, by a majority vote, in
that Council's last official meeting.
However, dissatisfaction with that system
led to efforts to reform the electoral
process.

Kevin Mannix, Vice-President of the
Student Council and the only candidate
for President of Council, stated that this
change would help to unify all the
schools under two students who could
represent all the students' views. This reform,
he explained, would make the President and
Vice-President more responsible to the students
and their opinions.

Previously, Mr. Mannix explained, the
President of Council could feel more
responsible to the Council and to the school he
represented than to the student body because
the student body as a whole never really elected
him.

In the second basic constitutional reform,
the office of the President was further
strengthened by the increase of the term of
office from one semester to two semesters, and
by the added power of the President to appoint
assistants with the approval of Council.

Long Term Advantages

Mr. Mannix explained that the longer term
of office would allow the President to continue
any actions or changes that he or the Council
had begun.

He also stated that these appointments
would almost allow the creation of a cabinet to
implement Council legislation. In past years,
explained Mr. Mannix, it has been hard to
implement Council bills and decisions because
of a lack of manpower.

The third basic change is an increase in the
number of Council representatives from 23 to
25 in addition to the President and
Vice-President. The additional members will
come from the College which will now have 11
representatives instead of the previous number
of nine.

Increase Equity

Mr. Mannix stated that the two additional
representatives would make the apportionment
more equitable. He added that the College has
been underrepresented for the past few years.

Figures indicate that as of last month, the
College, under the old constitution, had one
Council representative for every 412 students.
The School of Commerce, however, has one
student on Council who represents 186
students and the Nursing School has one
representative serving its 276 students.

Under the new constitution, the College
would have on Council a representative for
every 337 College students.

Any students in the University can vote for
President and Vice-President of the Student
Council next week. In the Judiciary Committee
elections, which will take place at the same
time, students can only vote for candidates
from their respective schools.