University of Virginia Library

Division Of Power

Furthermore, any referendum must be held
on the request of 5 per cent of the degree
applicants. If a majority of the voting students
then approve an issue on the referendum, their
decision is binding upon the class officers and
representatives.

Another facet of the constitution that seems
to be mildly reformative is the division of
power between the finance committee and the
executive board.

Last year, too many decisions were made
concerning financial expenditures by the
officers. $3000 for 30 people at two parties did
not seem to be in the best interests of the
majority of the class.

Under the new constitution, there would be
two decision-making bodies and this would help
to alleviate any question of conflict-of-interest
or poor judgment. Furthermore, the class
financial records would be audited by a
commerce student and would be public
knowledge.

Unfortunately, there are certain faults that
one can see in the proposed constitution.

One glaring mistake seems to be in the
appointment of graduate class representatives
by the president of each school rather than the
election of representatives. Since the presidents
of the schools are also members of the honor
committee, this added responsibility throws
them into the political arena of class
government.