Students vote on congressional issues

April 17, 1997

Kevin Johnson / The Baylor Lartiat

Jolynna Page, an El Paso freshman, and another student vote Wednesday in the Bill Daniel Student Center. Students who did not take part in early voting may cast their ballots today at Diadeloso on the intramural fields.

By Jenni Luker

Lariat Reporter

At Thursday's elections, students will not only vote on student government candidates, but also on three questions regarding changes in student government and for the student body.

The three issues include:

Student Congress seeking approval for a constitutional amendment that will define the duties of the external vice president and the duties of the class officers not previously mentioned in the Student Body Constitution. The external vice president is responsible for communication with representatives of other universities and other public relations issues outside of student government.

Shall the graduate students be assessed the same $1 student fund fee paid by the undergraduate students? This question will appear on the graduate student ballot only.

Do you support a 75-cent increase in the $320 currently assessed general student fee to provide for every student to have their picture taken for the Baylor RoundUp?

Student Congress adds questions to the ballot in order to gather student opinion on certain issues before creating new bills.

'Any time there is a change affecting the student body we like to get imput,' said Student Congress legislative secretary Charlene Scott, a Corpus Christi freshman. 'We serve the students and our job is to find out what they want.'

Student Congress also seeks student approval for all constitutional amendments.

'Students should always be able to vote on constitutional amendments,' said Christy Rome, Student Congress legislative secretary and a Stafford sophomore.

A prospective ballot question must pass by a two-thirds majority in Student Congress before it is added to the ballot.

Other students can put a question on the ballot by making a petition and getting signatures from 10 percent of the total voters in the last election.

Once they gather signatures, the electoral commission includes the question on the ballot.