Bill may change student
representation in PSG
 By
Kurt Esposito
Assistant Campus Editor
When voting in the student body elections this
week, students can also vote on a referendum that proposes a restructuring
of Purdue Student Government, designed to make the organization more
suitable for students.
"People have negative connotations toward PSG,
both in PSG and on campus. The structure is not well-suited for students,"
said Mary Putsey, PSG senator and member of the internal review committee.
The internal review committee has recommended that
the student senate representation be based on academic schools rather
than on housing organizations, as it is now. The committee's proposals
were made after reviewing PSG to see if it was run correctly and efficiently.
Heather Higgins, student body chief justice and
member of the internal review committee, said the changes would make
the senators more accountable for their actions and more accessible
to their constituents.
She said it would also make the student councils
of the academic schools more visible because PSG would work closely
with them.
The proposed changes would allow PSG to have 26
senators, where previously there has been 50. Each academic school would
receive two seats, as would the graduate students, the Undergraduate
Studies Program and University Division. There would also be one faculty
senator.
Maarten Rothman, PSG senator, said that because
the academic-based system would give each school two seats, some seats
would be overrepresented and others would be underrepresented.
 Students
would vote for the senators from the academic schools during the student
body elections, instead of having the candidates gather signatures and
write essays.
Higgins said if the referendum is passed, PSG would
start over with a clean slate with new senators that would bring a fresh
perspective to the organization. She said the organization would redesign
its practices to benefit the students.
Rothman said the referendum is unconstitutional
because referendums are not allowed to include money matters or apportionment
records, and the court should be impeached for ratifying it.
He also said whoever obtained the 1,500 signatures
necessary for the bill to be brought up before the student court should
be impeached.
The bill was originally brought up at the PSG senate
meeting Wednesday, but the senators refused to read it because they
didn't like the way the committee members presented their findings.
Rick Ridenour, PSG senator, authored the bill that
set up the committee and said it was not given the authority to change
the constitution.
"(The members of the committee) have failed," said
Ridenour.
Putsey said the bill never specifically barred
the committee from revising the constitution and it was not able to
change the by-laws without changing the constitution first.
"You can't do one without the other. You have to
change the constitution before the by-laws," said Putsey.
Students can vote on the bill when they vote for
the student body officials Tuesday through Thursday. Students can vote
by logging onto SSINFO.
On the site, there will be a link to PSG's Web
site where students can view the current PSG constitution and the constitution
proposed by the committee.
As long as a majority of a least 2,500 students
vote in favor of the bill, it will pass. Last year's election received
over 3,000 votes.
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