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Show New Added to Student Constitution By-La- ws by Bill Kilpack Forum editorial assistant The ASWC constitution approval process continues with the drafting of new to supplement the document. When you vote, youre voting for the by-la- whole package constitution and s, said JefTS wanson, ASWC speaker of legislative assembly and chairman of the Student Governance Task Force appointed by President Dick to write a new ASWC by-law- constitution. When the new Senates elected, it is possible that they could change the in their first meeting, Swanson said. This makes the current version of the necessary only for the election of new Senate officers, not necessarily as a permanent part of student government. The are five pages in the current draft, prior to approval by the task force. No ones gone through and edited it outline yet, Swanson said. The how Senate representatives will be selected, according to major and the number of students of the major. To qualify for a Senate position, according to this draft of the new by-la- by-la- by-la- by-la- ws by-law- s, a student must be enrolled in six regular semester hours, or three graduate semester hours and have a cumulative GPA of 2.5. also include job The vice president and the for descriptions the of Senate, Swanson said, as president well as simple things that everyone who is a senator has to do. To form a quorum, there must be at least one more than 50 percent of the total number of senators present, according to In the old constitution the new and it was all convoluted. We shortened it and stuck it all together, by-la- by-law- s. by-la- Swanson said. The document also outlines the four standing committees, rules, budget, elections and Student Activities Commission (SAC). The Elections Committee has a Senate chair and any other members could be ASWC members. SAC will also have an unofficial SAC board, made up of the vice president and the chairmen of the various SAC subcommittees so it doesnt have to be controlled by the rest of student government, Swanson said. Vacancies in office are covered in the s, such as what should be done in the by-law- event of a vacancy. If vacancies occur in appointed offices, then new people must be nominated and approved by the Senate. If vacancies occur in elected offices, such as president and vice president, then new student body elections must be held. The problem of recall is covered in the delineating the process needed to be followed to call for a new election if an elected officer is not doing hisher respective job, Swanson said. To do so, it is necessary to obtain a number of signatures equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the election being questioned. If a Senate position is under recall, then signatures equal to 10 percent of the members in the major being represented need to be obtained. This may change before the students ballot on the and constitution, Swanson said. To impeach an officer, legislation must be brought before the Senate and approved by those senators with a majority vote to even hold ahearing. Thats just like itis in the United States Congress, Swanson said. You could be impeached for breaking campus rules orregulations,hesaid. After the impeachment procedures have been followed, a majority vote is nec by-law- s, by-la- two-thir- Westminster Students Fight by Laurie Weed Forum staff writer Student volunteers from Westminster have joined the American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU) in a frantic fight against the proposed restrictive abortion law in Utah. House bill 68 and Senate bill 23 were pushed through the Senate unexpectedly early in the session, catching many protesters off guard. ACLU representative Sharon Smith has been working to involve Westminster students, in spite of warnings that Westminsters diverse student body does not usually offer mass support to one cause. Smith was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the response. Students have been overwhelmingly angry about this, Smith saidof the proposed law. It would not allow abortion except in cases of reported rape or incest, threat to the mothers life, or severe fetal deformity. CoaliAlthough the Utah tion has known about the proposed law for some time, their organized protests were planned around the second half of the legislative session. A rally on Jan. 26 at the capitol was planned to gather protesters before the Pro-Choi- ce ds actual voting began, but the assumption that controversy over the abortion issue would mean a delay proved wrong. A sudden change in scheduling put the abortion bills on the table Jan. 22. The lawmakers did that on purpose, Smith said. They thought we would be distracted by the Gulf War and wouldnt pay attention to what theyre doing. Its sad that we have committed our troops to dying for the freedom of Kuwait, yet we cant commit to fighting for our own freedom here. A meeting of the Coalition was held at Westminster Jan. 17. The Pro-Choi- Scholarship Act to Benefit Nursing Students There is a nation-wid- e shortage of nurses. The classified ads are full of nursing positions offering benefits ranging from student loan repayment to child care. The legislature is currently considering twobills that would offer financial assistance to nursing students. With all this attention focused on a single profession, why does this shortage exist? Accor ding to Dr . Imogene Rigdon, dean of nursing at Westminster, there is no single answer. As a traditionally feminine profession, nursing often does not gamer the respect or the salary range that many other professions do. Women havent been valued for the said gifts they have given the world, so and have turned to more Rigdon, masculine professions such as engineering and business. Additionally, patients are being discharged from hospitals much earlier than they used to be, so the demand home-car- e nursing has increased dramatically. The subsequent nursing shortage has reinforced the professions importance to a health care system. This strong, well-ru- n renewed respect, coupled with rising salaries, has caused a resurgence of nursing school applicants. This brings to light a new problem: there are not enough qualified nurses able to train the increasing number of students. A nursing instructor must have at least a masters degree in order to teach. However, many registered nurses are reluctant to go into education for monetary reasons. While beginning nursing salaries have steadily been on the rise, the salaries of nursing educators have remained fairly constant House bill No. 24 is designed to encourage nursing school graduates to enroll in a masters or doctorate programs. The Nurse Scholarship Act would provide financial assistance to 18 qualified students wishing to continue their education in a graduate nursing program approved by the state. The recipient couldreceive up to $7500 peryear in exchange foragreeingto practice nursing in a needed specialty area in the state for term of two years. The needed specialty areas would include educating future nursing students as well as practicing in rural, the state. under-staffe- d areas throughout Westminster currently admits 75 percent of its nursing school applicants. Of the remaining 25 percent, some of those are turned away due to a lack of qualified nursing instructors. Rigdons goal is to help students become the heart and soul of the nursing practice, through individualized instruction and the nurturing environment that small classes are able to offer. For this reason, she is reluctant to increase the ratio. the Nurse Scholarship Rigdon supports Act. While Westminster does not have a graduate nursing program, and so would not be directly affected, Rigdon believes that the Nurse Scholarship Act would benefit the profession as a whole. student-to-facult- y by-la- 20-2- 25-2- 6 Bill students who attended volunteered their time andideasfor organizingsupporters on campus. In addition to the petition table in Shaw, a table was set up in Gore during night classes. We have had hundreds of students sign petitions, Smith said. In Oregon, college students were responsible for stopping restrictive abortion bills from becoming laws. We can do that here. The first public meeting concerning the abortion bills washeld Monday, Jan 21, at the capitol. Both Pro-Lif- e and were groups The sponsors of the bills believe well-represente- ce r , for by-law- s. Anti-Aborti- on i by Mari Herold Forum staff writer essary to remove an officer from position. Prior to student ballot, the task force members will have one final meeting to go Student Affairs and through the Enrollment Management Committee of the Board of Trustees will vote on the conon Feb. 15; it will stitution and then go to the faculty Student Life Committee at their next meeting after that and approval must be obtained by the Executive Board right before the student ballot, Swanson said. Balloting will be at the end of February, right before Winter Break. If approved, elections for next years 1 officers will be March for primaries, for general elections, and March Swanson said. That gives us seven days before awards night in case if someone recalls the election. The Student Governance Task Force has been holding biweekly and weekly meetings since June of 1990. As far as the total hours put in, I dont know. Its a hell of a lot," Swanson said. With the new constitution, student government will actually work, rather than existing in a state of confusion until December, he said. Pro-Choi- ce d. that the rights of the unborn are being ignored under current laws, which allow abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks, and under most circumstances up to 24 weeks. The Coalition argues that more restrictive laws will not stop abortion, but will force women to seek illegal and unsafe abortions instead. Its not a question of whether or not there will be abortion. Its a question of whether there will be safe abortion, said Sen. Karen Shepherd, one of the few legislators who openly opposes the bill. The Senate voted Jan. 22 and 23. The bill passed by a majority, and passed through the House Jan. 24 with surprising speed. It is generally accepted that the Senate is more conservative and the bill was not expected to fly so quickly through the House, according to Eric Dodd, Senate intern. Gov. Bangerter announced he will veto the bill because it is not constitutional, but ACLU believes he is committed to passing a re strictive abortion law that can withstand legal challenge. Smith said she hopes with the support of Westminster students, the Coalition can let the governor know that Pro-Choi- ce Pro-Choi- ce Continued on Page 2 Column 3 |