Changes to constitution underway

Summer Yates, design editor

The Legislative Committee is mending the Associated Student Body Constitution in efforts to increase accuracy and solidify the document’s authority.

“We are not changing the structure of our organization or the way we function. We’re making it better,” David Vazquez, Vice President of Legislation and Finance, said.

As it stands, the constitution is clouded with several grammatical errors and inaccuracies in terms of duties and functions. Due its instability, Vazquez said the document was not concrete.

“Last year we picked and chose when we followed it,” he said, specifying office hours and annual reports from class presidents. “You’re not going to want to follow something if it is incorrect.”

For example, when the school’s administration restructured their department, they eliminated Dean of Students, a position cited in the constitution, yet delegated the Dean’s responsibilities to other members. To prevent drafting a new constitution every time the university restructures a department, the revised constitution will use language specific to that role, yet allow for it to adapt.

“[If we] keep changing the constitution, it loses its sense of validity,” Vazquez said. “I don’t want someone else to have to do this again and again and again.”

In addition, the revised constitution will officially name the government, something the existing constitution lacks. Once ratified, the title will be Associated Student Body Government.

The Legislative Committee, consisting of Vazquez, Male Facilities Representative and senior Daniel Cook, and Sophomore Class President Ellie Kaiser, have met every Wed. from 4-5 p.m. to discuss the document page by page.

When the committee is finished, the constitution will be proposed to the student council first, student body second, and administration last. A majority vote is required by the student council, made up of the ASB Executive Board, class presidents and the commuter and facility representatives, and one-fourth of the student body must approve.

As protector of the constitution, as stated in his job description, it is Vazquez’s responsibility to see these changes mended.

“[The constitution] allows ASBg to know [their] duties and holds ASBg accountable to the student body,” Vazquez said.

The constitution was last amended under former president, Brandon Milla. Milla rewrote much of the document in spring 2007, restructing much of how the government operated. The new changes were implented the next year.

Vazquez predicts the revised constitution will be ready for approval by the student body by the end of the semester. The new constitution will be put into effect immediately upon approval.

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EDITORIAL: Students Called to Action

Nicole White

Nicole White

I was told recently, “The students are the most powerful voice on campus—they just don’t realize it.”
Part of the duties of this newspaper—as “Your Voice” is to open up those lines of dialogue. Our wish is to be the go-between, helping the administration engage us in conversation. I will be the first to say, the administration has taken steps toward this. These are very capable people working on our behalf, and I believe they truly do have the school’s best interests at heart. However, the issues we raise and the apprehensions we present are valid and they are real. Our voice needs to be not only heard, but legitimately considered.
Do you feel your concerns are being heard? Are they being addressed? This newspaper is your tool to exert ownership over your right to share information and opinions concerning it. I understand the immense burden the VP’s and other administration are carrying right now and the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the day to address all parties. However, the louder your voice, the more of a priority you become.
This is not a rant to complain, but it is a call to action—for you, the student body. Your right to know and understand certain workings of this institution should be a priority. The Voice should be the outlet for much of that information. This is your paper and this is your school.
In some ways The Voice will only be as good as you require it to be . . . it is the same with Vanguard as a whole. While some of you sit passively by, huge changes are happening in our school. Some of those updates are given to you in our news pages here in this issue. But there is a lot being said that requires insightful reading-between-the-lines to get past the political correctness and feel-good ambiguity. The refusal of many to grant interviews or give statements about issues on campus has been a seemingly insurmountable hurdle for this newspaper from the beginning.
We are not the paper of two or three years ago. There have been vast changes and great improvements. We have worked hard to create more of what you want to read with increased credibility and professionalism. To continue improving, though, The Voice needs the cooperation of the administration, the faculty and the staff. We need to be taken seriously. Our job is to provide you, the student body, with news. That service should not be taken lightly, nor should our ability to fulfill that need with integrity and professionalism.
I am facing the end of my time at Vanguard. Come May I will have my degree in hand and face the big, bad world to start my “real life.” As excited as I am about that, it’s also with a little wistfulness that I leave Vanguard.
For all its faults, I love this school and have appreciated the community and heart of service I find all over campus. Vanguard has given me the opportunity to grow—enabling me to more fully understand a God I knew of, but never knew intimately. It gave me the chance to ambitiously pursue my goals of becoming a journalist while learning continually from what could have been better.
Vanguard has also shown me to require more than mediocrity and to hate complacency. Yes, this is a time of transition, and honestly, healing from the lies and secrets of past year’s hurts. We can’t expect to not feel the pain. But the pain from the healing process needs to be explained and it needs to be understood. It is here at Vanguard that I have learned to really stand up and be counted. I have gained a deeper appreciation for asking the tough questions and pushing for answers—even those that are hard to hear.
I hope you, like me, can look back on this year and see the ground we have covered. This was a stretching year for both the institution and The Voice. I will be sad to leave the Voice’s little cave up in the Comm. Lab and the inspiring tranquility I find walking around campus. I pray the role The Voice plays in the workings of this campus and the outlet it provides for your cares and concerns continues to grow and improve.