Issue date: 7/24/08 Section: NEWS

Media Credit: Bo Joplin The Student Government Association held a meeting Wednesday afternoon to disscuss the elgibility of student officials, the proposed bill will be under review. PHOTO BY BO JOPLIN/NT DAILY

Media Credit: Bo Joplin The Student Government Association held a meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss amending the limitations of elected officials. Rebecca Finberg, Student Body Vice President, proposed to finance an annual leadrership event called, "All for NT, NT for All." PHOTO BY BO JOPLIN/NT DAILY

A bill proposed at Wednesday's Student Government Association meeting to allow SGA presidents to run for reelection was pushed back until the next meeting on August 6 because senators could not come to a consensus.

The SGA Consitution says the student body president cannot serve more than one term. A bill introduced by Honors College Senator Dakota Carter and SGA President Jeff Kline could place a vote to remove the requirement on the 2008 fall ballot. If passed, the measure would only apply for executives elected after this year.

"I really feel like we have a lot of good leaders in this organization," Carter said. "I don't see the problem in being elected again."

He also said the consititution is meant to be a changing document.

"If they set goals for themselves when they first came into office, let's say they didn't quite achieve those goals," said Summer Senate Speaker Robert Zamora of the College of Business. "They would want to run again to do what they sought out to do."

The constitutional section in question also contains a stipulation that a student must be part of the Student Government Association for two semesters before he or she is eligible to run for SGA president. In discussing the bill, the senators wondered if it might be better to reduce the requirement to one. They expressed a desire to avoid being 'clique-ish' while still ensuring that the president be someone who cares for the direction of the organization.

Zamora said the association feared the two-semester requirement would draw some people away because they might not want to be in longer.

Vice President Rebecca Finnberg said senators dropping out of the assocation before two semesters "is a frequent thing right now."

Arts and Sciences Senator Devin Smith said the current situation allowed for more students to be president, something he said was a good thing.



-TC Fleming

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