The Graduate Student Association decided to rescind its approval for the Joint Associated Student Council and Graduate Student Association Special Elections Bylaws during a meeting April 25. Due to the decision, the expansion fee referendum is currently to be run, with the wording approved by A.S. Council and GSA, without a set of bylaws.

“”This does not affect the University Centers Expansion Referendum from going forward since both groups approved the referendum also,”” said University Centers Expansion Task Force chair Garo Bournoutian. “”Bylaws are not necessary to run a special election, although it would have been nice to have some.””

The GSA’s repeal of its approval came after the bylaws were passed last week and questions of its constitutionality were brought up. The GSA meeting on April 25 was due to some uncertainty about the hurried manner that the bylaws and some amendments were passed.

“”Since we were up against a deadline to approve some bylaws to run the election, we decided to approve them the way they were, and set an expiration date so that the bylaws will be reconsidered before they are used again,”” said UCETF GSA representative Andrew Cosand.

Cosand said that the bylaws that the GSA had originally passed conflict with its constitution. Cosand said that, according to the GSA constitution, a quorum and majority of graduate students are required for a ballot measure to be binding. Cosand said he found the bylaws to be inconsistent with the constitution because it would have allowed a measure to be binding according to a campuswide quorum and majority.

“”Rather than have the referendum go to a vote under questionable bylaws and possibly cause legal problems later, we decided to let it run as a normal and not an A.S./GSA election,”” Cosand said.

The GSA has also created a new task force, which will look into the bylaws for future use. The task force includes three GSA representatives and will also be extended to three A.S. representatives.

“”The purpose of the task force is to take a look at the bylaws and see what would be required to make it OK with the constitution so that it would be approved,”” said GSA Vice President for Finance Lee Lovejoy.

One of the amendments that were originally added into the bylaws required 15 percent of undergraduates and graduates to sign a petition if students wanted to add to the referendum.

However, because the amendments cannot be applied to the upcoming referendum, it is unclear whether students will be able to turn in such a petition in order to add to the referendum.

One petition that has been in circulation is for the addition of a Student Facilities Board to the expansion fee referendum. The board, which would have been made up entirely of students, would run and maintain the current University Centers facilities, and plan and build future facilities. Proponents for a SFB say that about 2,000 signatures have already been collected.

Thurgood Marshall College senior Diana Schwartz is one student who supports the petition and expressed concern about who would control the fees.

“”People have always had contentions with the fee referendum because they don’t give students autonomy,”” Schwartz said. “”[The petition is] a call for student control and not about the amount of money but who has authority regarding it.””

The petition would have also called for all student fees previously collected by the University Centers Advisory Board and all rent income it generates to be directed to the new board.

However, University Centers Director Gary Ratcliff expressed concerns about such a petition.

“”There are issues of governance that haven’t been looked at carefully,”” Ratcliff said. “”It seems that the pros and cons of various approaches weren’t considered.””

According to Lovejoy, it is currently not a part of the constitution to have a law where students could add to a ballot through a petition.

“”Graduate students who feel that the GSA should take some action or who are concerned about a particular issue should speak with their department representative or one of the GSA executives,”” Lovejoy said.