Congress Could Limit CAA Power

Student Congress' Rules and Judiciary Committee passed a bill to amend the CAA's constitution, while the Student Affairs Committee passed two resolutions to censure the organization's top officials and CAA President Tee Pruitt.

A censure would publicly air concerns and could prompt further investigations but would not adversely affect students' personal records.

The three pieces of legislation will go before the entire Congress next Tuesday and could become part of the Student Code with a majority vote.

Congress Speaker Alexandra Bell said the bill and the resolutions are not intended to attack the CAA but are designed to reduce the amount of power held within the hands of the organization's leadership. "CAA is run like a dictatorship right now," she said. "(The legislation) is not hurting the CAA in any way. This is making it more accountable to students."

Support for the suggested examination of the CAA was given by Board of Elections Vice Chairman Fred Hill, who claims the board discovered tangible evidence of corruption within the CAA and also cited personal experience with misconduct in ticket distribution practices.

Debate on the bill to codify the constitution focused on whether to make the CAA more accountable by requiring its appointments and procedures to be subject to the approval of Student Congress.

Rules and Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Sarah Marks, who introduced the bill, said the suggested changes to the CAA constitution were derived from the constitution of the executive branch of student government, which the CAA and Student Congress fall under as members of the legislative branch. "We have taken nothing away from CAA," she said. "We have given them a framework to work within that we use ourselves."

But Student Body Treasurer Patrick Frye said Congress does not have jurisdiction under the Student Code to influence Cabinet appointments. "Tee Pruitt is an officer of the student body, but no one else in CAA is," he said. "You can't approve Tee's Cabinet any more than you can approve the executive's Cabinet. It's on equal footing with you."

A fourth piece of legislation -- a resolution calling for a congressional investigation of the CAA -- was rejected because the new session of Congress convenes in two weeks.

Although Bell said the bill to amend the constitution focuses on reforming the practices of future CAA administrations, current CAA officials came under fire when Congress member Tony Larson proposed the censure of the current CAA and Pruitt. "We're hoping to clear the entire bucket of worms and let students know what's really been going on," Larson said. "Hopefully, we'll set up a fresh start for (CAA President-elect) Reid Chaney."

Larson said the resolutions could not directly reform the practices of the CAA but would serve as a call to action for student offices such as those of the student attorney general and the executive branch to investigate and possibly prosecute CAA officials.

But Congress member Carey Richter expressed concern that the resolution attacked the practices of Pruitt too harshly in the absence of substantial evidence. "We have to be very careful because this is the same thing the Honor Court is getting into trouble for. This is not a game."

Richter voted in favor of both resolutions, however, saying that serious debate should be reserved for next Tuesday's meeting. "Voting in favor here just allows this to be fully examined by Congress," she said. "And it deserves to be examined."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.