This is not

By Carolyn Ryan 7

To the blissfully'innocent, impeachment is something on

the level of this:

“It's what your digestive system does When you eat a fruit salad made settlement avec des padres. ‘ - ‘

“It impeaches it.” - ' ' .. ~

Sorry, Watson. Truly sorry. I mean,"heartbioken. r

Impeachment means punishing an office-holdenfor no fulfilling his 'or her, duties, or for active wrongdoing, by removing himor her from the position. '

Thus, impeachment is a nasty word to those in office and a comfort to those outside.

When the threat of impeachment is used wisely, it can ensure that a student politician remains just scared enough and just concerned enough to function in the role students have placed him in.

And it can ensure that an obviously inept elected leader isn’t stuck in a position of authority for a full disastrous term.

Also, it helps students to feel that they can call their governors to account (and why not — it’s true) if they aren’t being represented properly.

However, in the last week, UPEI seems to have gotten a sudden overdose of impeachment fever.

And what’s more, it isn’t the members of the silent student body who are doing it to the Student Union Council.

Councillors are doing it all by themselves.

If you still don’t know what this editorial is talking about, please go refresh your memories on page 1.

Sunday night, right? Council voting to overrule its own constitution as one observer said, “its reason for existing”.

The meeting being dissolved.

The meeting been reconvened ten minutes later. .

Mike Connolly getting the axe for missing four meetings this year. 7 ' '

Kent MacKay resigning because Councillors won’t apply other clauses of the constitution to,themselves and resign gracefully.

Kenny Baker being asked to resign because he’s officially not an active member of the Student Union.

Hard feelings and frustrations lying all over the floor when the meeting finally ends.

In fact, about the only thing we can be truly grateful for is that the candidates running for executive who made their speeches on Monday had the decency not to try to make the mess an election issue, and left it to be sorted out by time.

It may need more than time.

It may need some fundamental changes in the constitutional attitude of the Student Union Council.

True, a reworked, clarified constitution has been pre- sented to Council for examination, but the issues of contention here remain in the new package.

The University of Prince Edward Island Student Union Council has decide if it wants to continue the irresponsible carefree bending of the constitutional terms which was so characteristic of previous Councils, or if it wants to branch out into being strictly legal, subsection-abiding, above-board, and responsible.

And if it happens that the Council (of which I am a dis- couraged member, if it makes any difference) cannot come to a decision, well

Referendum, anyone?

.. The Netted Gem

LETTERS‘

announced that Mike Con- nolly was impeached because he had missed four meetings of the Council.

I fully supported Mike Trainor in his decision to make Mike Connolly aware of his impeachment.

I also discovered at this meeting that I and the other five student Senators on Council has also violated a clause in the constitution of the Student Union which requires each student Senator

One Senator’s posmon Dear Constituents:

As many of you must know, the last meeting of the Student Union Council, on the fourth of March, was a very stormy and confusing one.

The controversy began when Speaker Mike Trainor

March 9, 1984

W "re still here. Are you still there? Strange, isn’t it, that you know _ who are, or at least our names, and we don’t know many of you? Life is bizarre that way. Don’t cry, please. We are still not resigned to that as an inevitability. Yup, we’re still waiting for you to join us. And who are we? We are the “People called Intrepid”, Jonathan Orlowski, Joanne MacKinnon, Parker Grimmer, Ruth Edgett, Mickey Place, Sharon Leighton, Haward Beattie, John Pendergast, John Dougan, Karen McLenithan, Leah Parker, M. U. Nchie, Gus ; Hillstrrim and Carolyn Ryan.

The Netted Gem is the .veekly student newspaper of the

Staff

University of Prince Edward Island. Views expressed therein are not necessarily those of the Student Union. We reserve the right to edit copy for space, style, or legal reasons. Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced, and submitted before noon on Monday. Letters exceeding 500 words in length are prone 'to cutting and much abuse by the collective staff. All letters must be signed by their author(s). Our office is located on the fourth floor of the Main building. Our telephone is 892-4121, extension 387. The Nerled Gem is now a full member in semi-good standing with Canadian University Press.

The Nétied‘oén‘n

to report to Council monthly on Senate aetivities.

Because I had violated the constitution, I felt that I too should resign and had even submitted a letter to that

effect to the editor of the,

Netted Gem on March 5.

After considering the matter further, I decided to withdraw my resignation, for two reasons.

I believe the seriousness of my violation was less than that of Mike Connolly’s.

Also, the ‘four meeting rule’ under which Mike was impeached was a rule every- one on Council was aware of, with the exception of Mike.

However, apparently noone on Council knew that it was required of student Senators to make a monthly report.

I have taken my position

on Senate arid the Student

Union Council seriously, have a high'attehdahc‘e' record at meetings of both bodies. and enjoy representing your interests at theSe meetings.

If, however, you feel that my violation of the constitu- tion warrants any resignation I leave you the option of beginning the impeachment processes of the constitution against me. "

’ Yours respectfully, Reggie McCarvill .

JlLifll~5.$;' Kt

VVQV-wi-uu~fiovg—~«W¢VMQQ-§r'

. 3984"