Our Rensselaer Union is ultimately constructed on a single document that defines the powers and responsibilities of the various student groups, who are in turn, charged with governing the different areas of the Union. It also defines the rather complex judicial system that operates throughout campus, as well as the structure of and the interactions between the various bodies of the Union.

Over the last few months, the Governance Commission has been creating an updated version of the Union Constitution. Until this point, the focus has been on clarifications, and a handful of needed updates.

Two issues have emerged in the discussion as being in need of re-evaluation: a suite of interrelated concerns about the judicial system, and the question of the place within and the interactions between the greek organizations, the Independent Council, and the Union itself.

On Wednesday, February 9th at 6 pm in Union Room 3602, the Governance Commission will be holding an open hearing on the judicial system here at RPI. This will be followed a week later by another hearing on greek, independent, and Union relationships. I encourage anyone with interest to attend, as we will be seaking your opinion. The issues to be discussed still need to be finalized, and we will be preceding any discussion with an overview of the current systems.

As always, I can be reached at gm@rpi.edu and over AOL Instant Messenger at RPI GM.