The Association of Residence Hall Students closed its meeting last night after amending its bylaws to change the status of ARHS Cinemas in relation to the organization.
Members closed the meeting to discuss the University Student Advisory Board's decision Thursday to refuse a seat to the National Panhellenic Council, said Executive Vice President Mark Murphy, but he would not comment further.
Gene Pfieffer, West Halls president, said members discussed an executive vote about a USAB issue, but also would not comment further.
Other members of ARHS were not available for comment on the closed portion of the meeting.
During the open portion of their meeting, members voted to amend the association's bylaws to make ARHS Cinemas subordinate to ARHS.
Since ARHS Cinemas is no longer a department of the association, it does not need to seek approval from ARHS for expenditures, except when asking for loans. Members can then stipulate when the loans must be repaid.
The director of ARHS Cinemas will no longer be appointed by the ARHS president.
In other business, members rejected a proposed amendment to their constitution which would allow students living off campus to hold executive positions in the association.
The amendment, proposed by Pollock President Sherri Shields, stated, "The president, vice-president, and all presidential appointments must be an active member in ARHS and hold no other executive office in a student government. The exception to this rule shall be if no interested and qualified individual who lives on campus applies for a position; then, a special exception can be made through an approval of a qualified individual by three-fourths approval of council."
Arguments arose as to whether on-campus residents would be given preference over those living off campus.
"As long as the president feels a person lives on campus and is qualified, he can't choose someone off-campus who is more qualified," said Brien Kocher, ARHS president.
The amendment would have opened a wider range of experienced applicants from which the president could choose, said Melissa Pressler, ARHS vice president.
Along with questions concerning the qualifications of applicants, members were also skeptical about the legality of the amendment.
The amendment was rejected 7-9-2.
Also during the meeting, Foods Committee Chairperson Mike Snider addressed dining hall problems last night. The committee is looking into issues such as lines and religious and vegetarian concerns, he said.
Pfieffer said the lines in Waring Commons are long because twice as many people eat on one side of the dining hall than the other, but he could not explain why.
