The prospects of retaining the student trustee elections are becoming even dimmer with the initiation of SIUC administrative lobbying efforts in Springfield.

Garrett Deakin, lobbyist for SIUC, said the University administration supports Gov. Jim Edgar’s amendatory veto of House Bill 923. The veto effectively eliminates student trustee elections.

The original bill was designed to give university student trustees a vote on their respective boards while retaining popular elections. Edgar vetoed the bill July 31, citing the need for changes to the selection process.

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Elections would be replaced with a screening committee process, through which a selected body would choose the candidates. This committee would then forward those names to the governor, who would make the final decision.

Deakin is lobbying for the changes and is confident Rep. Rick Winkel, R-Champaign, House sponsor of the original bill, will not file to override the veto.

I’ve got the impression that he (Winkel) will move to concur with the governor’s action, Deakin said. We’ve been talking to representatives and senators in our districts (SIU’s districts) in opposition to an override.

It’s very difficult to override the governor.

Mike Waldinger, press secretary for Winkel, said Winkel has filed the paperwork for both a move to override and a move to concur. He said filing the paperwork early streamlines the situation, allowing for a legislator initiating a move to be recognized immediately on the House floor.

Waldinger did not say, however, which move will be undertaken officially during the veto session, beginning Oct. 28.

Both are still possible options, Waldinger said. We just wanted to get the paperwork started because it clears the path and makes it easier for the process to go through.

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You can file for both and then the clerk has them on file so if he (Winkel) wants to stand up during debate and be recognized, a motion could be made immediately.

Deakin said the SIUC administration supports the veto on the grounds that it provides a necessary safeguard in the selection of student trustees. He said that it ensures fairness in the process because the veto institutes a screening committee. Deakin said because non-student trustees are selected in this manner, it is imperative that student candidates fall under the same scrutiny.

SIUC student trustee Pat Kelly, an adamant supporter of student trustee elections, has said the veto is un-American and represents another attempt by the administration and state to limit student input in matters affecting students.

He said it is not surprising that the University administration concurs with the veto because it gives them more influence in the selection process. The screening committee would constitute a group of state-appointed members, student leaders, chosen by their respective governing bodies, and certain university administrative factions.

Of course they’re for the veto, Kelly said. They’re given more power by having this selection committee.

They’re the beneficiary of salary increases and other Board actions so it would make sense that they would want to appoint a student trustee they could push around.

Despite the efforts of the administration and predictions that Winkel will not initiate an override, Kelly remains optimistic. In coordination with other student leaders and organizations around the state, Kelly has commenced an aggressive lobbying campaign aimed at certain state legislators, urging them to support an override.

Kelly and his statewide counterparts have not amassed the 71 votes in the House necessary to override the veto, but have made some inroads and will continue the effort through the veto session.

We’ve got a bunch of student leaders working on this thing, Kelly said. We’re not there yet, but we just started.

Kelly said three more university student governments have passed resolutions opposing the veto, bringing the total to 10.

Waldinger said the more feedback from university organizations there is, the better informed the legislature will be. He said student input is key in sustaining genuine debate about the student trustee issue.

These resolutions and this feedback is integral for us, Waldinger said. It’s much easier for us to have a dialogue during the veto session with it.