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[DISCUSSION DRAFT]
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79TH SESSION
2011-2012
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S.B. 79-35
An Act to Amend SAS 101.02.a
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IN THE SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
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JANUARY 26, 2012
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Speaker Broad submitted the following bill;
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A BILL
An Act to Amend SAS 101.02.a, Making Clarifications Concerning the
Process to Apportion Senate Seats
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Whereas, SAS 101.02.a states, “On the first day of December, or
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within one week thereafter, of the Seventy-Seventh session of the Senate
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and of each Senate thereafter, the President shall transmit to the Senate a
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statement showing the whole number of persons in each college and school,
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and the number of Representatives to which each college and school would
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be entitled under an apportionment of the then existing number of Senators
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by the method of equal proportions, no college or school to receive less than
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one Senator”;
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Whereas, multiple variations of the method of equal proportions exist,
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each variation producing varying results in the apportionment of Senate
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seats and many variations being inconsistent with the ASUN Constitution;
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Whereas, to ensure the consistency of the student government and fair
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representation of all students at the University of Nevada by clearly defining
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the requirements of the apportionment process,
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Be it enacted by the Senate of the Associated Students, SAS 101.02.a
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is hereby stricken and replaced with “On the first day of December, or
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within one week thereafter, of the Seventy-Seventh session of the Senate
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and of each Senate thereafter, the President shall transmit to the Senate a
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statement showing the whole number of persons in each college and school,
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and the number of Representatives to which each college and school would
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be entitled under an apportionment of the then existing number of Senators.
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The apportionment method used shall be the Huntington-Hill Method of
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Equal Proportions, whereby each seat is designated in sequence to the
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college with the highest priority value in descending order. Each college
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shall be charted on a horizontal axis and the row number on the vertical axis.
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The priority value (q) is determined by dividing the population of the
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college (p) by the square root of (n-1)(n), “n” being equal to the row number
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in question. For the first row, each college will approach infinite priority and
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each will be granted one seat:
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q = p / [((n-1)*(n))^(1/2)]
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q = p / [((1-1)*(1))^(1/2)] = p / (0*1)^(1/2) = p / 0 = ∞
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The priority value of the fourth row, for example, will be determined as
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follows:
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q = p / [((n-1)*(n))^(1/2)]
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q = p / [((4-1)*(4))^(1/2)] = (3*4)^(1/2) = 12^(1/2)
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q = p / 3.464101…
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One seat shall be granted to the college with the highest priority value, the
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next seat to the next highest priority value, and so on until each Senate seat
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is designated to a college.”
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