By dismissing Towers Residence Association senator Chris Wisher from the Government of the Student Body Wednesday night, the senate proved that its constitution will not be taken lightly.

An emergency legislation bill was passed to remove Wisher for withdrawing from classes in March and for moving out of TRA, his constituency, on April 10.

“It was setting a precedence that the constitution must be followed in any situation,” said Brian Knau, agriculture and author of the bill.

According to the GSB constitution, qualifications for a senator include enrolling at Iowa State and living in the residence system the senator represents.

As of March, Wisher did not meet these qualifications.

“This was the basis of argument for removing him for a lot of people,” said Matt McLaren, vice president of GSB.

The area of the constitution that gave Wisher’s supporters grounds for rebuttal included the rules for removing a senator.

Although it states that the senator must fail to perform his or her responsibilities as a senator, it does not specify that the senator can be dismissed for not meeting the standard qualifications.

“The old constitution, which we still have to work under, is very poorly worded,” Knau said. “It leaves loopholes for a lot of situations, and this is one of them. It made it a little difficult.”

Knau also said a lot of personal issues were involved in the debate.

“A lot of Chris’ good friends stuck by him,” he said.

Steve Erickson, off campus, and Rory Flaherty, off campus, represented Wisher’s biggest supporters.

“The only two people who have ever stood by me, no matter what I said, are Chris Wisher and Dave Crawford,” Erickson said. “I don’t give a damn what the article says, I’m going to vote to keep him on.”

Anthony Bateza, RCA, said despite Wisher’s success as a senator, GSB should honor its constitution’s stipulations.

“I think we all agree he’s done an excellent job, but if you’re not qualified to be a senator, then section 10 [of the constitution about removing a senator] doesn’t matter because you’re not qualified to be here,” Bateza said.

Another argument for keeping Wisher on GSB was TRA’s decision to let him serve the remainder of his term, which included one more senate meeting.

“The constitution does give Towers the ability to deal with this as they see fit,” said Doug Miller, LAS.

Rob Wiese, president of GSB, didn’t see that as fit justification.

“No matter what Towers said, if you’re not a student you can’t be an officer,” Wiese said. “The minute you violate the GSB constitution, you are no longer the GSB.

“You guys have to pass this or otherwise a [GSB] Supreme Court case can be filed,” he said.

If the senate does not meet legal qualifications by having an unofficial member voting on legislation, the GSB Supreme Court can file a case to reverse all the legislation passed.

With Wisher’s illegal votes, he helped pass about $1.2 million in student fees Wednesday night with the spring allocations bill.

Although Wisher was reluctant to leave GSB, he said he supported the bill for his dismissal.

“I urge you all to vote in favor of this legislation,” he said. “I cannot resign because I have been asked [by TRA] to continue, but this is a democratic government and the constitution must remain supreme. To not do so is a failure of your responsibility as a representative of the students.”

The bill passed with a vote of 25-2 with one abstention by Wisher, fulfilling the two-thirds majority requirement.

“It was a very unfortunate situation to come across and deal with,” McLaren said. “Chris is a good friend to a lot of people, but it had to be done. He has done an excellent job as a senator.”

Knau said writing the bill was not a personal issue against Wisher. “Nobody really thought anyone was attacking Chris,” he said.

Knau also felt it was an unfortunate situation and emphasized that Wisher was an outstanding senator.

“He probably represented his constituency better than anyone on the senate, but the constitution governs us, and it is something we have to follow,” he said. “Once we set aside the constitution, we are no longer a governing body.”

Wisher said he plans to continue on the senate and is currently pursuing an open off-campus seat.

“I thought it was brought up at an inopportune moment. However, it was something that did need to be addressed in an open debate,” he said.

“It’s too bad, but we have to follow our constitution,” Wiese said. “The minute GSB fails to follow its constitution, it fails to be a government anymore.”