Page 2 The Voice September 30,1981
Editorial—
Toward Better
Elections
While some people would like to see
the Voting Rights Act become a thing
of the past, other people are working
to neutralize early poll disclosures
which discouraged West Coast voters
in the last election.
In other words, there are always
Americans interested in making every
vote count. For whatever motives,
personal or patriotic, Americans have
put a lot of thought into the rules of
the voting game.
The recent Junior and Sophomore
class elections painfully illustrate that
FSU could stand a lot more thought in
that area.
If class officers are not important,
then there is no point in continuing a
farce. But if they are important, then
the hastily planned, poorly publicized,
rush-job of an election failed miserably
to follow any vestiges of our national
model except one. That one is majority
rule - even if the majority (as in this
case) is less than 10 percent of the
eligible voters.
Athough those elected may be
eminently qualified - the voters had no
way of knowing that. In fact, since
credit hours determine classification,
there is no way of knowing if the voters
themselves were eligible to vote.
No one realistically expects the
academic records of those voting in
class elections to be checked for
classification. But what may help add
more credibility to these proceedings is
to have two class meetings - one for the
nomination process and a second (with
at least a few days interval) for the ac
tual election.
This would allow time to establish
the eligibility of the candidates, in
crease voter awareness of the can
didates, and most importantly,, in
crease awareness of the election itself.
Too much work? Too difficult?
That’s what we’re here to learn how to
handle.
Student Leaders
List Apathy
As Concern
Lack of student involvement
remains the single most important
campus problem, and is affecting more
campuses now than three years ago,
according to student leaders surveyed
recently by National On-Campus
Report.
Of the 136 student government
leaders responding to the mail survey,
41 percent cited apathy or lack of in
volvement when asked what single
problem needed to be solved on their
campuses. Many of the campus leaders
painted a clear picture of frustration.
“The students are only interested in an
issue or problem after it’s too late to
act,” complained one student gover
nment president.
A simultaneous survey of college
newspaper editors showed they too saw
apathy as a major concern, although
by a lesser percentage than campus
leaders. Thirty percent of the 105
editors responding cited apathy as the
leading problem on their campuses.
Editors and elected student leaders
were in fairly close agreement on other
top problems as well. Improved
relations with adminstrators and better
physical facilities were each cited by 12
percent of the editors and 10 percent of
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the student government leaders. A
higher percentage (17 percent) of
editors, however, were concerned with
the financial accessibility of higher
education (financial aid cuts, rising
tuition costs), compared to 9 percent of
student leaders. Not surprisingly,
financial problems ranked higher on
the 1981 list of troubles than they did
in 1978.
In 1978, 15 percent of the leaders
surveyed were concerned with in
creasing student representation,
ranking it behind student apathy as a
top problem. By 1981, it ranked sixth
and was cited by only 7 percent of
leaders surveyed.
Other leading concerns were:
upgrading academic quality, increasing
enrollment or retention of students and
developing student unity.
Several issues were conspiciuous by
their absence. Alcohol abuse, a com
mon dilemma discussed by ad
ministrators, got only one mention in
the student leaders’ survey. And while
much media attention has been focused
on campus racism, not a single student
leader cited that as a major problem.
On national issues, student gover
nment leaders were most concerned
with higher education funding. The
economy was a close second. Student
editors overwhelmingly chose the
economy as the primary problem.
While job-conscious college students
might be expected to view unem
ployment as a personal threat, only
three percent named unemployment as
a specific economic concern.
ted from Campus Digest.
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SPEAK UP BRONCOS!
WILLIE
SPEAKS
As We Return
By Willie Smith
College and university campuses the
world over, it can be said, are
something of a cultural crossroads.
With this in mind, hundreds of studen
ts will be directed toward the boun
daries of Fayetteville State University.
They come with the desire to increase
their scholastic abilities and their chan
ces of a successful career upon
graduation. However, we must realize
that nothing worthwhile comes easily;
we must work deligently to obtain it.
Thus it is necessary that we utilize all
our available resources to their fullest
potential.
As we retarn, we will note that
Fayetteville State University is constan
tly growing and changing. The Taylor
Science building has recently un
dergone renovation, the Ad
ministration building has its new ad
dition, and the library is also going
through a few changes. In our quest
for increased knowledge, we should
remain aware of thf fact that these
buildings and the employees who oc
cupy them are there to assist us in our
quest. We should not hesitate to
inquire of their services when we are ,in
need of assistance.
It has often been said that the pur
pose of a university is not so much to
teach you anything, but rather to
provide you with an adequate en
vironment to learn. Fayetteville State
seems to be providing the proper en
vironment. Let’s put out the effort and
make it all work for us.
From The
President’s Desk
By Everette Johnson, SGA President
How many times have we heard our
fellow students complain about
problems at FSU. I don’t believe that
any of us can say we’ve never had a
complaint. But, how many of us do
anything about it? Very few students
are interested enough to get involved in
campus activites. How many of you
voted in the election of class officers?
We have some very dedicated hard
working students on this campus. You
see their work in our campus paper,
SGA and our sports teams, but we
need more support. We need all of our
students, off campus as well as on
campus, to become active in campus
activities. We need all of our students,
from the freshmen to the senior class,
to be active in order to make our
student body work as a whole.
Please get involved! Your college
years are short. Make the best of your
stay at FSU. Make these four years the
best of your life. Become involved in
what goes on at this campus.
There are several activities coming
up in the near future, such as
homecoming and Black History mon
th, that need your support to be suc
cessful. Reach out and put more
meaning in the words FSU “Family”.
Become involved! Because we are
family and we need each other’s sup
port.