5ronccj« Voicc September 1995 Editorial Comment I WILL BE YOUR NEXT SGA PRESIDENT By Roger A. Harris Call this claim arrogant. Call it con ceited. Call it an experiment in socio cultural response to stimuli. It really doesn’t matter what you call this claim because its premise is based on an ir refutable fact: FSU students do not vote. Let us review the facts. Think back to last semester’s Mr. and Miss FSU pageants. Virtual un knowns (by popular opinion) won their respective crowns not by talent or style alone, but more significantly by orga nizing a pool of voters that cast their ballots on their behalf Orlando Ceville (Mr. FSU) organized a contingent from ROTC and Kenyatta Morrisey (Miss FSU) made sure her supporters showed up and did the right thing: vote for her. FSU’s spring semester student en- Dear Editor, I want to address an issue that has been a subject of confiision to me and other veterans here at Fayetteville State University (FSU), since the in troduction of the student “R„ grade policy, offered by FSU’s Student Sup port Services Program. This policy is unique because not all universitites offer it; yet, it has given many deter mined students at FSU a second chance to pass certain courses with a grade of rollment was 3,925, yet no member of the Student Government Association (SGA) or the Student Activities Coun cil (SAC) was elected with more than 69 votes! . What this means is that SGA President Wayne Hodges, with 69 votes, was elected by 1.75 percent of FSU’s student population; SGA VP DeLise Hopson, with 68 votes, 1.73 percent; SAC Program Director Tonia Johnson, with 63 votes, 1.60 percent; Senior Class Queen LaShitia Cherry (who didn’t even campaign-she was a write-in candidate), with 6 votes,. 17 percent; Junior Class President Tiffany Banks, with 2 votes, .05 percent. The math may be wrong but the numbers are correct (I helped count the ballots). Freshman students, please let these numbers be a cursor to you to get in- “C„ or better in order to maintain good grade point averages as well as tran scripts. Veterans at FSU are encouraged to participate in this program too. Veter ans are also offered a repeat policy through the Veteran Administration (VA), but it requires a failing grade, which must be recorded on the stu dent’s academic transcript. Like the FSU repeat course policy, you can only repeat a course once. volved as they point a crooked finger towards a very ugly fact: most of your upper classmates don’t give a damn. The one consolation to this comedy of truth is that all of the students men tioned above are highly competent and credible. But do we not care enough to continue our real life pantomime as the idiots with the loaded gun (one bullet, Barney Fife-style). Make the connections. When asked to participate in establishing the cre dentials for our next chancellor (re cently appointed Dr. Willis McLeod), no one (and I repeat no one) showed up to represent (not a diss to those who did show up, but in my mind’s eye a less than one percent turnout equates to a no show). Affirmative action and civil rights are being ripped apart be- The confusing issue is that, if vet eran earns the “R„ grade by complet ing the required amount of hours with an appointed tutor in addition to his or her regular class, the VA will view this as a course he or she claimed to have taken during the semester, but in fact did not. Therefore, the student must reimburse the VA the cost of this course for this time period. The stu dent does have a choice of dropping fore our slumbering eyes; being de stroyed even as you read this word. Yet, we can’t relate our apathy at this level to its effect on this very real cir cumstance—a circumstance that threat ens to sterilize our ability or opportu nity to be free. But I’ve solved the puzzle, gang! Based on the historical fact that FSU students can’t, don’t, or won’t vote (whichever applies to you). I’ve se cured the ballots of 500 students (ap proximately 12 percent of the student population by last semester’s numbers) who will unequivocally vote for me. What this means is that no matter my views, opinions, qualifications, or what I can do to help or harm your stay at FSU, if you do not get involved in the election process, I will be your next SGA president. Nuff said. the “R„ for an “F„ which will be re corded on his or her transcript. It is his or her option and dilemma. During my inquiry about this mat ter to the upper levels of the VA, I was informed that not all universities offer this policy, so guidelines had not been written to accept it. All universities are not run the same, so why does the uniqueness of FSU’s “R„ grade policy present a problem of acceptance for the VA? The Bronco^’ VOICE Copyright 1995 Faculty Advisor Dr. Linda Barlow Staff Andrea Powers Lishan Harrison Amey Pickett LaTonya McNeill Richard J. 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