April 22, 1975
The Senate and BASIB
Dear Editor,
Last Wednesday evening, I
had the occasion to attend a
meeting of the Community
Senate. At this meeting, the
major concern was the
ratification of the budget for
next year. I left the meeting,
before it was over, very angry
with what had transpired. The
following sums up my feelings
on the meeting:
(1). The Senate gave the
impression that it was
"paying off" BASIB, in an
effort to quiet the blacks of the
campus. The reason I say this
is that in a gesture of
kindness, a combined effort of
the Senate and the Union
provided the organization
mentioned above with an
additional SIOOO to cover
BASIB's expenses. This is
unusual in any respect;
however, the situation is made
even more strange,by the fact
that there was not opposition
to the granting of this SIOOO. I
am not insinuating, in any
way, that BASIB does not
need the money. However, I
saw no justification of the
request for the additional
money aside from the fact the
Pat Thompson said that
BASIB was promised it at an
earlier date. I got the
impression that the Senate
was afraid of BASIB and' to
give in to its every wish or else
face the possiblity of being
pegged as a racist organiza
tion.
(2). The Guilford College
Community, as a whole, must
its thinking to
wards BSAIB. As was pointed
out in the Senate meeting, the
major issue facing the Senate
is whether BASIB has any
value as a Guilford College
organization and if so, what
that value is, It must be
understood that BASIB'is not
an organizationset up to tell
blacks about being black, but
rather, an organization to tell
all people what it means to be
black. However, the Guilford
College Community as a
whole, myself included unfor
tunately, has turned its back
to BASIB and have allowed it
to become a black organization
for blacks. Apathy runs
rampant at Guilford College.
This is not only true v of the
attitude towards BASIB, but
this is true of the attitudes
towards most everything.
However, BASIB is the only
club to make a noise and have
no one offer opposition to it,
and I must infer from this that
the racial overtones play a
large part.
In summary, BASIB serves
a real purpose as part of the
Guilford College Community
but not in the sense it was set
up. It is my feeling that whites
do not want to know what it
means to be black (need I say
that this is a general feeling
across the country) and so will
do virtually anything in their
power to keep from confront
ing blackness in its most basic
sense.
Howard Page
Dear Editor,
I am very disappointed in
our student Senate for the
passage of the new budget
proposal at the April 16
Senate meeting. I feel this
proposal wasnot drawn up
sojely on the basis of a large
cut in BASIB's budget, but
was rather drawn up as a
means of giving in to the
argument which BASIB pre
sented.
Their feeling that an
oppression of black exits on
the Guilford College campus
and also played a part in the
budget committee's decision
to cut them from $3,000 to
SI ,500 , is totally unfounded in
my opinion. 89% of the
cmapus organizations receiv
ed a cut in budget for the
1975-76 academic year.
True, BASIB's cut was
large. But that does not justify
the accusation that white
attitudes towards blacks and
other minorities have not
changed and that this played a
part in the decision to cut their
budget.
I can not speak for the whole
campus or the budget
committee, but only for
myself, and I feel the decision
of the budget committee did
not involve the issue of race.
The cut was based on a lack of
finances caused by a supposed
decrease in enrollment, and
since BASIB's budget was
large this year it is to be
expected that they would be
cut a sizeable amount next
year.
But nevertheless, but or no
cut, I do not feel that the
attitude that whites are
oppressing blacks on this
campus is present. I do feel
that by accepting BASIB's
proposal we are saying, "Yes,
you are right, this attitude
does exist on campus and to
correct it we'll give you $500."
If this attitude does exist we
are not going to change it by
handing out money everytime
it is pointed out. WE must
work together as a whole and
support one another.
I encourage BASIB to bring
black lecturers, movies.
_The_Gulirordln
bands, music, etc. on to
campus. And I encourage
BASIB to do this through the
Union as well as through their
own organizaton. I totally
agree that there is a lack of
black culture at Guilford
College and the lack of this
aspect in our education is not
justified no matter what size
the black population is. The
Black Children Can Progam in
my opinion is an excellent idea
which more people, both
children and students, should
participate in.
Ideally we all should have
more money to be able to do
the things we want and to
bring agreat variety of culture
on to the Guilford College
campus. But budget cuts are
hitting frequently in this
nation today, and so along
with the rest, Guilford College
must now suffer too.
But unfounded accusations
won't get anyone anywhere,
and neither will withdrawing
from the system. To imple
ment change you must fight
from within, not from without.
Leslie Zeldin
Budget
Editor:
I would like to explain some
of the factors involved in the
decision of the Senate Budget
Committee in drawing up a
budget for the year 1975-76.
One of the main concerns of
the committee was about the.
New Founders and the lack of
money for necessary equip
ment to furnish the building.
The committee was working
with a conservative estimate
of the enrollment for next year
and therefore, a conservative
budget. More recently the
enrollment outlook for next
year has brightened. With the
exception of the additional
funding of some organizations
decided on last Wednesday,
all remaining money went into
the Founders Fund, (by the
vote of the Senate).
For the past three weeks the
Budget Committee has been
meeting with representatives
from each organization and
reviewing their budgets. Some
of the main guidelines in the
decision of the committee on
each organizations request
were (1) the effect of the
organization's programs on
campus, (2) the quality of
those programs, (3) the
number of students involved
in the organization.
I hope this helps people in
understanding the budget for
next fall.
Cindy Buxton
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BASIB Speaker Addresses Club
Clarification
Parts of the article
on maintenance which ap
peared in last week's
Guilfordian have been read by
some people as an accusation
of dishonesty within the
maintenance department.
This was not the impression 1
intended to convey. As I
stated in the article, there is
no proof of wrong doing within
the maintenance department.
1 apologize to Mr. Keene or
any maintenance employee
who feels his integrity was
challenged by the article.
Jon Hiratsuka
Senate Budget
The final budget is as follows:
8.A.5.1.8. $2,000
BIOPHILE 900
CHEERLEADERS 450
CHOIR 1,800
CLIFF HANGERS 150
COLLEGE UNION 18,000
COMMUNITY SENATE 2,000
CRAFTS CENTER 450
GAY ALLIANCE 200
GUILFORDIAN 7,500
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS CLUB 600
INTRAMURALS 600
PIPER 600
QUAKER 10,600
4,500
STUDENTS FOR A SANE
SOCIETY 0
SPS 200
WOMEN'S COALITION 800
WQFS 5,500
TOTAL $56,850
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