page three/the journal/october 10,1972
Assailants guilty
_by charlotte porter
The Eighth Floor Assaults case
has been to court, with the two
assailants pleading guilty to
charges of assault.
Christopher Brice, 20, of
Brevard, and Ronald McClelland,
18, of Biloxi, Mississippi, were
charged with one count of assault
and one count of assault and three
counts of assault on a female,
respectively.
The two were apprehended on
the eighth floor of Dorm '72 after
campus security guards were
alerted by girls who had been
assualted. One called security
after sending one of the men to
get her a pack of cigarettes.
Another fought off the same man
with a wet pair of jeans, while a
third locked herself in her room
until help came.
The charge of assault stems
from an attack on a male resident
who was evidently trying to help
the girls.
The story the two told when
they were caught in the dorm was
that they had come on campus to
visit a friend from Brevard.
Investigation showed that no such
person is registered here. In court,
the story was that they were
simply visiting the campus prior
to entry the next day into the
Marine Corps.
Brice was sentenced to thirty
days in jail, 16 of which he had
already served. McClelland was
given a six months to one year
sentence, which he is trying to
appeal so that he can enter the
Marines as planned.
The students involved brought
about the court action. The
university was powerless to press
any charges since no formal
restrictions on entry into the
dormitory had been posted. Such
restrictions have been posted
since.
The university did back the
students in their action.
Cheerleader elections contested
_by jimmy pappas
The cheerleaders of UNCC are
In for a round with the Judicial
Committee of the Legislature over
alleged unfair election practices
during the tryouts last year.
The charges of unfairness in
the elections have been filed with
the Judicial Committee by a small
group of UNCC students. A
^ spokesman for the group. Fish
Foster, charges that the number
of judges required for valid
elections was not present at either
the fall or spring elections last
year.
According to Foster, the
cheerleaders' constitution states
that two students from J.C.
Smith, Livingstone, Queens,
Davidson, and Belmont Abbey
must be judges for the tryouts.
None of these students were
present at the fall elections, and
all but two of the spring tryout
judges were UNCC students.
Foster's groups claims that the
lack of more student judges from
other schools makes both
elections invalid. It now remains
up to the Judicial Committee to
decide whether or not last year's
elections were in effect carried
out improperly. In the event that
the validity of the elections is
upheld, the opposing group has
plans to bring the matter before
the Student Superior Court.
Foster himself was a member
of the cheerleading squad, but
resigned after head cheerleader
elections last year. Foster claimed
that he and another black member
resigned because of racial
prejudice on the squad. He also
claimed that this had in no way
influenced his decision to join the
group contesting.the elections.
The cheerleaders, on the other
hand, maintain that the elections
were held properly and the
accusations are "ridiculous." On
the subject of the head
cheerleader elections, one
cheerleader commented that
Foster "Is a sore loser," and is
behind the accusations for his
own personal satisfaction.
journal photo/max street
Senate openings
Nominations are now open for
two student seats on the
University Senate. The election
will be held later this month.
Students who wish to be
rK>minated must submit a petition
signed by at least five per cent of
the student voters (255 students)
or ten per cent of the faculty
voters (36 faculty). Petitions
should be filed with Mrs. Marsha
Weaver in Reese Building. Room
217, by Friday, October 27.
New vote
on R’nR
by Sharon deck
The petition for additional Rogues 'n Rascals funds was defeated by
a two-to-one margin last week, but numerous elections irregularities
have nullified the referendum and forced a new election.
Tom Alsop, yearbook editor, protested to the Elections Board and
alleged three categories of violations: constitutional violations, election
regulation violations, and what Alsop termed "improper yielding to the
right of a petition."
Article VII of the Student Constitution states that a referendum
must be held within 15 days of the time it is approved by the Elections
Board. According to Alsop, about 18 days transpired before the
election.
The Constitution also states that public notice of the election must
be given. Alsop believes that the notices in the Journal did not
constitute official public notice. Since the signs posted by the Elections
Board listed only elections for Student Legislature, Alsop believes the
Board has violated the Constitution.
Alsop also alleged numerous violations of the elections regulations,
ranging from loitering at the polling place to talking in line to improper
counting of the ballots. His main protests centered on the fact that the
polls had been opened late and that the dorm cafeteria polling place ran
out of ballots.
"These violations may seem petty," Alsop said, "but when added
up, they could have effected the outcome."
Alsop believes that the passage of the referendum was doomed by
the wording of the petition of the ballot. Alsop had submitted a
petition with the following wording:
"Proposed to grant the Rogues 'n Rascals (yearbook) an additional
$3,500.00 for general improvement of the physical and creative
make-up of that yearbook."
According to Alsop, SBG president Stan Patterson chose to interpret
the petition to the Elections Board and rewrote the petition. On the
ballot It read as follows:
"Proposed to grant the Rogues 'n Rascals (yearbook) an additional
$3,500.00 in addition to their Media Board allocation of $19,126.00 to
increase their budget to $22,626.00."
"The main thing that hurt passage was the way that Stan worded the
petition," Alsop said. "Because of it, everybody had it in their head
that the yearbook had enough money."
"If 615 people signed a petition, they have the right to vote on that
petition. The petition on the ballot was a different petition. Since Stan
wrote the ballot himself, he created a bias against it," Alsop continued.
The petition was defeated by a vote of 533 to 263. Alsop contends
that these violations may have cost him a victory.
rbird BSU
budget vetoed
_by Sharon deck
After a three-hour discussion,
the Finance Committee of
Student Legislature on September
28 r^'ected a Black Student Union
budget of over $6000. Informal
discussions between BSU leaders
and some committee members are
continuing, and the chances are
good that a budget in the
neighborhood of $2600 will be
approved this week.
The BSU had cut all office
expenses from their budget, but
left all lecturers in a first priority
category. This is a point that
committee members had objected
to in the past, since they could
not reject parts of the budget
without rejecting the entire
request. As a result, the budget
was defeated. Committee member
Fish Foster, a black, was asked to
explain the committee's actions to
the BSU.
Foster brought up an alternate
budget of $3200, but the budget
was not an official BSU request,
and no action was taken on it.
Committee members talked about
various budgets that might be
passed. Most members felt that
budgets ranging from $1800 to
$2800 would have a good chance
of being approved.
Questions were raised about
whether the BSU events would be
held on campus, and whether the
BSU should not ask for money
from the Student Union Board's
lectures fund for some of their
programs.
According to chairman Boone
Wayson, the general feeling of the
committee was that the BSU has
good, we11 - pIanned , and
well-attended entertainment. It
gives the students activities that
the Union Board does not
provide, he said.
"My personal feeling is that the
committee would approve a
budget of $1900 to $2600,"
Wayson said.
The committee meeting began
in turmoil as the committee
kicked out one of its members
and barred a Journal reporter
from the entire session.
Committee member Tom
Duley was elected to the
committee last year while he was
a member of the Student
Legislature. In the spring, he was
elected to the Student Superior
Court, but he has not yet taken
office officially. Two committee
members (Ron Young and Fish
Foster) felt that it was
unconstitutional for a person to
serve in both the legislative and
judicial branches of student
government.
Wayson and Duley opposed
Duley's expulsion, but neither
could vote on the matter. Other
committee members abstained. As
a result, Duley was expelled.
Duley has considered appealing
the committee's actions to
Student Court or University
Court, but has made no decision
yet.
In other action, the committee
established a subcommittee to
investigate the financing of the
cheerleading squad. Last year the
athletic department had said that
it would slowly take over the
funding of the squad. The
subcommittee will find out
exactly how much money the
athletic department will provide
this year, so that the budget can
be approved without delay.
There is a possibility that $300
of the 49er Festival Committee
funds may have been misused last
year. The money was put in the
cheerleaders' account to be used
for rental of a float for the
Festival parade. bill from the
rental company was never
received, and the money was not
paid. It has, however, been spent.
An investigation into the matter
in continuing.