Page 4 THE RIDGERUNNER September 25, 1975
EcBloiialsAi^ommen^
Student Senate Asks Few Questions About Budgets
The great debate last year in Stu
dent Government was the "representa
tiveness" or validity of the Student
Senate. On the one hand, were those
who maintained that the Senate somehow
reflected the desires of the student
population as a whole. These people
attempted to act accordingly by giving
emotional speeches about how their con
stituency felt this week and charac
terized anyone who^spoke in opposition
to their pet project as self-interes
ted egoists.
On the other hand, was a group who
viewed Student Government as a game
played as the whims of the administra
tion, exercising as much authority as
the powers that be allowed. This se
cond group, a minority in the contro
versy, said they played the game out
of personal enjoyment, be it monetary
compensation or informal education.
This intellectual exchange will be
totally irrelevant this year, if last
week's Student Senate meeting is any
indication of what's to come. The
"great debate" seems futile if the
Senate does nothing upon which the ar
guments from either side can be based.
The budgets of the campus media,
the Summi t, the Ri dqerunner, and radio
station WUNF, were introduced at the
first Senate meeting of the year(a re
cord in itself). Little discussion of
them occured*, presumably the Senators
would familiarize themselves with the
details during the week, ask the organ
izations making the requests about par
ticular items, and be prepared to in
telligently discuss the budgets at the
next meeting.
The Student Senate had its second
meeting last Thursday at 5:00, allow
ing only an hour and a half for the
consideration of three budgets total
ing over $15,000, in addition to the
introduction of five other budgets
amounting to almost $12,000.
The Summi t budget was first on the
agenda. A few questions were asked
about the number of copies being order
W/SE SfENDiNe ,MD 'iQM OUTQF/VWjvvS/
ed, and the yearbook's past methods of
financing. Following some heated dis
cussion about the "quality" of this
year's book, the budget passed, in
tact, by a vote of four ayes and five
abstentions(either the remants of a
rumored S. G. conspiracy to kill the
Summit, avoiding future accountability,
or blatent ignorance).
The Ri dqerunner budget request ex
perienced the same thorough scrutiny.
After apologetically cutting a $150
request for office carpet, and giving
the editor complete freedom in spend
ing $4500 for "printing costs," the
Ridgerunner budget passed unanimously.
The radio station request was the
highlight of the evening. Following
the suspension of the rules to avoid
reading the seven page document(it was
never publically read), WUNF's budget
passed. The whole process took less
than one minute.
S. G. President Gary Aiken frequent
ly warned the Senate throughout the
meeting that it was allocating money
it did not yet have. Although technic
ally correct(the business office has
not provided an official estimate of
first semester revenues), the Senate,
for all practical purposes, will have
at least $30,000 this semester. Aik
en's veto threats went unheeded by the
Senate.
The problem being alluded to, is
simply that the Senate is not doing
its job. Despite one's interpretation
of Student Government, the Student Sen
ate has a certain responsibi1ity to
spend the student's money reasonably.
Questions should be asked, investiga
tions should be conducted, the rules
of the game should be learned.
Obviously, the Senate is composed
of people with vested interests(the
radio station ran its slate of candida
tes last year and Aiken still has a
small block of votes). At least the
Student Senate could make it look like
it’s doing something, instead of sitting
around the table playing "switch."
Faculty
Slave
On Ph.D.s
BY JACKIE STEPHENSON
Several poor souls
at UNCA are currently
working diligently in
an attempt to obtain
that job-saving title
known as the Doctor
ate.
Charlotte O'Kelly,
instructor in Sociol
ogy completed her
Ph.D. April 29 of
this year. When in
terviewed, Dr. O'Kel
ly commented that her
contract with UNCA
was contingent on her
completing her doc
torate in Sociology.
Dr. O'Kelly received
her Ph.D. from the
University of Connecti
cut. Ms. O'Kelly's
dissertation was en
titled The Black Pro
test Movement. Al
though no longer em
ployed at UNCA (hav
ing accepted a pos
ition at Providence
University, Prov
idence, Rhode Island),
Dr. O'Kelly observed
that UNCA seemed to
be weeding out those
academicians who are
not blessed with a
"Dr." in front of
their name.
Larry Carney, As
sistant Professor in
Sociology is current
ly working on his dis
sertation entitled
Political Development
of Colombia. Mr. Car-
CONT. Pg. 5...
j THE RIDGERUNNER EDITOR-David Ramseur
I jrMu-i»«ny«fNortic«ita.*tAri..^i. Business Manager-Michael Rhodes
j STAFF: joan adams/amy arnold/becky brown/david cohen/evertt corn/
. lenny crowley/leslie deane/randy ernst/bob lehman/wayne jackson/
alMson philips/forrest reid/gail smith/jackie stephenson/tim
I thielke/tom zumberge
To the Editor:
One publication
on a rock deserves
another; therefore
we write.
As this newspaper
seems to hold the
position of disdain
concerning the bro
ken window incident,
and security's meth
ods in handling the
situation, perhaps
the staff would ap
prove of the follow
ing proposal as a
preventative of fu
ture like incidents.
1) Possession of a
rock on campus be
declared a felqny.
2) All rocks in the
vicinity of, or on
campus be removed or
secured.
3) Doc's "Rock" shop
declared off limits
to campus staff and
students.
4) Commuter students
be periodically
searched for illegal
possession of rocks.
5) In the event of
a rock-slide, campus
be declared under
martial law, and vio
lators of rock statut
es shall be maced.
6) Geologists, Rock
hounds, collectors
etc. be required to
obtain a permit to
possess rocks, and
a one week waiting
period be instated
CONT. Pg. 5...