PAGE TWO
THE LANCE
THURSDAY, APRIL^t^q^J
The Lance would like to extend its congratulations and ap
preciation to Dr. Joyner for the time,
he put into bringing about last weekends folk festival. Its
success was effectively demonstrated by the ever increastag
hordes of students who attended the concerts, sing alongs,
craft work shops, and craft exhibitions.
Constitution Cause Of
Elections Confusion
The
BY JEFF NEILL
decision of the Senate yesterday not to seat Dave Smith
In the position wUlingly vacated by Dave Gibbs further demon
strates the ineffectiveness and unwillingness of senators to
serve their constituents.
An amendment was proposed nullifying Article in, section
2 (a) of the constitution requiring candidates for President
and Vice-President of the Student Association to have held
prior elected offices. In a referendum, the amendment was
passed. And it passed by a wide margin showing over-whelm-
ing support for doing away with the qualification. The only
reason the amendment did not go into effect was because
a procedural technicality whereby the F. E. C. felt the faculty
should be allowed to deal with approving the amendment
as a whole body.
David Smith, in the meantime, had an honest desire to run
for the position of Vice-President of the Student Association,
but lacked the qualificatons and was barred from obtaining
admittance to the race because of a procedural problem.
After much debate he decided to seek appointment to an elected
position thereby getting around the procedural red tape,
elected position thereby getting around the procedural red
tape.
The Senate, however, faUed to act in consistency with the
beliefs and desires already made known by the student body.
One Senator rationalized by saying that since Mr. Smith
was a sophomore, he could run for another position thereby
establishing qualifications for next year’s election. But all he
would be doing is establishing qualifications that will not be
required next year by holding a position that he might not have
an interest in, thereby being a disinterested, ineffective stu
dent government member . . . just like some people who hold
office now that we know.
Problems Developing
With Tri Levels
BY JEFF NEILL
The tri-level dorm system
has not been in effect for more
than a month or two months.
Yet it has already proven it
self full of potential inequities.
Already suites that have opted
for one type of living structure
have found that some other type
of living arrangement has been
designated for them.
One such situation that has
arisen pertains to suite six
Wilmington. There, five suite
members plan to remain within
the suite next year. All of these
people opted for the loosely-
structured living arrangement.
From other parts of the dorm
and campus, another six-seven
women are planning to move
into the suite. They too re
quested loosely-structured liv
ing arrangements.
However, even though twelve
of a possible fourteen mem
ber suite opted and signed up for
a loosely structured living ar
rangement, they were told they
would have to settle for a semi
structured arrangement. The
main reason? Two freshmen
are slated for the empty beds
in that suite and the adminis
tration feels they need those
beds in a semi-structured ar
rangement.
According to Dean McNair,
Director of Housing, this situa
tion occurred because only five
of the girls planned to return
to the suite and since the other
residents were labelled tran
sients, they were not taken into
account when determining what
type of structure the suite would
have.
We expect and take for grant
ed the fact that no new sys
tem can be instituted free from
flaws. Yet flaws such as this
one described above should have
been expected and procedures
for correcting the situation es-
Three Board Members Resign
To Protest Faculty Inaction
The following is the letter
of resignation submitted to the
Elections Board by JohnBryan,
Hugh Helm, and Dave Bunn. A
copy was made available to the
Lance for publication.
To: The Elections Board
We are submitting our resig
nation to the Elections Board
on the grounds that we feel we
have reached a position that
is Impossible for us to re
solve ethically. We feel we
have been put in the position
of deciding between preserv
ing the present constitutional
structure for structure’s sake,
or for representing the desires
of the student body as expressed
tabllshed. Instead there is no
recourse for those people who
live or are planning to live in
suite six Wilmington next year.
They must accept a decision
that was not their making when
they were told that they would
be the ones deciding the type of
hours they would have. Because
of a need by the administration
to have a suite labelled “semi
structured” twelve people who
asked for loosely-structured
living arrangements must set
tle for what they are given so
as to accomodate two incom
ing students.
Since the situation for this
year can not be correctecfUc-
cording to Dean McNair, steps
need to be taken so similar
inconvenience to suites will not
occur next year.
It mi^t be advisable for the
Senate to take upon itself the
responsibility of insuring this
type of inconvenience as well
as others are minimized in the
future. The Senate should form
a sub-committee to work with
Dean McNair on determining
the housing arrangements for
year after next.
One correction that seems
evident to us is the switching
of the procedure of applying
for the type of living structure
and room sign-up. By reversing
the procedure — making room
sign-up first, and type of liv
ing arrangement second — the
administration and the suite
can have a fairly accurate idea
of how many students are really
planning to be in a suite, how
many beds will be opened to
Incoming students and the type
of living arrangement the suite
as a whole desires for the next
year. Perhaps In this manner
twelve upper - classmen desir
ing one type of living structure
will not be forced to accept an
other type of living arrangement
for only two new students.
in the recent referendum for
constitutional revision.
The Elections Board had es
tablished a calendar which
would recognize a petition for
constitutional amendment which
is pertinent to the present elec
tions. This petition initiated a
referendum with regard to due
process which was then passed
by 82% of the students voting.
This referendum was carried to
a called meeting of the Student
Life Committee and was un
animously recommended to the
President of the College.
The last step necessary to
put this amendment into effect
was faculty approval — the
Faculty Executive Committee
met and has refused to take
action on the issue untu the
next scheduled faculty meeting,
Considering the clrcum-
istances we feel that the Faculty
Executive Committee could
have taken immediate action
considering the Importance of
the issue to the student body
and to the Elections Board
schedule.
As the Elections Board must
abide by the constitution and
this necessitates our support
in this instance, we feel we
have no other ethical course but
resignation.
Respectfully submitted,
John Bryan
David Bunn
Hugh Helm
Smith Relates Frustrations Of
Seeking Student Office
To whom it may concern;
Due to the delay of action by
the Faculty Executive Commit
tee on the proposed amendment
to the Constitution, I regret
that I am not able to run for
the office of vice-president of
the Student Association. Every
means to legitimize my candi
dacy has been exhausted.
After receiving the news that
the amendment has been tem
porarily restrained by the FEC,
a member of the men’s resi
dence court willingly resigned
from his position and I was
then appointed to that position
by the Attorney General, This
action was taken so that I would
have held an elected office prior
to elections, thus fulfilling the
present requirements as set
forth in the constitution of the
student association. However,
this appointment was subject
to approval by the student se
nate, which consists of the pre
sidents and vice-presidents of
the dorms, along with off-cam
pus representatives. Your se
nate did not approve this ap
pointment, why I do not know.
So, as you can see every al
ternative failed to provide the
desired results.
At this time I feel it Is neces
sary for all of us to come to
grips with reality and see what
little power we as a student body
have in the workings of student
government. Your referendum
failed to take affect during this
election, and that Is not the way
you wanted It. The petition you
signed specifically stated that
you wanted Article HI, Sec
tion 2 (a) changed in order to
Include all members of the stu
dent body bef ore this year’s
elections. What happened to this
stipulation? Was it overlooked,
or just forgotten? I wish I knew.
As a concerned student, let
me offer you this in closing.
Tomorrow when you vote, elect
people who will represent and
respect the needs and desires
of the student body, and not
those who will support the ab
surd bureaucracy now existing.
Respectfully,
David Smith
Tri-Level Dorm Policy Cause
Of Complaints From Students
BY GLENDA BUCK
Recently Student Life Com
mittee initiated and passsed a
program concerning the social
environment in the suites aimed
at alleviating peer pressure
which forces suite members to
live in an environment that con
flicts with their self-interests.
In theory, this means that the
members of each suite will
determine the “level” of their
suite--structured, semi-struc
tured, and loosely structured —
in such a way that no one suite
member can force other suite
members to change their life
styles. In practice, however,
the new program is causing ten
sion and peer pressure within
suites due to interpretations of
this program by Student Affairs.
Suite One Concord is a good
example. Because most current
members of th( suite are sen
iors and are not returning next
year. Student Afi irs designat
ed it a semi-structured suite.
Although women from other
suites on campus who thought
they would enjoy living together
in a suite had already planned
to move into that suite and had
filed cards with Student Affairs
requesting a loosely-structured
suite, their request was ig
nored. So were the cards des-
lEnating a choice of loosely-
structured suite filed by two
women returning to the suite
next year. At present, there is
one vacant bed in that suite
which will be filled by an incom
ing student next year who will be
told that the members of suite
one Concord signed up for a
semi-structured suite. Thus,
one member of the suite will
force every member to change
her life-style In a way she
believes to be against her self-
Interest. The problem com
pounds next year when the in-
coming student realizes the
position she has been put into
by the misrepresentation of the
desires of the suite as present
ed by Student Affairs, Is this
new program going to prevent
the tension her presence will
be causing in the suite and the
peer-pressure she will fe®'
from other suite members?
Perhaps Student Life Com
mittee should re-examine the
new program in practice ana
evaluate its effectiveness
achieving its original pur
poses.
THE LANCE
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