THE LANCE Staff Lin Thompson Editor. • Ygjjgssa Holdsworth Managing Editor Susan Bainbridge Art Editor. Campbell Business Manager Mark Powell Advertising Manager Kathy Salkin Circulation Manager Staff Jim Brice Terri Heyman Beth Rambo Richard Hudson . Kim McRae, T»,y Acting Advisor The Lance subscribes to the St. Ankews rf in its editorial poUcy. Signed editorials reflect the opinion of toe author, while unsigned comment represents a con^nsia o staff opinion. Views expressed are not necessardy toose of th college. Letters are welcomed but subject to space limitations. Box 757. Getting The Job Done Eight years ago the Student Government set out to revise the Constitutirai of 1963. It turned out to be a laig row to hoe as sec tions were written and sent around to everyone who had to ap prove it before it could be presented to the students-the Senate, the Cabinet, the Student Life Committee, and the faculty. The problem was that everyone insisted cai tacking on alterations and amendments, which then had to be sent around and re^- proved and re-amended. The long-term result was an ever- expanding mountain of bits and pieces of constitutions floating about aimlessly. No one was ever able to tell for sure, but a reasonable enough estimate put out recently held there to be twenty-one versions running around loose. All of which contributed mightily to the chaotic elections that have for the past few years been as certain as hay fever when spring rolled around. This week the situation became in tolerable, the government acted decisively, and was able to produce the long-awaited document. The new constitution is a good one. It will work. The various sections of the government have shown that they can work together if they so desire and have produced a durable text with whidi to run the Student Associatiwi. Directly the con stitution will be posted for student and faculty examination. We urge both to pass it. What St. Andrews needs is a good five year constitution, and this is it. THURSDAY, APRIL 10,1975 Letters: In Defense of Apathy,Sadness Gertrude Replies Dear Sir: I am very sorry I died before your Gertrude Stein Festival as I would most cer tainly have enjoyed it, yest I I am very sorry I died before your Gertrude Stein Festival as I would most cs'- tainly have enjoyed it, yes I would, if I can trust all the things I have been reading about it. Such lovely dialogues, and poems, my what a poem! And who is Chris Taylor? and who is Skip Taylw? And is Chris Taylor really Skip Taylor? And is Skip really Chris? And are they both really Neal Bushovai? And I am cer tainly “not” a common ex perience. Sincere Good Wishes, Gertrude Stein Dear Sir: I would like to respond to the editorial of 3 April titled “St. Andrews Students: Ho Hum.” Once again, it seems, the editors have deemed it necessary to deride the student body for their alleged apathy, this time in the ar^ of student government. This is probably the sixteenth editorial this year on apathy (being Vol. 14, No. 16), and probably the sixteenth inef fectual one. I think, therefore, that a different approadi to the problem is indicated. First, we must observe that many ^udents at St. Andrews have dedicated themselves to a wide variety of pursuits, both academic and ex tracurricular. These students should not be scolded for their non-involvement in student government, just as those in volved in student government should not be chided for their lack of interest in, for example, chemistry. These are matters of personal preference and lie within the realm of individual freedom. Second, it seems unlikely that the apathetic student will respond to repeated attempts by the editori^ staff to arouse his guilt feelings. Even if he does, he will probably respond in a half-hearted way, for he is not motivated positively by his interest or the desire to do good works, but rather by his negative guilt feelings. In fact, frequent chidings for apathy are likely to negatively rein force the student’s attitudes toward his inactivity. We are reminded that “you can lead a whore to culture, but you can’t make her think.” I realize that lack of par ticipation may frustrate those who wish to organize ac tivities; however, this frustration is caused by the short-sightedness of the organizers. The student body should not be held responsible for living up to their over expectations. Perhaps lack of interest in certain activities right be taken as a popular mandate for their ter- minatiMi. Perhaps other ac tivities should be restructured into less extensive forms. Student participation is in many ways a tacit indicator of the usefulness of such organizations. In conclusion, I defend the student’s ri^t to apathy; his right to select his own goals. I am tired of hearing about apathy. Thank You, Michael Kahn P.S.: I find it quite ironic that the editorial on apathy ap peared adjacent to an editorial buttling Phil Bradley for his extensive in- volvemet in student govem- ment. BOB'S JEWEL SHOP The Place to go for aft yout Jewelry needs Moln Sf. Col logo Plaza REVELATION, AN UN- CONSaOUS CONFESSION, OR A TOKEN OF HYSTERICAL LOVE FOR OUR HONORABLE-PRESID- ENT« My fellow students! I do not know if you would call the below^nentioned article a sur prise, but you may be assured that it has flabbergasted me overwhelmingly. It was the last piece of writing I had ever expected to read in The Lance, and I probably had never thought of it being rumored on the St. Andrews College Cam pus. In the last issue of The Lan ce, Vol. 14 No. 16, Thursday April 3, 1975, I read an in triguing article by Lin Thom pson. Entitled “Farewell Phil,” Oiis article was un- beUevable, embarrassing, and disheartening. I wholehear tedly lamented, although I was not even thinking of coming to this sdiool when the present officers of our (students’) government were being voted into office. In this article Mr. Thompson com mented on President Bradley’s efforts for en couraging his fellow students to participate in the “democratic process.” I do not consider this wrong as for as democratic principles are concerned, but what I do not understand is a statement ut tered by Phil Bradley which Lin Thompson quoted, “Just sign here, and I’ll fill in the of fice for you.” For the inflating interest and concern of the student body may I ask the concerned students to explain the meaning of this quotation in conjunction with “democratic process"” This is an important issue, and the student body would appreciate a prompt response to it. Furth Furthermore, Mr. Thom pson’s same article broke my heart and shattered my hopes when I proceeded my reading to his conclusion. He quoted a petit dialoque between two fellow students whidi follows: Student A; “Are you run ning"” Student Z: “I don’t know, Phil hasn’t toldme yet.” Student A: “Well, if you do, what’11 you run for"” StudentZ: “I dm’tknow. He hasn’t toldme that either.” I have never been sure why the students are apathetic towards thdr government, yet I have heard and thought of many reasons. But could nepotism, favoritism, or frien dship be the basis of the existing apathy" For sure there is a motive, and one could be convinced that if “democratic process” has been and is practically utilized, there woiid not have been any need for our honorable ex-president to demonstrate his ability to in spire by begging his fellow students to “just sign” and fill in the offices they want. Only an incompeteent and un dependable student in a party- free election (on campus) would wait to be told by another student if he should run for an office, and if so what office it should be. I do not think any realistic and organized human society wan- THE LANCE Over Satire ts to nave a leader who is un- doubtely incapable and in competent of executing his of fice responsibilities. Likewise, the student body here does not, I believe. N. B. Corruption could easily cause the loss of con fidence, and if the “revelation” in the above dialogue is fit to be catagorized under corruption, then I may be right to state that most of the students had apathetic feeUngs towards our government because of their lack of confidence in the government’s leaders which was most probably due to one form of corruption or the other that took place sometime and somewhere. Therefore, my fellow students, in view of all this together with your admirable consciousness, impatiality, and immense conscience I am absolutely convinced that you have utilized a considerable time in separating the sheep from the goats; that you have seriously contemplated and eamestiy voted for the can didates you strongly believe are the most competent; and that your votes and mine would yield a new student government that is different, that is concerned, that is in- dustorious and that truly represents our interest. At the time of electiOTis I hoped that each and every Jack and Jill knew that our votes were our trust and investment and our new government would be our profit. Now that elections are over and a new government has been formed, I extend my heartiest felicitation and best wishes for a successful term of office to each elected can didate. I also extend my hum ble thanks and gratitude to those students who were con siderate enough to accord me their votes. To the unfortunate candidates I say, “Hail to you all for your selfless struggle in the interest of the student body. Go forward, upward, and onward and never turn back, for one fine day you would reach the highest stars.” Abdoulai B. Sosseh, Jr. (Editor’s note-The article in question was intended to be satirical in nature. During his years at St. An drews Mr. Bradley has worked long and hard to raise the caliber of student govern ment by enouraging students he though well qualified to seek office. Many tend to be reluctant for a variety of reasons, in response to which Phil tries his best to persuade them to enter the race for the office he feels they would per form well in Phil has also acquired, in his term as president, a reputation for a hard-nosed approach to things, and it was to this that I referred in the “con versation” between two students. My article was an at tempt to portray Phil’s ac tivities and impending depar ture in a humorous vein that both his friends and detractors as well would appreciate, while not interpreting it literally. For any other anguish, fear, or loathing the article caused, I apologize. These remarks would ad ditionally apply to the post script of Mr. Kahn’s letter whidi also appears on this page.) HANEY’S HANEY’S HANEY’S HANEY’S »? ac WHEEL balancing FRONT END ALIGNMENT ONE DAT SERVICE! Ex^rt Eq«ipM»nt We Trade or Tread Tour Tiret BATTERIES TUNE UP BRAKES TIRES BY MICHELIN DIAMOND (Reg. andWldeTr«ek| HANEY'S TIRE & RECAPPING SERVICE South Main $4. Awtt In S«r«lc* Mrtft biPricM HANEY’S HANEY’S HANEY’S HANEY’S COUNTRY CRAFTS Scotland Square CRAFT SUPPLIES DECOUPAGE SUPPLIES ^ Also Offer Classes In Three DImentlonal Pictures and Holly Hobble Dolls ALSO OFFER CLASSES IN THREE DIMENTIONAL PICTURES AND HOLLY HOBBY DOLLS

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view