The Lance ^
Lii Thompson Editor
MichaeVGreene Managing Editor
Kniglit Cliamberlata Asst. Editor/Sports
Sheikli Jagne Asst Editor/Business
Mark Powell Advertising Manager
Billy Howard Photo Coordinator
Ed Neely Events Coordinator
Mickey Rfchey External Crculalion
Dr. W. J. Loftus Advisor
A Warning
The new draft of the Student Association budget submitted to
the Senate this week is a disgusting attempt to play politics
with student literary endeavors at St. Andrews. Under the
guise of having reservations about the extent to which ' le
student associaticm should underwrite the costs of these
publications, the oroDonents of the new budget have excised
them altogether, sacrificing two fine outlets for students
creativity to one of Madison Avenue’s most cherished maxims:
It’s Not Creative Unless It Sells.
Certainly any member of the Senate should have the right to
enquire into the possibility of reducing these publications’
dependence (m Student Association funds. And certainly if
wajs can be devised to reduce the size of the appropriation
they need, such means should be implemented. But to cut them
off altogether is to say to the world that we are willing to
devote over one third of our budget each year to entertainment
forms of the most transient nature - chiefly music and beer -
but that we cannot afford two thousand dollars for the
publishing the works of our writers and artists.
In the course of questioning the validity of these expenses
last week, the question arising most often was, “Why should we
- the Student Association - pay for these things?”
To which should come the question, “Why should we not?”
Take a look at the facts.
The Cairn is the only exclusively student oriented literary
publication at St. Andrews.
It exists for the purpose of publishing the works of student
writers and artists, and as such it is entirely logical that
Student Association funds support it. The fact that it is offered
for sale should not lead to the automatic assumption that it can
pay for itself. Such publications, because of their nature and
the reading preferences of the population at large, start oft
appealing to a limited potential sales market. The number of
Senators who, when asked last week, had not bought copies of
the current Cairn and/or who knew little or nothing about it
while questioning its funding (in spite of considerable coverage
in THE LANCE throughout last year) bear witness to the fact
that even this small market cannot usually be expected to
queue up for copies. (An example from the real works: when
William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature,
none of his books were even in print. Is merit always
discernable by sales?)
The same marketing principles apply to the Chapbooks -
First, though, some background.
Chapbooks are small, roughly paperback-sized booklets
whose name is a corruption of “cheap books”. Their origins are
English, where they were hawked by street vendors. Their
contents usually were made ip of reprints of more expensively
bound volumes, poetry, and frequentiy, such things as hastily
conconted memorial volumes giving “A True Account of The
Life and Character” of recently deceased notables.
Alan Bunn was an immensely creative person whose time at
St. Andrews was cut short by a fatal auto accident. The Alan
Bunn Chapbook series was begun as a memorial to his mark at
St. Andrews; two are published each year, one in poetry and
one in prose. Two student authors are chosen each year - one in
each category - to have a rqjresentative sample of their works
published in a chapbook, of which a limited edition is produced.
With these publications we honor those among us who are
talented authors and illustrators. To cut them off is to tell them
their work has no value. To expect them to pay their own way
is to tell them their work must have a given monetary value,
and thereby to subject them to the indignities of catering to the
public’s fickle tastes in order to survive. The third option we
have heard - to ask the College to fund them on the premise
that they are good ambassadors for the College - is to reduce
them to the status of a propaganda mill. These publications are
ours. They print the work of our fellow students. We should be
willing to support them.
To the issue at hand there can be no half measures, no
equivocation. The Cairn and the chapbooks should be restored
the full funding they were granted by the Senate September 8.
Let no one mistake these words as mere utterances, a
commentary on events. They are a statement of resolve. Let all
parties take note that THE LANCE will muster every energy it
can in the support of The Cairn and the chapbooks, and will
carry the battle for restoration of their funds as long and as far
as is necessary in their behalf. To cut them out of the budget in
order to bolster a bloated slush fund for the Senate so they may
force campus organizations to come begging like Oliver Twist
for additional funds is a flagranti example of empire building
that cannot be tolerated.
Mackenzie Answers Critics
To The Editor:
I feel a certain obligation to
the students of St. Andrews,
and especially those who
wrote to THE LANCE, to give
my response. After several
sleepless nights of worrying I
seem to have reached a
position from which to speak.
Let me first address myself to
those comments on the
editorial page one at a time.
First, I am in total
agreement with the fact that
the Senate should appoint a
parliamentarian. After the
Senate meeting last Tuesday
night, I discussed the matter
with Mecklenburg Vice-
President Steve Newton. We
agreed that a parliamen
tarian is both necessary and
essential in the running of any
meeting. The parliamen
tarian is responsible for ser
ving as a parliamentary ad
visor to the president of the
Senate. I agreed that a
parliamentarian “would, not
ifl)surp” my rights and that
he/she would be invaluable in
advising me mi “parliamen
tary questions in which I am
uncertain about how to rule.”
The Senate will address itself
to this question at the next
meeting.
Second, let me say that it
was never my intention to
participate in the discussion
of any budget item; I have
that responsibility in the
Cabinet. To my knowledge the
only participating I did was
during the Chapbook
allocation and during the
BSU. Let me explain fiu’ther.
The Chapbook allocation
came to a tie which I, as
President, was committed to
break. I felt it my duty to ex
plain to the Senate why I
voted as I did. During the
BSU debate I asked Jacob
Hc^ue how many members
were in the BSU and how
much each paid in dues. Also,
I did ask several questions
about ttie discos.
Now let me move into
another point. Sheila
McAllister objected to the
procedure of the meeting and
claims that the decisions are
invalid because of the manner
in which they were handled. I
have two responses to this.
First, if she was so con
cerned about the two groups
why didn’t she decide to at
tend the meeting? lama Whit
taker’s point is well taken. I
never told several of the other
people at the meeting to come
but they were there. In the
two day period before the
meeting I had numerous
people come to me and ask
what was going to happen at
the meeting and I told them
and encouraged them to
come. I was very impressed
with the concern of the BSU.
There were a good number of
the active members of the
organization there throughout
the meeting. Even though the
Senate had voted to limit the
participation of the visitors
all members of the BSU
stayed for the duration.
Second, despite tiie fact that
there was a great deal of con-
fusioi, I feel that the BSU did
receive ample time to voice
their opinioi. The debate
could be re-opened but I doubt
that anything new would be
added.
In a book I have been
reading lately it states:
“although the majority rules,
it cannot be granted unlimited
power. Every individual has
certain personal rights,
regardless of whether he hap
pens to be in the majority or
the minority. The group
should welcome the free
presentation of all the facts
and viewpoints on any
problem in open discussion,
but that discussion cannot
consume the entire meeting.”
Here Lin Thompson’s point
about the setting 15) of a time
limit is well taken and will
also be considered by the
Senate. Another question I
have is: where does Sheila in
tend to get the funds? Another
realization I made after the
meeting was that after the
BSU and Farrago had been
discussed there was little
money left. Since none of tiie
allocations were changed
from Cabinet to Senate,
Sheila should realize that this
problem had been dealt with
thoroughly. The cabinet spent
six and a half hours working
over the budget and presented
to the Senate a good budget.
As I stated at the meeting it
was necessary for us to
prioritize the groups of people
wanting money. We had a
constitutional obligation to
handle the groups the way
that we did.
None of what was said in
THE LANCE was totally
false, and mudi of it was true.
The criticism was taken as
constructive criticism, not
negative. The only point that I
would like to clear up is that
there appeared a gross error
on the front page. THE LAN
CE made no attempt what
soever to try and reach me.
This seems somewhat strange
since I was either in or
around the dorm the entire af
ternoon and all night on Wed
nesday. I don’t object to prin
Apologies
The editor wishes to make two apologies.
The author of the Wilmington women piece last week assures
me that desu-able’ was not intended to be interpreted in a
^ status of any sort of
object. That a negative connotation could have been placed upon
the term should have occurred to both the writer at the point of
THP’^anS w!!* ^ determinant of what goes in
THE LANCE In the press of business I just skimmed it and sent
It on; thus I accept responsibility for it and apologize to all
t TnpI / ^ attitude is not that of THE
"LI management. Such incidents wUl not occur again
thS £ statement
mat he could not be reached for comments on Shpila
challenge several Senate rulings last week
could be construed as an unwilUngness to speak. Such is not tiie
case, attempted to find Donald twice on Wednesday afternoon
last, and was unable, to do so. Hence the line in tiie article Fa-
tiie unintended slap at Donald I apologize.
ting the news but I do objert
to misrepresentation in J!
mobcation that I “could Z
be reached for comment it
at this point that I would J
to ^ytiiat at anytime day!
raght If anyone has any
questions about the Senate!
wiU drop whatever! aradoinj
and address myself to fceir
questions.
f ‘>>311
feel Oie Senate is a concerned
group of people and that we
are making every effort to be
as strong and as effective as
possible. Every Senator has
the desire and interest to do
the best job they can in
representing their various
groups of people. This does
not imply that those people
that did not get elected didn’t
have desire but to state that
tiiose now in office possess
that trait. Desire pre-empts
experience. Ejq)erience will
come, but how can one be ex
perienced at something they
have never done before? Also,
I would appreciate it if those
criticisms of last Tuesday’s
meeting be directed toward
me, not the Senate. I made
the errors, not them. I want a
powerful and active Senate
but we need the support from
the students. The thing that
frightens me most is being
inactive, and that we cer
tainly are not. Let’s not un
dermine the Senate but work
behind it. The Senate will
never cease to stop trying and
will never give up. We were
elected to do a job and we will
stop short of nothing to see it
done right.
Donald Mackenzie
(The Author is President of
the Senate.)
PIRG
Adds
Voter
Info
I would like to add some in
formation to the letter George
Fouke wrote last week which
concerned voter registration
in Scotland County. Students
wishing to vote in Scotland
County will probably not be
required to present evidence
of residency. Although North
Carolina state voter
registration guidelines have
for the past several years
recommended that students
be asked special (and thus
discriminatory) questions,
students have been able to
register without hassle in
Scotland County thanks to a
group of St. Ani'ews students
who brought a case against to
the Scotland County Board 01
Elections and won.
Recognizing that the voter
registration guidelines disff-
minated against students, Nt
PIRG filed a complaint witt
the State Board of Elections
and has recently succeeded ffl
having the guidelines revis
Under the new guideline
students having the who w
to vote in Scotiand Coun y
should not have any trouble
registering. However, |
anyone tries to register ana IS
refused or hassled please cob-
tact me or anyone else on
PIRG board.
Sharon L. McGee
PIRG, Box 444