Editorials
Page!
Speeches Show
Healthy Attitude
by Susan Webb
and Amy Washburn
The SGA election speeches
forecasted progress in the 1988-89
academic year. They also marked a
new attitude in student opinions of
their place in the government at
Salem. This past year's Executive
Board has indeed laid the
groundwork for such interest in
individual and group roles in the
governing process. As Johanna
Metzgar pointed out in her election
speech, we need to "keep the
momentum going." Not only did the
speeches mark new attitudes, but this
year's accomplishments have proven
The Salemite's often published
claim that students can obtain what
they desire and need if they only ask
for it. Though the student government
has achieved much this year,
students need to follow the trend and
really begin to take part in the
processes of change. We have proven
that we are capable of taking
initiative.
It seems that a change in the
overall attitude of the Salem student
body is beginning to take place. No
longer do we automatically identify
ourselves as passive and obedient to
authority without question. Rather,
Salem students are seeing themselves
as people whose opinions are
worthwhile and should be voiced in
every area of campus life. Salem
belongs to everyone here, especially
the students, and our voices should
not be denied in decisions of any
magnitude.
Administration and students
alike are beginning to realize that
students are sometimes in a better
position to identify problems and
suggest solutions. Administration
seems to be much more open to
hearing the comments of students,
and students are much more willing to
come forward and express their
views.
The first steps have been
taken—the challenge now is to
sustain our strength and drive as a
student body. Students can push for
higher goals and have higher
expectations as we enter the 1988-89
year. As Ginger Saunders, SGA
President for next year, said in her
campaign speech, all the problems
have not yet been identified.
However, she emphasizes that as a
student body working together we can
find solutions and make Salem even
better.
The Salemite this year has
attempted to become an integral part
of relations between students, student
government, and administration. We
would like to see the cooperative
spirit continue and even surpass
possibilities that once seemed
remote.
Future SGA President
Pinpoints Issues for
the Coming Year
Letter to the Editor:
SGA Effort Appreciated
Dear Editor,
Ahhh. . . Dinner! Should I eat
at 5:30, 6:00, or 6:15? Well, the
choice is finally mine. At the
beginning of February, the
Executive Board of Salem College
accomplished one of its goals by
reorganizing the schedule for
dinner. 1 would like to publicly
acknowledge my gratitude to the
Executive Board and to the
administration for listening and
promptly responding to valid
student complaints.
Frankly, I love the new dinner
schedule. 1 think it is terrific that
the traditional sit-down dinners
occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The new system of handling
"sit-downs" appears to be a success.
There is much less waste, and
everyone seems a great deal more
relaxed. Although some complain
about the lines for dinner during
the rest of the week, 1 enjoy having
the flexibility of choosing what
time is most convenient for me to
eat. 1 usually eat past 5:30, and
therefore 1 avoid the lines. The
true worth of the new system lies in
the fact that we as students, can
CHOOSE when we decide to go to
dinner. This freedom of choice is
quite a refreshing change of pace.
So, here's to Millie and the rest of
the Executive Board team, and
here's to the administration for
responding positively to our
constructive criticism—a job well
done!
Elizabeth Betts
Hi! My name is Ginger
Saunders and I am running for
President of SGA. In my three
years at Salem I have always been
actively involved in Student
Government with several positions
ranging from Freshman Fall Fest
Chairman to Secretary of SGA.
Through these experiences, I have
gained extensive knowledge of how
things get accomplished is exactly
what I intend to do.
Although I am running
unopposed, you can still decide if
you want me as your president.
Because of this, I want you to have
a notion of some of the issues I
would like to see students address
and fight about in the coming year.
Primarily, many decisions are
made by the administration during
the course of a year, but these
decisions often don't come out
before it is too late for our input as
students. As well, there is much
information that gets exchanged
among faculty, but hits the
students again, too late. These
decisions and this information,
however, do tend to affect our lives
greatly. A second problem that I
see is that even when students
have opinions on issues often times
those opinions and ideas don't come
out of the dorms and make it to our
Student Government leaders. In
this light, I would like to see
Legislative Board take on a
moreccc visible and vocal role next
year by providing students with
necessary information on campus
issues. As well, it is becoming vital
to establish some type of grievance
board, which would be designed
only to hear students' complaints,
opinions, and ideas. A third
problem that I see is the conflict
between traditional and adult
students. Although this issue is
currently being addressed, there is
still much room and a serious need
for our input.
I cannot begin to claim that I
have all the solutions to these
problems, nor do I claim to know
what all the problems even are.
But I do intend to find out. We've
come a long way this year, but we
still have a long way to go to make
Salem even better. With all of us
working together, we can do it!
We, as students, have a right to be
heard, and obligation to voice our
opinions. Let's make it a great
year. Thanks!
SaCemite-
Salem Codege
‘Winston-SaCem, ffC 27108
(919)721-2825
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