Newspapers / Mars Hill University Student … / Sept. 13, 1974, edition 1 / Page 5
Part of Mars Hill University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
1974 MARS HILL COLLEGE HILLTOP P r SmiDENT GOVERNMENT it’s udge they ob. are col- are ill, the out sign and much by ere. wor- bers iest see ris- the mber f to ople per- oun- hese your by many or at e, ost- or ecu- f ers, per- tger- been lict I on the so- " none sane land- •d to rhile ig to fbody iple. ;hout rould ! in- be >plel It her PikeSPEAKS By Mark Grimes' Student Government Association President, Larry Pike, gave the annual presidential address to a group of approximately fifty interested students Tuesday evening in ^elk Auditorium. His speech voiced elo quently S.G.A. and student concerns for Mars HiU College 1974. Bike discussed stu- dent issues such as sex discrimination, housing (off-campus and on-campus), alco holic beverage poli- cies, inter-resi dence hall visitation ^>^d finally, S.G.A. and student relation ships . First expressed by ^ike is that the SGA has never honestly attempted to serve ihis student body as the viable, powerful, influential organiza tion it can be." In Place of service there has been "empty rhetoric, no commit- ®*®nts" and a neglect student needs. One urgent issue ike promised to work is "the elimina- on of discrimina- ion in any form on p ® basis of sex. minting out that the ®^ea of greatest con- ^^i'n to students now ® the removal of ^^few restrictions placed on female re- idents. Pike elabor- ^ ®d that the curfew ^®quirement isn't the ^ipgle justification in^ ®®sking equality jj hhe student body, feels that elimina- ^ of sex discrimi nation '"ith in order the purposes of no nuere and/or con- efforts fhig institution. ^^°^ding to Pike, gj have been ded by the insti- as a total Pnity to elimin- 'discrimination on ^h^dsis of sex." ® legal precedent Crj Adopting non-dis- n^tnatory policies th^ heen laid since Passing oi Title AfliQ°5 Educational ^dnients Act on June 23, 1972, Pike stated, "it has be come apparent within the last year that we would be forced by law to eliminate all of our sexually disrv criminatroy practises unless we voluntarily began efforts to cor- - rect our illegal po licies ." Student Af fairs Council has been called to initi ate a remedial pro gram to eliminate all policies, regulations and acrivities of this college that dis criminate in any form on the basis of sex. He does not pretend to know what course "remedial" action will run, but it will be a slow process of study, consideration and implementation. The Student Govern ment Association would actively support all fair and reasonable efforts of the Stu dent Affairs Co\incil to elimiriate sex dis crimination. Pike, finishing his com ments on this topic, and, showing the ser iousness of his in tentions, declares "the SGA insists that the institution move toward the goal of sexual equality." He further advised that if the Student Af fairs Council ceases to be fair and re- sonable...the Pres ident 's Cabinet (SGA Cabinet) will recom mend to the senate that the SGA termin ate its participation in the institution's efforts to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex. It will also seek re dress of this griev ance by and through the appropriate ju dicial remedy. Another student con cern Pike spoke of is the problem of over crowded housing con ditions one campus. While first expres sing pride abour Mars Hill's increased en- rollemnt (when other colleges' nationwide enrollments are gen erally down) he later says he "must strong ly criticize and con demn any admissions practice that accepts more students than the institution can normally and comfort ably house. "He sajs that returning stu dents and new resi dents dombined to re quire over 1,200 beds in the residence halls when the normal residence hall capa city yielded only slightly more than 1,100 beds. It is inconceivable that aa- signing more than thirty men to the Myers attic or pla cing over ten women in the Infiirmary ward can possible facili tate a proper and de sirable educational atmosphere. The SGA, in an ef fort to alleviate the housing crunch, adopted Monday night, a proposal which will modify present on- campus housing re quirements. Realiz ing that desirable experiences acquired from group living during a students freshman and sophomoie years may be reason ably achieved and re quired residence re quirements beyond that time may be meaningless. The Senate resolved that, "henceforth, junior and senior men and women, regardless of marital status, mili tary experience, or age, be allowed the option of selecting on-campus or off-cam- pus living experien ces." With this in mind, expressed Pike, "it is hoped that the administration will concur in this propo sal." In Pike's address, he states "proposals are being prepared that call for a regu lar inter-residence hall visitation poli cy and for the posses sion and/or use of alcoholic beverages on the Mars Hill Col lege campus. Pike pledges, "as long as I am President of this student body... continued efforts will be made to se cure these privileges for Mars Hill stu dents ." Pike acknowledged a past lack of SGA and student body rapport. Concerning his own conduct in office, he concludes, "I could provide effective leadership if i did not conduct my office as I did last year." He pledges: "We will not remain aloof from the student body this eyar as we have in the past." To amend divisions in SGA and student body dialogue. Pike proposes "to schedule dorm meetings at which he and other governmental officers can hold discussion sessions. At the heart of Pik's address is his hope that MHC "become and remain a progres sive institution, providing the best possible educational and social environ ment for its stu dents. " SENATE SUMMARY L>y Mark Grimes During the first Senate meeting of 1974, held Monday in Belk Auditorium, ma jor legislation was passed concerning student life. The first order of busi ness wa§ a proposal to reorganize the Fall Calendar of events. Whereas last year Fall Break was scheduled in October, the senate resolved Id have two breaks—one from October 23 to 28 and the other from November 27 to Decem ber 2. The reason for this change is to allow students to go home for the tradi tional American holi day of Thanksgiving in November. Before this bill goes in ef fect, it must be ex amined and adopted by the Student Affairs Council. The next biU passed was a proposal' to e- liminate discrimina tion on the basis of sex at MHC. Last spring, a similar bill was passed by the senate but was not adopted by the Stud ent Affairs Council. That bill proposed change on the basis cf a legal precedent;' however, the present bill seeks non-dis- criminatory policies on the assumption that a Christian in stitution "should feel impelled to do no less that treat all persons equally." The SGA feels the is sue of "discrimina tion on the basis of sex to be the most critical issue pre sently facing this community." Former Mars Hill student and student defenst at torney, Jim Ramsey, feels it "is the SGA's responsibility to come out forceful ly on an issue as vi tal as sex discrimi nation. " The Bill was passed unanimously by the senate and will now be sent to the Stu dent Affairs Council for further examina tion. To follow through with its in tentions the Senate passes a resolution which states that the President's cabinet feels that it the Student Affairs Coun cil fails to act fairly and reason ably and in an order ly manner to elimi nate discrimination on the ^basis of sex, that the SGA will then take further ac tion by seeking re dress through an ap propriate source. The last sed was a to allow judicial bill pas- resolution junior and senior students the option of selecting off-campus housing. It also passed unan imously and will now be sent to the Stu dent Affairs Council for examination.
Mars Hill University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 13, 1974, edition 1
5
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75