Presidential candidates offer views on issues in Wednesday election
Editor's Note: The Daily Tar Heel asked each candidate for student body
president to answer the following questions. The candidates were given no
maximum line length. Some answers thus may have been edited for length. The Blue
Sky Party chose to submit a statement rather than submit answers to the
questionnaire.
1) What do you see as the most important campus issue, and what would you do
about it? What other important issues do you see for next year?
2) How do you see the role as president in relation to the University community
and all aspects of the Student Government executive branch?
3) What is your major criticism of Student Government, particularly the
executive branch, and how would you correct these problems?
Bruce Border
1) The overriding issue in this campaign and in
the year ahead is whether or not Student
Government can perform its duties effectively and
fairly. The crisis of confidence students feel
toward Suite C stems from student leaders who
overpromise and then fail to deliver. Perhaps the
biggest reason for Student Government'!
credibility gap is the rampant, political
gamesmanship going on inside and outside of
Suite C. Instead of pleading with students that
Student Government be accorded credibility,
student leaders should work with students in an
open and accountable manner.
There are people in and around Suite C who
have forgotten that they are students who are
supposed to work for the total student welfare;
instead, these persons have come to see themselves
as "kingmakers" who have the power and ability
to do everything and be everything to everybody. I
would like to see the day when students will elect
those who recognize that Suite C cannot and
should not satisfy their every desire. Student
Government must utilize its resources and
energies in those areas where it can make a
difference and serve the basic interests of the
student body. Those who proclaim the power of
Suite C are not being truthful to themselves and
the students; somewhere, someone must step up
and realize Student Government's limitations
financial and otherwise and return Suite C to
the duty of performing a few functions well.
Student Government needs openness and
accountability once again it it is to regain its
credibility as the voice of student interests in the
University community. Too often elected leaders
hide behind the doors of Suite C and refuse to deal
forthrightly with students and the University.
Receptiveness to student opinion, critical or
complimentary, can be achieved by those in
Student Government if they would only try. I
intend to encourage advance public notice in the
DTH of any Student Government meetings with
the location, time and agenda specified. As
student body president, I will inform students
through monthly newspaper columns as to what
Student Government decisions and policies are
being formulated and how they could tffect
students in the future. Sudden announcements
about decisions made months earlier should have
no part in any administration wishing to be
responsible to the student body.
2) The primary role of the student body
president within the University community it that
of representing the sum total of the various
Jeff Ellington
I) Most important campus issue: The lack of
communication between students and faculty,
best evidenced in the controversy over the Honor
Code and the drop period. The only way to
increase the communication between students and
faculty is to have it as the priority on this campus.
There are many attractice ways to enhance the
current level of communication:
By having the student body president and
CGC be available to public forum, giving any
student a chance to impress his views upon hit
fellow students and upon the faculty and
administration.
By appointing motivated and enthusiastic
students to help arrange departmental socials.
By having a student body president who
doesn't just sit behind his desk and go to meetings
but maintains constant involvement in the "grass
roots" things that are happening on campus. We
need a student body president who the students
can identify with.
By having a student body president who is
genuinely committed to improving the community
not for a few select friends, but for everyone.
Other important issues:
Just as important an issue is the need for an
attitude among teachers that they are not guilty of
personal bias if they take a student's motivation,
interest, enthusiasm, and diligence into account
when they hand out grades.
The need to rekindle just what purpose
education serves. It is supposed to stimulate our
minds to think, but too often students have to
regurgitate just what professors think is important
or else be content with a lower grade, This
especially applies to the liberal arts departments.
Marshall McLuhan discusses television, privacy, life and McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan, in The Gutenberg
Galaxy and Understanding Media, told us
that our human "sensorium" has been
unbalanced by excessive dependency on
print.
He told us we were beginning to right
ourselves as electronic communication
stressed the tribal (oral and tactile modes of
communication) rather than the more
individualist print mode.
Thus it is not without a tinge of self
consciousness that I sit at a typewriter in
order to describe my meeting with
McLuhan.
"IN QUOTES"
By CHIP ENSSLIN
Alas! I am merely a "print -formed mind
made obsolete by Hme an J electricity."
But, after all, McLuhan had to use print to
announce the end of the print culture.
The 37 members of the Toronto Exchange
r: i t' -e ( portunity to question McLuhan in
$ c". e 011 tnc University of Toronto
J." c' iing an hour-and-a-half long
t ' r i.i J. nuary.
. ' i if t' e individuals challenged him,
' l,im, irritated at his smug
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. ,. , , -t n i - c and admiration.
v ' v hat he said. You
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student interests and concerns. The president
cannot afford to cater to particular interests and
groups if he is to remain effective as the articulator
of the student community. Student leaders tend to
forget that they represent just one segment of the
larger University community. It is imperative
therefore that the student body president perceive
the concerns of the students accurately and
comprehensively. Furthermore, the student body
president must make sure that he does not play
politics with the student interests in dealing with
either the University or the student body; and to
that end, the president of the student body must
use his personal skills to communicate effectively
and, more importantly, honestly with students,
professors and administrators.
As a member of the University's Board of
Trustees, the student body president must make
sure that this is the one job he performs with
expertise and grace. If the president fails in hisjob
to let the trustees know what the student interests
are, then there will be little left for his
administration to accomplish.
The relationship of the president to the
executive branch is particularly crucial in that he
must take overall responsibility for decisions
coming from Suite C. He must inspire trust and
respect from those working with him in Student
Government. Above all, the president must keep
in mind that he is a student like the rest of his
constituents and that in making decisions he must
return to the question of whether or not what he
decides is in the total student interest.
3) Please refer to the answer to the first question
' I'd like to set up student groups to study the
current tenure based on research situation, to see if
there is any way to do that objectively. But I
wonder how objective it is when test scores are the
sole criterion for a grade.
Lack of communication with the Student
Government.
Lack of accountability within Student
Government.
2) As motivatojand initiator of productive
change.
3) Lack of communication is my major criticism
of Student Government, particularly the executive
branch. ,
Have openness as the top priority for
everyone associated with Student Government.
bewildered, excited, confused or thrilled. We
were.
McLuhan on television: "before we go any
further, I'd like to show you this mural, that
we keep behind the curtain here. It's the one
part of the room that doesn't change. This
was done by an artist who instinctively
understood that television uses the eye as an
ear. There's a. book about it by Tony
Schwartz.
"This painting refers to television as The
Pied Piper. We lost that generation, the first
generation raised on TV. That's a 2,500-year
gap, from the beginnings of literacy to its
end. When we first developed TV, we never
dreamed that someday we would have to pay
the Pied Piper."
McLuhan on the dangers of television:
"with television, you are the screen. The TV
image pours into your eyes. You don't have
to focus. There is no, flicker in TV; there are
no frames. The flat image comes at you, and
your motor muscles are immobilized. The
TV child loses his powers of convergence.
This is dyslexia, and it happens mainly in
boys. This causes a huge difference in
schools. Ninety percent of all learning
disabilities are male. Why? Because male
muscles, generally, are more crude. Boys
play football or hockey or contact sports.
The activities of girls, sewing, for example,
require more precise adjustment."
McLuhan on the significance of television:
"The instant replay is the greatest
technological achievement in human
hibtory. It is the artistic imitation, the
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Craig Brown
1) With the DTH disclosures made in recent
days, the major issue in this campaign is clearly the
size, disposition and use of the budgetary surplus.
The fact that information concerning the level of
the budgetary surplus was not made public to the
Campus Governing Council (CGC), the legislative
body responsible for the allocation of student fees,
and to a student body which voted and passed
a student fee increase partly because SG was
'broke,' casts some doubt upon the budgetary
practices used by previous administrations.
The information concerning the budgetary
surplus was not made public, I suspect, because it
has apparently been a student government
tradition to keep such information quiet. This
tradition is not one that my administration would
continue; in addition, I believe that SG must
seriously examine the very conservative financial
strategy which it has employed in the past.
Unfortunately, while SG funds all of the
organizations at once, the organizations clearly do
not spend all of their money at once.
It would be far better if SG funded the
organizations only partially at the beginning of the
fall semester. If this occurred, the budgetary
surplus would not have to be as large and a
portion of it could be invested. Then, when money
from fees enters the SAFO office, it could be
transferred into organizational accounts, rather
than into the budgetary surplus. In this manner,
the budgetary surplus could be maintained at a
relatively stable level, rather than with the wide
swings in value which occur now.
While the budgetary surplus of $184,443 should
be slowly reduced over a period of years under this
plan, SG needs to maintain a surplus sufficient to
meet cash flow, long term and emergency needs.
Academics will be a central concern of SG in the
coming year. During the last two years, the course
withdrawal period has decreased from 12 to 4
weeks. I believe that four weeks is an insufficient
period of time to judge a course, especially when 1
few courses have any sort of lest d uring this time.
My administration would work for a six-week
withdrawal period.
In addition, SG should try to prevent problems
before they occur. Students, especially
sophomores and freshmen, need more education
about professors and courses. To meet these
needs, SG must expand the size and scope of the
Carolina Course Review, as well as that of the
Student Tutorial Services.
The faculty advising system at Carolina is
clearly inadequate. Reform of this system,
coupled with expansion and funding of the
student Academic Resource Person (ARP)
program, would provide greater direction and
assistance for students.
My administration will promote the formation
of academic societies in every department across
the campus. I've seen the positive impact of the
new undergraduate business society upon the
School of Business during the past semester, and I
believe that every student and every department
would benefit from these groups.
Among other issues, Brown:
Favors a policy of no growth in UNC's
student enrollment.
Supports efforts to obtain beer sales on
campus.
Proposes the formation of a Chancellor's
Advisory Committee to study the possibility of
installing a centralized residence hall telephone
system at UNC.
Plans to continue efforts to begin a recycling
program on campus.
Pledges strong support of the Committee on
Human Rights and Relationships and to work
with the Black Student Movement in the coming
year to improve race relations on campus.
2) In the University community, the role of
president is to provide leadership, input and
advocacy concerning all issues of importance to
Jim Phillips
1 ) I feel that the most pressing issues at this time
revolve around the topic of academics here at
UNC. During the past year questions have arisen
over the drop period, the Honor Code and pass
fail policy. In each of these areas, especially with
regard to the drop period, 1 feel that Student
Government has failed to adequately represent the
student interest.
We should work toward extending the drop
period to six to eight weeks. This change should be
only the beginning of a greater student voice in
determining academic policies here at UNC. An
effective way to increase student input would be to
place a voting member on the Educational Policy
Committee. This Committee has in the past closed
its meetings to all students and DTH reporters,
and it appears that it will continue to do so in the
future. This should not be the case, for this
committee is dealing with the educations of some
20,000 students who deserve some input into the
manner in which their tuition is put to use.
2) The student body president has a wide and
varied role in his relationship with the University.
He must be a leader who is not only willing to
listen to students' wants, needs, and ideas but also
be an organizer and active campaigner for these
interests which would benefit the students.
aesthetic imitation. This goes back to
Aristotle and his definition of drama. It is a
mimesis, a profound metaphysical
experience. The replay is the meaning, since
the initial cognition is simply the cognition
and not the meaning."
McLuhan on life: "On the phone, on the
air, you have no body. You are just an image.
You have no physical body. Electronic man
is discarnate. He has no body, and no
identity.
When people lose their identity they crave
nostalgia. That's all Star Wars is, after all. A
return to the past. Nostalgia.
"We do have a supernatural identity left,
but no natural identity is left when natural
laws are taken away from us.
"That's what happens when we lose our
bodies. There is no identity left when you live
at the speed of light.
"That is how television outdates Freud.
Freud is passe. Everyone then had an
identity, even if it was a sick one. Now man
has no identity."
McLuhan on the relationship of television
to movies: "The nature of the television
experience is fantasy. Movies, on the other
hand, are dream visions, dreams that money
can buy. A fantasy takes place while you are
wide awake. A dream takes place in your
unconsciousness.
"You can never mistake TV for reality.
That's why the judge did the right thing in
this Kojak case and threw it out.
"Even news on television is a fantasy.
Now, news in print is another thing entirely.
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the student body.
Within the state of North Carolina, the
president must insure that the student voice is
heard in the legislature and the state government.
As a member of the Board of Trustees, the Alumni
Board of Directors, the Athletic Council, and the
Campus Governing Council, the President should
not only represent students, he must advocate the
student interest.
As the main representative to the office of
student affairs, the chancellor's office, the towns
of Chapel H ill and Carrboro, and all of the many
student organizations, the president must insure
that the student voice is heard.
This representation must be in as direct a nature
as possible. Student opinion could be measured
through surveys; coupled with increased
involvement in student government, this could
provide a broader base of support for student
government in matters before the state, the town
and the University. Student ' input into town
decisions should be through the ballot box my
administration will do everything possible to
increase student registration in the towns of
Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
Within the executive branch, the president must
provide a broad sense of leadership and direction
for his staff. His appointments should be made on
the basis of merit, rather than politics. The
president must actively recruit this staff.
3) Despite several major accomplishments, the
Moss administration has had several serious
flaws. Bill Moss has been unable to attract many
new members to his staff. To be sure, recruitment
is not easy. But active recruitment of interested
students, through residence hall meetings, door-to-door,
and a student government newsletter,
would go far in extending the size and impact of
student government. The next administration
must approach students, not vice-versa, as is
presently the case.
The area of academics has been one of acute
disappointment for the Moss administration. In
an area of crucial importance to most students,
there has been little constructive action of any
kind. One of the major goals of my administration
would be to put a greater emphasis on academics
encouraging the establishment of
undergraduate academic societies, in conjunction
with an expansion of the Carolina Course Review
and Student Tutorial Services, efforts to increase
the withdrawal-drop-add period, and a critical
examination of plus and minus grades, the four
course load, and undergraduate curriculum, just
to mention a few.
Finally, the secrecy surrounding the budget
surplus issue has damaged the credibility of
student government. The next president should
make this information available to the Campus
Governing Council and the student body. It is our
money. There is no reason why we should not
know how much money we have. I am committed
to making such secrecy a thing of the past.
3) The major problems of Student Government
this year have been in communicauon and
representation. Those in the executive branch tend
to feel that Student Government justifies itself.
Student Government should find out firsthand
what students want and need. One way to alleviate
this problem is to periodically assess students'
opinions through opinion polls.
The Cocktail Party
Ensslin, right, still thinking linear, is
consciously or unconsciously seduced
by McLuhan's oral (agrarian populistic)
form of communication. Photo by Bruce
Levin.
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Blue Sky Party .
The Blue Sky Party, in keeping with a tradition
of many years, is again committed to a program of
pragmatic innovation. Our proposals are more
realistic than those of the other candidates, and
are forged with even greater sincerity.
This year we promise to construct an enormous
geodesic dome which, when completed, will span
the entire campus, from Roy Rogers to the Forest
Theater, guaranteeing equal weather rights for"a!l.
Our Blue Sky engineers have informed me that
such a dome is entirely possible. But far more
important, it is also viable.
Blue Sky financial experts are now working
around the clock to determine the optimal
resource allocation for the dome. They're also
trying to figure out a way to pay for it. Since
Student Government seems competed to ape the
real government in every detail, we might pay for
the dome with deficit spending. Any unwanted
inflation will be halted by a solution devised by
Blue Sky economists. As of my inauguration, all
eights will become fours.
Alternatively, we might simply finance f.he
dome with part of the current budget surplus. '
All decisions regarding climate conditions
under the dome will be made after giving due
attention to the available input. So far, the input
seems to be about 72 degrees. But further input
needs to be gathered from other campus residents,
particularly minority groups with special needs,
such as trees and roaming dogs.
Regarding the parking problem, the Blue Sky
Party will issue horses to all persons now holding
Sonya Lewis
1) I feel the most important campus issue at this
time is the lack of interest and participation of
students in the current Student Government
programs. Experience in past leadership roles has
shown me that students care about problems that
affect them and projects that may help them but,
at present, there are very few ways for them to act
on these concerns. Student Government should be
for all students. How can you work on programs
and issues if you first do not have the support of
students on this campus? I believe the programs
and ideas listed on my platform are innovative and
very realistic and at least one idea will affect every
student on this campus. It is the kind of Student
Government involvement that can regain student
interest and participation.
2) I feel that the role of the student body
president is, of course, to be the student's
representative. The president must reflect the
student's opinion to such governing bodies as the
UNC Board of Trustees and the Faculty Council,
not excluding the many committees existing at this
University.
While working on the extension of the drop
period, it became evident that part of the
Administration and the Faculty Council is not
listening closely to what students are trying to say
and to the problems that they face. A little
understanding from both parties could help to
ease this lack of communication. A step in the
' right direction would be the coordination of
workshops or some kind of gathering beyond the
Administration's Day presently held in which the
staff of the Executive Branch could exchange
ideas on problem areas with the Administration
member and or faculty also working in these
areas. The student body president must be an
innovator. For without concrete and feasible
programs. Student Government's executive
branch is no more than a figure head organization.
Thus I would establish programs that this student '
body could benefit from and would coordinate the
efforts of the Executive Branch in this direction.
In referring to Student Government, let me
separate the CGC from the Executive Branch, but
one should keep in mind that I have already dealt
with some of the Judicial Branch's problems.
3) In the legislative branch, the main problem
occurs in the area of the budgetary process.
Because most CGC members do not poll their
constituents to see how they would like their
monies spent, all members besides the Financial
Gordon Cureton
1) Student Government's failure, in the past, to
serve effectively and efficiently was to. me the
major campus issue. Student Government is not
only responsible for gauging or finding out the
needs and concerns of the students, but it is also
responsible for developing and implementing
effective programs that benefit the student.
2) The student body president is the spokesman
of students. He should be an active voice' in
defending rights, concerns, and needs of students.'
It is his responsibility to develop and implement a
structure to probe into the needs and concerns of
students on-campus and off-campus.
3) Lack of diversity is my major criticism of
Student Government. In the past it has failed to
actively recruit more women, blacks and other
minorities into Student Government. As student
body president I plan to actively recruit more
women, blacks and minorities to Student
Government.
and a very difficult thing to grasp. This is
what my book The Gutenberg Galaxy is
about."
McLuhan on life in North America:
"North Americans go outside to be alone.
There is no privacy in the American home.
We go to ball games to be alone. The
supreme privacy in North America is that of
the motor car. The businessman does all his
thinking and planning in a car. It's the only
form of privacy.
"We don't go to movies to socialize.
Europeans have ads in movies. Why do we
not tolerate it? When you're out with your
date, you want to be alone.
"We all laugh at Charlie Chaplin as the
lonely little tramp who wanters the streets
and constantly is brushed off. Actually, he
never set foot in an American home, but
Europeans see Charlie Chaplin movies as
documentaries of life in North America. No
American talks to people on elevators.
Europeans do. That's one of their favorite
places to pinch bottoms. The French don't
measure intellectual activities by, say, the
number of intellectual books read, but by
conversation in the cafes."
McLuhan on grievance and society: "I just
worked with Woody Allen in his movie
Annie Hall. Woody Allen is very, very
serious. I think Steve Allen is the one who
said that the funny man is the one with a
grievance. There is no joke that is not based
on a grievance.
Streakers had a gripe. Why the instant.
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parking stickers or bus passes, Any ecological
disturbances thus created will be handled by non
party Student Government officials so that they
may at last collect what they have for so long
dispensed.
The Blue Sky Party is dismayed this year, both
by the presence of six joke candidates on the ballot
for President, and by the wild and ridiculous
promises, these candidates are making. We urge
you to read the rest of this page critically, and to let
your conscience decide your vote.
- ROBERT LYMAN
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Committee members must rely on a few figures to
vote on the final appropriation. First of all, if
feasible, I would like to consider some type of
requirement that CGC members must obtain
feedback from their districts. Besides this change I
would also like to have the general CGC members
receive the budget in advance and spread the final
appropriation night over a larger period of time. It
is not fair for an organization at the end of the
appropriations process, even if selected by
random order, because tempers are short and
patience is short at 1 a.m. Let's now look at the
executive branch. The staff at present is not large .
enough to complete the projects undertaken, so
proven by the drop period when CGC members
were recruited too late in the end of the battle to be
effective. A solution to this would be my idea on
selection of the Executive and Judicial staff. The
question can be asked, "How- can we be assured
that such diverse people can work together?" First
of all, the panel and myself at the end can choose
people who can work together on certain projects.
Everyone on the entire staff may not always get
along, but the people in the specific areas will be
able to cooperate. The job description idea will
also let the general student body know what
Student Government is doing and how the
ordinary student might get involved in one of
those areas. In essence, this is what Bill Moss
might have wanted to do with his "active
recruitment" plans but never accomplished
because this plan was never put into practice.
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momentary flash? The streaker seemed to be
going somewhere. It was a public complaint
about having no goals. At the speed of light
there are no goals. There is only role play. On
the phone, on the air, you have no goals.
Streakers were complaining about the
absence of jobs, dramatized by public
demonstration, by a role play.
"Punk rock is a manifestation of
grievance.
"Delinquency is rage."
McLuhan on the figure-ground
relationship: "The ground, which we live, is
ever-changing. The cause is the hidden
ground. What we see is the figure. The
streaker was the figure, and the problems
were the ground. To be a fashion setter, for
example, you must tune into the hidden
ground of the environment, which is
constantly changing.
The fashion setter must have charisma.
That is, the power of looking like a lot of
people. Kennedy had it, Carter has it.
Television compels them to have charisma."
McLuhan on McLuhan: '
"I consider myself to be a detective, an
observer, a sleuth. I'm role-playing, keeping
an eye on people. We're looking at the
present for patterns of the future. I'm careful
not to predict anything that hasn't already
happened."
The E-Man, a junior American Studies
major from Tampa, I la., is arts editor for the
Daily Tar Heel,
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