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August 27, 1968 - Image 14

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Michigan Daily, 1968-08-27

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THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Tuesday, August 27, 1968

THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, August 27, 1968

UGC seeks money, str

SGC members realized these
financial problems were not tem-
porary and would cripple the or-
ganization in the future. In the
face of definite negative from
the Office of Student Affairs and
the Regents to SGC's requests for
a bigger budget or permission to
make additional charges per stu-
dent, SGC looked for new ways to
consolidate their year-old inde-
pendence from OSA.
One way in which SGC felt it
could strengthen both its position
as a student lobby and its con-
stituent base was through the
legislative restructuring.
The impeturs for changing the
political structure of SGC was
first proposed by Bruce Kahn, '69,
last year's president of SGC.
Claiming that the student govern-
ment was unrepresentative Kahn
advocated a re-examination of
basis for representation on the
student government.
The Daily had already given
up its alotted ex-officio seat on
SGC and some elected members
were in favor of abolishing the
remaining ex-officio seats held by
other student organizations. They
argued that some students were
being represented twice or more
by virtue of their membership in
a student organization with an
ex-officio seat.
Secondly, pressure was being
exerted from groups outside of
SGC to replacer its at-large elec-
toral system with one based on
geographic or academic wards.
Students who took this viewpoint
felt that their opinions were not
reflected by SGC members be-
cause no one member was respon-
sible to a defined electorate. Par-
ticularly vocal among this group
were students in the engineering
school who were opposed to the
council's stand on war research
and the Institute for Defense An-
alysis (IDA). SGC had unani-'
mounsly opposed the University's
participation and membership in
research and IDA.
Finally, graduate students felt
disenfranchised from SGC and
considered the organization deaf
to their interests. Graduate stu-
dents hardly voted in SGC elec-
tions and had formed their own
Graduate Assembly to handle
their affairs. Hopefully SGC could
be changed to accommodate the
interests of both graduate and un-

ength
dergraduate students within the
framework of a single organiza-
tion. .
In response to these pressures
a referendum to decide to have a
constitutional convention was;
placed on the ballot last Novem-
ber. The. referendum passed, and
the machinery for a constitution-
al convention was set up.
Delegates were elected on an
at-large basis last March and the
first meeting of con-con took
place as school was nearing its
close last spring. The convention
discussed plans and suggestions
for the basis of a new student gov-
ernment ranging from the repre-
sentation of the present SGC to
a radical proposal for a volun-
tary student union to replace the
current SGC.
The second major proposal
dealt with financial base of SGC
-a plan for the incorporation of
SGC as a legal entity. According
to the incorporation plan, SGC
would be organized as a legally
autonomous, non-profit corpora-
tion whose purpose would be the
provision of "an agency for stu-
dent participation in the formu-
lation, improvement, and promo-
tion of the educational goals of
the University."
If the legal status of SGC chan-
ges to a corporation, Council will
acquire new privileges and liabili-
ties. SGC would be abla to pur-,
chase, sell and possess property,
solicit funds and enter into legal
contracts in its own name.
The corporation would be fin-
anced largely through an assess-
ment' of its members-the stu-,
dents. These dues would be com-
parable to the appropriation the
administration currently supplies
SGC from its general fund, and
would be collected by the Univer-
sity.
However, both con-con and in-
corporation face bleak futures.
Con-con will have to restructure.
itself before any work can be
done due to the fact that many
of the elected delegates have
since graduated from the Uni-
versity. The incorporation pro-
posal has not received Regental
support. The Regents argue: "The
Board does not wish to summarily
close the issue, but it must in allp
fairness advise SGC of a strong-
ly adverse reaction to the propo-
sal."

FORCES POLIC Y CHANGE:
JIG, loses rubber. stamp image

By DAVID DUBOFF 1
In, a little over a year Joint
Judiciary Council (JJC) has ele-
vated itself from a rubber-stamp
for the administration'to a signi-
ficant force for student power on
campus.
JJC is the University's court of
appeals, hearing' cases of students
convicted of violation of non-
academic University regulations
by Judiciaries of dormitories, ira-
ternities, sororities and the.cam-
pus driving court. The ten-mem-
ber body is composed entirely of
students.
The new mood on JJC began in
the spring of 1967,.when a major-
ity of the nine students appoint-
ed from over 40 applicants pledged,
to acquit students charged with
violating rules that were not made
solely by students.
JJC lost no time in implement-
ing its philosophy. On Oct. 3, 1967
it handed down a landmark' deci-
sion when it acquitted two stu-
dents charged with violating Uni-
versity regulations on the grounds
that, "It would not enforce any
rule that had not been passed by
an autonomous student legislative
body."
In its Oct. 3 decision the coun-
cil stated that "unless the answer
'yes' is given to both questions,

JJC will acquit any student ap-
pealing a conviction based on
these, rules."
JJC's new constitution clearly
set forth JJC's philosophy of self-,
determination for students., Any
reference to."University rules and
regulations" was deleted and- the
phrase "properly student passed
rules and regulations" was sub-
stituted.
A major innovation in the re-
vised constitution includes is the
institution of an optional Jury
system. .The new constitution; pro-
vides that thexdefendant in a case
where penalties of suspension or
expulsion" could be applied ias
the right to request 'a hearing be-
fore a panel of five jurors select-
ed' at random from the student
directory.
The subtle but revolutionary
threat that JJC's new policy posed
for the administration was' clear.
Under old structures, If a student
was to be punished. for breaking
a non-academic conduct rule his
case had to be brought up before
JJC.
The council's systematic acquit-
tal of students convicted of vio-
lating. non-student-passed rules
relating to dormitory visitation
policies and women's hours left
the administration ,with no means

of enforcing these rules other sion are implemented and new
than requesting that the Student's rules adopted.
school or college take disciplinary The preceding week the, law
action. A stand pressuring the Re- school- faculty voted to impose
gents to change their regulation sanctions on law students whose
on these issues. behavior interfered with "the
As 9f this writing, the future. of functioning of the University" un-
JJC seems less certain than at til October 1.
anytime since it instituted its new The administrative board and
policies. An ad hoc group of fac- executive committee of the lit-
ulty and students attempting to erary college have been working
implement the Hatcher Commis- since last October on interim reg-
sion report is working on a Re- ulations that would bring cases
gental bylaw on the judicial sys- of disruptive conduct before* the
tem that should be'presented to board.
the Regents this fall. While it is University President Robben W.
expected that their" proposal will [Fleming has told the ad hoc group
be similar to the existing judi- working on the bylaw proposal
ciary system,- recent actions by that he will have an "interim pro-
the administration and the fac- posal" ready for the Regents at
ulty would seem to indicate that their July meeting if the group
the conflict over the legitimacy does not have its judiciary pro-
of JJC's position is far from re- posal prepared.
solved. These moves are predicated on
Acting in the absence of regu- the assumption that the state of
lations ,on disruptive conduct ap- limbo which has existed since SGC
proved ' by all. segments of the abolished non-student rules gov-
University community, the facul- erning' student conduct last Sep-
ty's Senate Advisory Committee on tember means that no rules exist.
University Affairs asked the Re- But, SGC and JJC are united in
gents to ban activity which inter- their claim that SOC-passed rules
feres "with the free movement of are valid insofar as they concern
persons or things on the campus" purely student-related conduct,
or "deprives others;, of needed and that JJC, as it is presently
quiet, light, heat, or other physi-' constituted, provides an adequate
cal conditions of work," until the mechanism for adjudicating stu-
proposals of the Hatcher Commis- dent infractions of those rules.

y
i
t
a
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1
3
x

4 :

4

CONSTITUENTS SILENCED:
oice: Talked out of revolution

'

Lobbying drained SGC funds

1' :

TEXTBOOKS
UP TO Ys OFF
UL BI CUH S

By STUART GANNES
Voice Political Party, -the Uni-
versity's local affiliate of Students
for a Democratic Society and a
former bastion of SDS's strength:
on university campuses, hs in the
past few years shrunk in impor-
tance from a campus-wide coor-
dinating group to an esoteric de-
bating society.
SDS has been in existing since
1960 when a group of students
largely from this University form-
ed the organization during what
later came to be known as the
Port Huron conference.
During the first years of its
existence, Voice became involved

ANN ARBOR'S FRIENDLY,

BOOKSTORE

with the political and intellectual
issues at the University. Founders
like Tom Hayden and Alan Haber
provided the Impetus for the or.
ganization and were able to in-
spire widescale popular. support'
among the students.
Voice played an essential role
in "radicalizing" the' students on
this campus.
In challengin~g the adrinistra-
tion on a number of student-re-
lated issues, Voice became, popular
on campus and by 1966 at least
500 students were associated with
the organization in varying de-
greea,
In "1966, when discontent at the
University.reached its height and
both students and faculty were on.
the verge of' confronting the Ad-
ministration on the-issues of Viet-
nam and the students desire to
create a student cooperative book-
store, Voice reached the peak of
its influence on. campus.'
Other student groups, notably
the Student .Government Council,
adopted Voice's policy on campus
issues. As students became'. in.
creasingly aware of UnIversity
politics, Voice rode a wave of pop-
ular sentiment and support.
Last year, as the radical em-

iphasis switched from campus
,pol.ics and educational philo-
ophy to reforming- University
regulations, the dominance of
Voice gradually shifted to the stu-
dent government.
The major student issues of last
year were not initiated by Voice.
Vqice chose the path of being the
radical wing of SGC.
However, Voice did apcomplish
one or two coups last year. At a
welcoming tea for the new Pres-
ident of the University, Robben
Fleming, Voice staged a satirical
skit in Flemning's house. Last
spring, when I newly appointed.
Secretary of' Health ,Education
and Welfare Wilbur Cohen (a,
former professor at the Univer-'
sity) came here to speak, Voicel
unrolled an enormous poster in,
front of the podium declaring
HEW was a "Welfare Figleaf on a
Warfare State."
Finally, Voice was the consistent
producer of the 'best buttons. on
campus satirizing student issues:
One button which decried the
University's secret Thailand de-
fense project said "Go Michigan,
Beat Thailand."
While Voice and other groups
strongly opposed the University"s

participation in the Institute for
Defense Analysis and the conduct
of classified research, the pop-
ular support which had, been so
readily available for" previous is-
sues failed. to materialize. Cam-
pus wide referenda recommending
that"the University withdraw'from
MlA and cease all classified re-
search were defeated in the stu-
dent election.
Meanwhile, another left-wing
group known as the' Resistance. 4
oriented to national politics, es
'pecialy problems 'with the draft,
has gained the support of students
who would have formerly worked
for Voice.
While SDS chapters at other
universities (notably-. Columbia)
have been in the forefrbnt, of the
students confrontation with ad-
ministrations, Voice has mellowed.
Its leadership, which' contains a
large amount of graduate stu-
dents, has not shown, this year,
the tendancy toward radical ac-
tion of Columbia's Mark Rudd.
And whereas other SDS chap-
ters have seized control of a situ-
ation as minorities, Voice still
hopes to capture the support of a
majority of the students as it did
in the fall of 1966.

7,

1

I

How do you t41
SFreshman,
there's a
difference
between banks?
with a E
National Bank
statement
Banking at National Bank is a pleasure for students. We go out of our way to assist our stu-
dent customers with their'special banking needs. Some banks think of students as just the
numbers of their checking accounts, but at National Bank, we don't forget we work with
people. Check 'Which services you need:

You Meet
the
NICEST
PEOPLE
at. the

I

:

Si~.B.S.

* budget checking accounts-10? a check, paid for ahead of time
in books of 25, so you don't have little dimes to keep track of (like
at other banks), and there are no other service charges
* free checking when you maintain a $200 minimum balance or $500
average monthly balance with our regular checking accounts
" Campus Office designed and staffed with you in mind-corner of
William and Thompson, just two blocks from Angell Hall
" all other banking conveniences-money orders, travelers checks,
savings accounts, and so on.
When you start getting your National Bank statements this year,
you'll understand what a difference this "National Bank State-
ment" makes.

WILLIAM ~
SINATIONLw '
CL U 9
BANK IEx
x
wr
I-
M-

We have a tremendous stock of used books
for all your courses at the ow SBS prices.
You need NOT reserve them.

oen till 9:00 P.M. for your

convenience I

11

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