THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Explain
Stands
in
Platforms,
Bob Ross,
Co-Chairman, Political Issues
Club; Executive Committee, Ann
Arbor CORE; Member, SGC
Committee on Membership Se..
lection in Student Organiza-
tions; National Executive Com-
mittee, Students for a Demo-
cratic Society; 9th International
Student Relations Seminar of
the USNSA; National Affairs
Chairman, Voice political party;
International Advisory Board,
USNSA; Regional organizer,
SDS.
I call for deliberate and delib-
erative revolution in student gov-
ernment. We need to change our
concepts and actions as a student
body. We need to change our pres-
ent role within the University
community and the total commu-
nity.
As a candidate and member sof
Voice political party, I will bring
to campus and Council these pro-
grams and ideas:
Educational Community
1) Students, through Student
Government Council should assert
that the educational community
is made up of students and
teachers. Administrators should
be serving, not ruling the Uni-
versity. The study committee re-
port on the Office of Student Af-
fairs should be reviewed by Coun-
cil, and by a committee of the
University Senate. An end to the
an active role in working against
discrimination in housing. A study
on the conditions of student labor
should be done.
3) The Council should see its
role as part of the educational
process. The Council could pro-
vide a vital link between the aca-
demic and the world of events by
exerting its resources to get an
undergraduate interdisciplinary
course on the problems of peace
and disarmament.
Concerns Legitimate
4) The concerns of students
that transcend the campus are
legitimate for students, because
they are students. SGC should be
the articulate body that repre-
sents these concerns to the world,,
and to the centers of power. The
students who are registering vot-
ers in the South need and de-
serve our help.
5) The Council should reform
itself. Delegates to the National
Student Association Congress
should be elected by the student
body. The people elected should
become the NSA Committee, un-
der the Council. This election
would bring substantive issues and
educational impact to the com-
munity.
The Council should consider the
merits and faults of the ex-officio
system. Alternatives should be
sought, if democratic government
is our goal.
These are the ways in which I
would make student government
a real government, which can deal
with politics in its own terms.
arbitrary power of the Deans
should be an objective of the
changes in the OSA. The rights of
students should be recognized in
any change that occurs in the
judicial processes. These pro-
cesses must be rid of the assump-
tion that in fact grants no rights,
only privileges to the student. We
need violations clearly defined,.
with defined processes and pun-
ishments.
Paternalism should be attacked.
2) The council must begin to
live up to its responsibilities to
students. High prices and bigotry
are part of a pernicious Ann Ar-
bor pattern. A cooperative school
supply store should be looked in-
to. Council should begin to play
Richard
G'Sell
Chairman, Campus Affairs Com-
mittee, SGC; Chairman, Stu-
dent Activities Committee, SGC;
student health insurance coordi-
nator; SGC elections director;
Delegate, Michigan regional and
USNSA Congress; Activities
Chairman, Delta Upsilon fra-
ternity.
Student Government Council at
the University is one of the most
powerful and effective organiza-
tions of its kind in the entire na-
tion. Yet the Council is only as
strong as its elected members. I
would like to define two qualities
I feel a member must possess in
order to be a positive contributor
to the Council. They are qualities
I feel I have acquired through two
years' work with the Council.
A prospective candidate must
first have experience. All too many
times in the past, students have
been elected knowing little or
nothing about the real issues at
hand, the procedures and methods
of the Council, and the ways in
which legislation is accomplished.
Training Program
Consequently, from the time the
seat is first occupied, there begins
a training program, so to speak,
which may last one month, two
months, or indefinitely. During
this time, when the new member
is learning the operation of the
Council, his position, in effect, is
a waste; he can have little hope
of honestly and objectively con-
tributing to the positive debate
and legislation of the Council. A
Council member, then, must have
the experience to accept the re-
sponsibility of student govern-
ment.
Secondly, a Council member
must live up to the fact that his
position is a full time job. Attend-
ance to one meeting will attest
to the fact that frequently indi-
viduals on the Council are unpre-
pared to debate. Only through a)
adequate research into the motion
at hand b) discussion with stu-,
dents, faculty and administration
and c) background reading can
Council members attempt to pro-
duce informed, objective decisions.
In other words, a position on
the Council is more than just an-
other name on a job application
or "ink" in the Daily; it is a re-
sponsibility that should be en-
trusted only to an individual de-
termined to do everything to de-
velop the Council's full potential.
Anything less than this is a detri-
ment to the student body itself; a
two-day-a-week Council member
might as well not exist.
SGC Communication
One of the most pressing prob-
lems facing the Council today is
that of its communications rela-
tionship with the student body.
The typical student at this Uni-
versity would seem to have a woe-
ful lack of knowledge of the is-
sues, the procedures, and the leg-
islation connected with student
government. This is a result large-
ly of the lack of communication
between the Council and its con-
stituents.
This, in turn, severs the ties
which must exist between the
Council and the students. Much of
the ill will and lack of coopera-
tion connected with some of SGC's
legislation (with discrimination,
for example) may be traced back
to ignorance of the issues and pro-
cedures involved.
A much larger flow of informa-
tion, both ways, must be estab-
lished if the Council is to be an
integral part of the Student Body
rather than a separate entity
without student foundation.
Tuesday and W
,.
Dick Nohi
President, SGC; Administrative
vice-president, SGC; Stadium
announcer for Michigan March-
ing Band; Board of Directors,
Michigan Union; Junior Exec-
tive Council, Interfraternity
Council; Phi Gamma Delta fra-
ternity; General manager and
board chairman, WCBN.
More than any single thing, I
seek responsibility in student gov-
ernment. The critical issues which
confront Student Government
Council dictate no alternative.
Responsibility includes many
things. It includes a studied ap-
proach to the issues, weighing a
decision on both the merits of an
ideal solution, and the practicali-
ties of the problem. It means pa-
tience, necessary consultation and
working through existing channels
in seeking problem solutions and
positive action.
Responsible consideration of an
issue includes attention not only
to the desired ends, but equally
important, the means by which
they are achieved.
There can be no responsibility
without real responding to the
needs of the University and the
student community.
In this respect, there is a vast
difference between the Council's
making a decision, and making
that decision work. The Council
is somewhat notorious for losing
track of a major project, when
it comes to getting it off the
ground. Student government in
theory and student government in
action are two separate concepts.
The real test which any stu-
dent government faces is imagina-
tive response to the issues that
leads to positive action.
Within such a context as I have
outlined, certain questions will de-
mand the attention of the Coun-
cil in the coming months: how
student organizations shall choose
their members, how the Univer-
sity will operate on a year-round
basis, how the Office of Student
Affairs will be reorganized.
Parking System
Further areas for continued
study include the parking system,
the institution of a student book
store, ani evaluation of calendar-
ing philosophy, a revised hand-
book for entering students, study
of rules and regulations affecting
students in the University, draw-
ing plans for co-educational hous-
ing units and expansion of SGC
sponsored discussions and forums.
A project in which I am"es-
pecially interested, is finding a
way through which students can
participate more fully in the plan-
ning of future physical expansion
of the University.
Finally, may I say that Student
Government Council as an insti-
tution not only seeks, but really
deserves your interest and support.
Thank you for, your considera-
tion of my candidacy for re-elec-
tion to Student Government
Council.
t
Stan Lubin
Social Chairman, H i n sd a le
House; Member, ,Homecoming
Committee; Chairman, House
Michigras Committee; Member,
Michigan Union staff; Chair-
man, Union Madness and exam
week movies; Member, Hinsdale
House Council; Social Chair-'
man, East Quadrangle; Co-
Chairman, Michigan-Michigan
State University Mixer Commit-
tee; Member, Hillel Foundation.
There are many pressing prob-
lems facing SGC in the near fu-
ture. There are also quite a few
problems cropping up, which I
think should be acted on now, be-
fore they too become serious. What
will SGC do about these problems
which will deeply involve the stu-
dents o nthis campus.
Following is a listing of some
of themore pressing problems on
campus and what I think should
be done about them.
1) Discrimination is somethng
which must be eliminated as quick-
ly as possible from all areas of life.
Facing SGC is the problem of the
bias clauses. These must be elimi-
nated from all charters whether
the charter is a local or a national
one.
A deadline should be set by
which time all student organiza-
tions must submit to the Council
all information regarding member-
ship in the organization and se-
vere penalties should be handed
out to all violators of this order.
In other areas SGC should take
positive steps to help eliminate
discrimination both on and off
campus.
2) The calendering procedure
for the scheduling of events must
be altered. This past year there
were too many mistakes and too
many mishaps to go unnoticed.
BALLOT COUNT:
To Choose Members by Hare System
Student Government Council
candidates are elected to office by above the quota which candidates
means of the Hare system of vot- elected on that ballot received are
ing. declared surplus. A random selec-
The Hare system works by tion of surplus ballots is used to
means of a quota arrangement)redistribute the votes. The sur-
The quota is determined by di- plus votes of this selection are
viding the total number of valid given to which ever candidates are
votes cast by one more than the listed as second choice on the win-
total number of Council seats to ning ballots.
be filled. In this election, there- All the votes of the lowest can-
fore, the quota would be one- didate are redistributed. Then a
eighth of all votes cast, since sev- new quota is set for the second
en seats are vacant. ballot which is determined by di-
The next whole number, disre- viding the still circulating ballots
garding fractions, larger than the by one more than the number of
resulting quotient is the number seats still available.
of votes required for election on Those who meet this quota are
the first ballot. declared elected on the second
f All candidates who meet this re- ballot and the process continues
quirement on the first ballot are until all seven seats have been.
thereby declared elected. The low- filled.
est candidate is then dropped. Students will number the can-
After the first ballot, the votes didates from 1-13 according to
their preference. It is not neces-
sary to rank all 13 candidates if
the voter does not wish to do so,
however.
The Hare system of balloting
began in local elections and has
been used in municipal elections
in several large cities including
New York and Cincinnati.
The Hare system has been cri-
ticized severely in recent years by
both candidates and constituents
who claim it is unfair because
candidates receiving a large per-
centage of votes can fail to be
elected while those with less popu-
lar support can win.
It has been an issue during this
election campaign with several
candidates urging its abolition in
favor of what they consider fairer
forms of counting.
place votes cast and be eliminated
on the first ballot. This would b
eliminated by a point system of
voting.
Meaningful Participation
4) Of extreme importance is
that SGC must accept its role as
the voice of the students, for this
is essentially what SGC -is. Its
purpose is to "provide an agency
for meaningful student participa-
ton in the formulation, improve
ment and promotion of the edu
cational goals of the University."
Only by speaking up and mak
ing itself heard can the Counci
do this. SGC cannot. hide, bu
must take an active role in area
such as OSA reorganization, prob
ably the most important issue oi
campus now, and all other prob
lems that come up.
SGC should establish better con
tact with the student body and in
vestigate widespread complaint
(driving fees, for example) an
then act on them. In short, what i
needed is an active Council con
sisting of aggressive Council mem
bers to give student governmen
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