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 S 1 5 y - - t n s d is it ., :.