r Page Twelve THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, November 14, 1971 Candidates and Issues: PAID POLITICAL ADV. U 5T A Funding Proposal This election is a crucial one as far as the future of student gov-! ernment is concerned. The stu- dents of each individual school must decide whether they want real representation and effective; student power. The LSA Student Government has been stifled in attempts to- ward meaningful a c a d e m i c change. There are two reasons for our ineffectiveness in the past: 1) we have been depending on the Administration for our funds, and 2) the funds that we have been receiving are hardly worth mentioning. The whole idea of student power is based on student support. As it stands now, our financial situation is in the hands of the Dean and the Executive Committee. Should we do anything to offend them, they can ruin us by entirely cut- ting off what little we do receive. The whole problem is analogous to industry paying 'for labor un- ions. Even though the Dean is trying to help us, it would be impossible, for him to appropriate us with all of the money we need. If we were provided with enough money, we could effectively take on the prob- lems of students in LS&A; we could staff our office full-time so that students might be able to come to us with any sort of prob- lem concerning their education; we could find out what sorts of things need changing by sending out questionnaires to all students in the college; we would be more able to communicate with our con- stituency by means of regular newsletters, if we had a mimeo machine and money to buy paper; we could support groups such as the Committee on the Underclass Experience, thus gaining valuable resource material; money would also allow us to start moving on a comprehensive Complaint Serv- ice which is still in the planning stages due to lack of funds. The list is endless, but unless students are willing to pay 50c, the whole thing .is nothing more than a dream. It's hard to ask people to tax themselves, but we wouldn't be doing it unless we strongly felt that our legitimacy depends on it. Also appearing on our ballot will be a proposal to amend our Constitution. The particular clause in question refers to the number of people required to make up a quorum of the L.S.&A. Assembly. In order to facilitate institution of the Assembly as soon as pos- sible, the proposed amendment calls for changing the quorum of the body from twenty-five to "twenty-five or one-half the rep- resentatives to which existing de- partmental associations are en- titled, whichever is lower." The College Assembly, a body that is required by the L.S.&A. Constitution but has not been set up yet, is to be composed of rep- resentatives from Undergraduate Associations within each depart- ment. Since not all departments have Associations, the L.S.&A. Ex- ecutive Council has decided to go ahead and convene Assembly (the legislative arm of the Govern- ment) while working on establish- ing Associations in departments that have none. Platform for James GIlickman At present I am not very aware of what L.S.&A. Executive Coun- cil is doing and is planning to do. However, I will try to affect three major changes: 1. Institution of a free tutoring service set up for L.S.&A. students by L.S.&A. students. 2. Abolition of the foreign lan- guage requirement for distribu- tion. 3. Offering all courses outside of distribution and major fields, on a P-P basis.__ _ - ELECTION SCHEDULE Tues. & Wed. Nov. 16&b11 LSA POLLING PLACES: Diag Fishbowl Chem. Bldg. UGLI Frieze Bldg. Platform for Mark Brissette The L.S.&A. Student Govern- ment exists basically because the students of the Literary College have not had any voice in school educational policies or the deci- sion making processes which shape their academic lives at the Univer- Platform for ACTION MANDATE Bob Stephens Richard Ross Steve Vagozzi Why is the LSA Student Gov- ernment so ineffective? Partly be- cause, as its members claim, in- adequate funding by politically- Chuck Barquist Carl Herstein Dave Hornstein chine, LSA government could in- crease its own publicity efforts enormously-and it could provide mimeo services, at cost, to allLSA students and faculty, a service un- should a meetings in secret, mittee, a; parity the Counsel Counselli: wretched Mart, on programs ity stude of Cours tical reasc courses weeks, sh As noted nn ' -I--.~n sity. interested faculty reduces it to available elsewhere. Bei-styl The faculty, which wields so .merely surviving. But its greater III. Building'a Mass Base: Ev- sign their much power, does nothing in terms failure is political. It has refused erything depends on organizing tended tc of initiating programs or action to mobilize or even to communi- students. Student Associations. ously sim in any direction. Out of 1500 mem- cate with the students it serves. Scores of students right now are bers, 100 are necessary for a quor- The cultivation of faculty elites is working to effect change at the Govern um at their monthly meetings. no substitute for organizing the most neglected, yet fundamental meeting" Anyone who has visited their participation of concerned stu- level-the departments. LSA gov- ing facu meetings can tell you a quorum dents in working to solve our com- ernment should be in contact and departme is rarely obtained. But, yet, there mon problems. cooperation with the 8 or so un- committe are so many areas that need re- Why an Action Mandate slate dergrad Associations - providing ed by re evaluation, of six? Because only a major in- clerical support, publicity, money governme During an undergraduate life in flux of new people can turn the and coordination in return for compatibl the Literary College, up to % of a LSA Student Government around. grass-roots contacts, lobbying with student p student's total credits can be in By hard work we hope to revital- faculty, and knowledgeable people IV. Fu fulfilling distribution require- ize the LSA government by invol- to work at the all-College level, reliable f ments. And no matter what the ving as many students as possible And the government should ac- LSA facu theory behind these requirements, in the affairs of the government tively promote organizing students platform they are not benefiting the stu- and of the College. By attacking in the other departments, making #service dents. Often they discourage and the problems of communication, it possible to set up at long last present L frustrate students and hurt their organization and participation we tis lower house, the College As- Executive performance in other classes. Lit- consider it possible to make the sembly. - $400 over tle can be said about opportunities LSA government, not an elite ,, A serve the fnrchllofe iion~na hnr nv"i ~n__t,,+ ___ +,., .,_IA 'shadow government And lso work to opening up of committees that workj like the Executive Coi- is a step toward gaining sere also. ling and Course Mart. ing, the College's most operation,* and Course ne of its few promising , should be under major- nt control. Cancellation e Mart sections for poli- 5ons, or long lists of closed within the first couple ould never happen again. , counselling should re- rough formal scrutiny. e freedom of students to ir own study card, if ex-. everyone, would enorm- plify counselling red tape. ance. Inefficient "town -style rule by the govern- lty-mainly conservative nt heads and standing emen-should be replac- epresentative democratic ent-a system much more le, also, with eventual participation at this level. nding. Without adequate funding, independent of lty control, most of this or of any major student- programs is impossible. LSA funding by the LSA Committee leaves just the cost of elections-to needs of twelve thousand Platform for Kris Sanoic dents. If chosen as a member of the council I would strive to make the students more aware of the roads open to them in solving their porblemns. As a Freshman I have much to learn, not only about this Gov- ernment, but also about this Uni- versity. But, I feel that there is a definite need on the Council for Freshmen - not only to represent our class, but also to learn the pro- cedures of the Council so that the Council might have a future after all the upperclassmen have gradu- ated. In the short time that I've been at U of M I've had the opportun- ity to serve the Council as Secre- tary (a non-voting member of the Council). In this way I've already begun to learn how the Council operates. There are many pressing prob- lems facing the University today, and not least among them is the lack of opportunities for women to hold' active positions on campus. Just one example: there were on- ly three women at the last Gov- erning Faculty meeting. As the only woman on the ballot I feel that it is my duty to represent wo- men and to speak for them. The LS&A Student Government can be an excellent government only if we the students take the time to build it. I would like to '9 The LSA Student Government is a relatively new government" on campus. Because it is just develop- ing many students are unaware of its function and its services to the students. It is the Government's duty to make the students more aware. The task is not an easy 'I' Platform for Neil Aisenson for students directing their own I college programs. Students don't: have parity on decision making: bodies of the school yet, such asI the Administrative Board. The listi of problems goes on. However, there are activities go- ing on in the college that could1 prove fruitful. Course Mart has become popular and should be ex- panded. The Committee on Under- graduate Education has been do- ing research and will undoubtedly offer suggestions to the newly- formed Policy Committee, which will begin meeting next term. But, will action be taken on these sug- gestions offered or will they sim- ply be ignored as in the past. For too long the students have not been in charge of their academic lives in the Literary College. We have a chance to begin working for action and change through the L.S.&A. Student Government. And if we do not use the government as a vehicle for our student inter- ests, we can only blame ourselves for the continuation of our prob- lems. agency, but a serious instrument .1cU fVlllA1 ciu ent wsers nsremany more students should be r- students. We strongly urge stu- one on such a large campus, and help in its construction by serving for student power and LSA e-an e ste s d dents to vote for the College Gov- yet-it is a vital one-if there is to on the Executive Council. Please m ganized in a system of standing ernment's Funding Plan appearing be a bridge for communication be- vote for Kris Sankovitch on Nov- form.committees dealing with major I. Academic Reform. LSA more of-. areas of College policy: Curricu- on the LSA and All-Campus bal- tween the faculty and the stu- ember 16, 1971. ten operates to "channel" people lum, Counselling, Administration, lots. It asks students to set dues into societal slots than to foster ; etc. Such watchdog committees of S0c per student per term to sup- individual creativity, freedom and could oversee their College coun- port their school or college gov- (self-) education. Grades which terparts and become expert in ernment. It has several important distort and pollute any genuine particular areas if LSA adminis- rits It pc funding decisions learning process should be abbl- tration. Their mere existence for the first time under deiocra- ished and replaced by a pass/no would increase pressure for more tic student control; It provides credit system. This is not unrea- student participation in these c o 11 e g e governments, especially sonable inasmuch as sentiment standing committees. LSA, with enough money to have against grading has been building 1 ea mac npoiyuadi up recently, e.g.. Course Mart Publicity. To undertake this provides automatic, reliableafund- courses are now pass/fail and Pi- large-scale organizing program, to ing independent of political con- lot seminars will soon be pass no inform students of important de- trol of groups like the LSA Exe- credit. velopments in LSA, to pressure for cutive Committee. Funding for radical change-all this requires LSA is an absolute necessity - Distribution Requirements, not- massive publicity efforts. This please vote "Yes" to provide it. ably including language, merely means much more leafletting, ad- The Action Mandate in LSA cloak the economic interests of vertising, etc. - spending more like the Radical Peoples Coalition certain departments in pseudo- money and getting LSA govern- slate for SGC, believes that the "Renaissance Man" rhetoric, and iment members out of their office so-called "crisis" of student gov- other measures would also reduce into the community. Especially, ernment is caused by its poverty, also should be abolished. Many we believe LSA needs a permanent apathy and elitism. Ultimately, on- coercion in learning-for instance, newsletter under student editorial ly popular involvement can make eliminating the course "drop" control, informing students, ex- LSA government effective. Other- deadline. ploring alternatives to present po- wise it may simply fade away, the How might we deliver on these licies and working all the time to victim of one too many uncontest- promises, which others have made change them. Real student power ed elections. Please vote and also before? By a concrete, well- requires informed and well-coordi think about getting involved - planned strategy of action: - nated student groups forming a maybe we can make a difference. whole infrastructure of student in- - First, we would commission stitutions paralleling the LSA hi- comprehensive attitude surveys of erarchy and struggling for stu- the entire student body, as well as dent interests at every level where formal studies of the real-life decisions are made. THE COLLEGE FUNDING PLAN functioning of these Ivory-Tower I am running for a seat on the Executive Council of L.S.&A. Stu- dent Government because it's time to get this college moving. Stu-! dents ought to have more say about their education; there are far too many decisions which are imposed upon us. L.S.&A. Student Government has the potential to be a force for change in this col- lege, but this requires work from those in the government and the active support of all students. Ex- ecutive Council apathy has result- ed in underutilization of avenuesj to change within the college beau- rocracy until very recently. And: Council has clearly failed to in- volve its constituents in helping to work and push for change. One reason for Council's inabil- ity to comunicate with those it represents is inadequate funding and the resulting inadequate pub- licity. I support the funding pro- posals; both to increase the amount of funding and to change the method of funding of L.S.&A. student government. It is ridicu- lous to have a student govern- ment funded by, and thus respon- sible to, the administrators of L.S.&A. I also stand in favor of the expansion of pass-fail grading, and working towards easing and ending as soon as possible distri- bution requirements. But you've heard campaign rhe- toric many times before. I ask you to vote for me because I am com- mitted to action. A month ago, I was appointed to fill a vacancy on L.S.&A. Council. In that time, I've worked on publicity for the fund- ing proposal,- I've worked towards establishing and increasing the in- fluence of departmental undergra- duate associations on departmen- tal matters, as well as several oth- er activities. Let's work together to shake this college into changing! Platform for Jonathan Klein I'm for good apple pie (but not necessarily god, country or moth- erhood). There being nothing else I know about the L.S.&A. Execu- tive Council about which I can comment, I'll defer all such com- ments until such time as I can do so intelligently (probably after I'm, elected and I can find out what the damn thing does). I ' r Be Sure YOU VOTE Nov. 16,17 p o 1 i c i e s, identifying student's high-priority problems, undercut- ting faculty complacency and gen- erating pressure for change; then, to work through the new Student Faculty Policy Committee and with other groups such as pro- gressive faculty to make a case against these evils and build a united front against them; finally, to employ every publicity medium and working with SGC, depart- mental associations and anyoneI else-and basing our efforts on the mass base we are concerned to build-to launch a massive drive against the greatest problems. The LSA government has never tried this--never trusted students to re- spond to a government that has earned their support. Why not give it a try? II. Student Services. There is much the LSA government should do to help individual students with their day-to-day academic and bureaucratic problems. Complaint Service. LSA govern- ment has discussed but not imp- lenented a Complaint Service, es- sentially manning a phone to hear and act on student complaints. To make it accessible and effect- ive, though, the LSA government needs a full-time work/study cler- ical staff to maintain contacts with key decision-makers, to keep records and to be available tokact on complaints 40 hours a week. Copying Services. By acquiring its own badly-needed mimeo ma- III. LSA Structural Reform. LSA oligarchic governance is itself a major problem. Committee parity. LSA government must resume its efforts - well-received last spring but never followed through - to achieve student-faculty parity on the Administrative Board. Aided by its new standing committees, it NEWSPAPERS Friend of the CONSUMERS -4 Fr-i--- I E'I NOVEMBER ART FAIR WHEN: Sunday, November 14, 12-6 P.M. WHERE: Michigan Union Ballroom WHAT: Artists Displaying and Selling Their Crafts AND Free Entertainment __. I Going Far? I WHO: Open to Everyone; No Admission Charge ATi& TRAVEL offers I I; 11 0 I1 111111 Ii