Page 4
Opinion
University Daily Kansan, November 12, 1982
The Senate's role at KU
Elections for student body president, vice president and Student Senate are scheduled for next week. And the campaigns of the two coalitions involved are being conducted against a backdrop of controversy.
This semester, the Senate's director of KU on Wheels, Steve McMurry, has been charged with stealing more than $20,000 in student funds. And an audit of student organizations that receive Senate money has revealed that $11,000 worth of property has disappeared.
To many students, the Senate's credibility has always been low; the organization's ability — or desire — to work for the student body has been questionable.
An example of that came recently when a Senate committee refused to send to the full Senate a referendum on whether the University should remain in the Associated Students of Kansas, a student lobby group.
The events of this semester coupled with the poor voter turnout of past elections could only add a little more tarnish to the Senate's reputation.
The Kansan thinks that the future of the Student Senate should be a central issue to the current campaign. The Senate's role in relation to the students and to the administration need to be re-evaluated.
Perhaps the present system needs to be scrapped in favor of a different form of governance, or no form at all.
Today's Opinion page is devoted to the question, "Should the Student Senate be abolished?" Kansas columnists Tom Gress and Tracee Hamilton and Mollie Mitchell, a member of the Student Senate, present varying responses.
Monday, the Kansan will publish guest columns from representatives of the two coalitions in the election
Student Senate the best and only student voice
It occurred to him that if a loud enough noise were sent up from the earth, it might be heard on the ground.
An ancient Chinese parable tells us there was an emperor who wished to learn whether people knew how to do it.
So he sent an order throughout all his domain that every man, woman, and child should gather in every village square on a certain day, at a certain hour, at a certain time, a mighty shout loud enough to reach the moon.
Elaborate plans were required for the experiment. At last the day arrived.
At the appointed hour all the subjects of the empire were assembled, anxiously awaiting the
MOLLIE MITCHELL
Everyone remained still because they wanted to hear the great sound themselves.
appointed instant. The signal was given and
needed the loudest sound the world has ever
seen there, then it rang out.
Fortunately, we do hear the University of Kansas Student Senate. Many people sit back and criticize Senate's existence without doing anything about it. Let's look at this rationally.
Student Senate is not only the best we means have of voicing student concerns, but it's the only means. And thus the voice of Student Senate is only as effective as those members who make it up: the same people the students of KU have the opportunity to elect.
Therefore if you do not like the system, or if you feel it has major problems, do not scrap the whole thing, but elect individuals who care about it. Also, give the voice of the students of the University of Kansas.
We are fortunate at KU to have student leaders in the Senate who take the time to learn about the issues, concerns and activities affecting the students of the University.
We need these students who make the effort to run for office, head committees and voice the opinion of the students to the administration, Board of Reeves and Kansas Legislature.
Students should realize that Student Senate performs many functions that no one ever seems to give it credit for; functions that, without the help of staff, may be able to continue to serve the students of KU.
If you have ever belonged to a club, the
marching band and or forensics队, ridden the bus, needed legal aid, participated in intramurals, attended a University Theatre production, concert or chamber music program, listened to KJHK-FM or even read this very paper, then Student Senate has served on
The Senate provides a major portion of the funds for many of these activities. Without the Senate these organizations would have to increase their prices greatly, accept funding allocated by the administration rather than the students, or fail to exist altogether.
Besides providing funding, the Student Senate has responded to the needs and concerns of the community.
Last semester, it endorsed the work of the Friends of Solidarity organization and encouraged living groups to participate in the United Nations program in support of the workers in Poland.
The Student Senate passed a resolution opposing sections of President Reagan's fiscal 1983 budget that cut benefits and eligibility requirements under Guaranteed Student Loans, Pell Grants, campus-based aid, state matching benefits, and other programs. Social Security benefits and other programs that provide financial assistance to students at institutions of higher education.
The Senate has established a Legislative Affairs Committee to help provide students with accurate and current information on issues that affect them at the local, state and national levels.
The Senate has also passed a resolution encouraging the creation of academic dean advisory committees within the different schools to address issues on budgetary actions and other school policies.
Until recently, few, if any, big name guest speakers came to Lawrence. But with the help of the Student Senate, the students of KU had the opportunity to hear John Houseman speak to a packed audience at both the Kansas Union Ballroom and the Law School.
The Senate isn't stopping with Houseman, though. It's currently working on creating a new senator.
So next time you hear criticism of the Student Senate, remember those services provides, the student opinion it effectively expresses and its overall contribution to the University. Furthermore, think of what you have contributed or contribute to make the Student Senate better.
KANSAN
Mollie Milchel, Hutchinson senior, is chairman of a Student Senate Committee on Cultural
The University Daily
The University Daily Kitchen Course
Lawrence, Kan. 60044. Chail,
Bismarck, Kan. 60048. Chail,
Somerset summers sessions, including Sahir
at Lawrence, Kan. 60044. Subscriptures by the
lawyer outside the county. Student Spouses are
through the student activity fee: POSTMASTER. Send address changes to the University Daily
110 Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60043.
Editor:
Gene George
Managing Editor
Editorial Editor
Campaign Editor
Associate Campus Editor
Assistant Campus Editors
Supervisor
Associate Sports Editor
Editorment Editor
Production Manager
Makeup Editors
Wire Editors
Photographers
Ben Bigher, Don Delphia, Buddy Mangue,
Jim Exams
Head Copy Chief
Copy Chiefs
Columbus
Cathy Behan, Tom Green, Lara Guestery
Traceur Hammison, Tom Hutton, Hal Khalper
Artists
Rosemary Herman, Bill Wyale
Retail Sales Manager
National Sales Manager
Campaign Sales Manager
Classified Manager
Production Manager
Amn Horberger
Artist Foiler
Teamexts Manager
Campaign Impersonators
Retail Sales Representatives
Chail,
Lawrence, Kan.
Bismarck, Kan.
Somerset summers sessions, including Sahir
at Lawrence, Kan. 60044. Subscriptures by the
lawyer outside the county. Student Spouses are
through the student activity fee: POSTMASTER. Send address changes to the University Daily
110 Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60043.
Business Manager
Susan Cookey
Steve Robrah
Rebecca Rayney
Mary Zemer
Brian Lewiman
Colleen Cacy, Ann Lowry
Tom Cook
Tom Wylie
Lilian Davis
Koby Jewelson, Janette Burl, Barb Ehi
Janet Murphy, Anne Calcoute, Cathy Heban
Photographers
Ben Bigher, Don Delphia, Buddy Mangue,
Jim Exams
Traceur Hammison
Tim Sharp, Deanna Miles
Cathy Behan, Tom Green, Lara Guestery
Traceur Hammison, Tom Hutton, Hal Khalper
Artists
Rosemary Herman, Bill Wyale
Retail Business Manager
Barb Hammison
Matthew Langan
Laurie Samelson
Amn Horberger
Artist Foiler
Teamexts Manager
Campaign Impersonators
Retail Sales Representatives
Lisa Glow, Barb May, Mark Payne, Ben Bank
Larry Allison, John Clark, Karla Daggerz
Jill Hirschke, Jenny Jackson, Stevenarrick, Adrian Marriner
Ted Murphy, Dave Matthews
Sherryl Scott, Scott Winderman, Ted Ziegler
General Manager and News Adviser
Paul Jess
General Manager and Newsp Advisor Paul Jes
Advertising Adviser John Oberzan
Trashing system not a solution
The last time I voted in a Student Senate election was the spring of 1979, my freshman year. I was naive.
At that time I actually thought that Student Senate was good for something, that the senators elected actually cared about issues facing the campus.
I didn't, at that time, think that students only ran as candidates so they could make their resumes look good or that they were too tall. I had to follow the secondary procedure before the first Senate meeting.
It didn't take long after I first voted, however,
- nothing more than another way to students to make themselves look good
I'm sure there are a few student senators who are interested in working hard and in trying to do something more for their constituents than just allocating money every year, but unfortunately they seem to be outnumbered by senators who use it is something else about which to brave.
Considering that 2,589 students, roughly 10 percent of the students on campus, voted in last year's elections, many other students apparently think the same thing. What good is voting when it doesn't appear that Student Senate does anything?
Quite a few of us wouldn't mind seeing Student Senate buried somewhere beneath Strong Hall. Of course, a lot of the fun would go out of reading the Kansan, just to see what the senators have lost this week or what money is missing this time.
But getting rid of Student Senate doesn't solve anything. Whatever Student Senate does would have to be taken over by the administration, and usually wouldn't be in the students' interest.
What needs to be done is to find a way to get students to care about Student Senate. To do that means cleaning up Student Senate's reputation, and that would not be an easy task.
TOM GRESS
Getting students who want to do something with Student Senate other than put it on their resumes for all the job interviewers in the world to see would be a good start. Right now Student Senate is a great place for a lot of senators not to show up.
It wouldn't hurt if Student Senate would appear to have a handle on what it is doing. The biggest news I have noticed coming out of Student Senate this year is $11,000 worth of lost property and the arrest of the coordinator of KU on Wheels on charges of stealing funds. The news is definitely not stuff to give one faith in Student Senate's integrity.
But acquiring a good reputation still isn't enough. The Senate is going to have to show why
they are important instead of telling us they are important.
As far as I can tell, Senate is one of those places where they do boring things, which makes for boring stories in the paper, which sends everybody scurrying to the sports page, which sometimes sends everybody back to their homework.
The average student is more concerned with going to class, his or her social life and what's on television tonight than whether Student Senate allocated $10,000 to the Committee on Boxer
Obviously, when nobody really knows or cares what Student Senate does, the elections become a force. The minority of students that do vote, vote more on whom they know than on what the candidates know. The elections seem to be less dependent on the affirmation of another clique on campus.
Yet, there is still a need for Student Senate. The senators, through some responsible action, are going to have to show why. This means showing up for the meetings, trying to understand what is going on and making an honest attempt at being a senator.
No, abolishing Student Senate wouldn't work. But changes have to be made, starting with the types of candidates selected to run, the number of daysual day-to-day workings of the Student Senate.
Those aren't the most tangible qualities to be proposed, but they are the best ones with which
Senate stifles voice of students
If you have a dry feeling in your mouth, it's because Student Sengh has gagged student speech.
Elections for Student Senate positions, as well as student body prez and vice pres, are Wednesday and Thursday. And If the Senate approves a referendum, they will be staging a referendum on the future of ASK.
Paul Buskirk, a student senator, proposed a referendum that would have let students decide whether the University of Kansas should retain students. Students of Kansas, a student lobbying group.
The Students Senate Rules, Privileges and Responsibilities Committee — how ostentations!
— voted not to send the proposed reference to the full Senate. The enterprising Buskirk then tried to bypass the Committee on Ostentationness but failed.
I have, in the past, viewed Student Senate as a necessary evil, which is much the same view the Senate takes of its constituents. But when it's possible to be elected to a position with only six votes, as some senators have, then we have to start questioning the validity of the organization.
The ASK question itself is not the main issue, although I am not really aware of anything terribly important that ASK has done for me lately. Mark Tallman, executive director of ASK, fought against the bill, but then again, Tallman has a vested interest — a salary.
"It's true that other universities have used a referendum to justify financial support to its student organizations," Tallman said. "But my biggest problem with this bill is that we have a month to justify our existence to our largest member."
They'll look around instead at a University with no heat in its offices and no syllabuses in its classes, a University that is looking down the barrel of further budget cuts and possible program eliminations, a University that's on a budget diet so severe it has become anorexic, a
The question then arises: If ASK is so important to students, why should it feel the need to justify itself? Wouldn't we all realize the vast amount of good it has done? Go down Jayhawk Boulevard and ask 10 people what ASK does. Once you've explained what ASK is (because few people know), they still won't be able to think of much.
But eliminating ASK is not the cure to the cancer. The sickness is Student Senate, not the organizations it supports. Election turnouts become a bigger farce year after year. I could have said that my student representative to the Senate has called my opinion on any issue on the fingers of one foot.
University that may be asked by the end of the month to cut back even further. And they're likely to wonder just how much effective lobbing is in fact being done in Toneka.
TRACEE HAMILTON
Student Senate at this University is one huge ego trip, a farm organization for future politicians and people who want to pad their resumes. There are some well-meaning senators there in the bunch. I'm sure. They may even show up at meetings, which is more than can say
The Senate does perform some useful functions in the midst of all the fighting and apathy. They divvy the pot, so to speak: They allocate funds for the various student organizations. Given the number of groups that apply and the number of funds available, it is not an enviable task.
For this reason, if for no other, Student Senate should not be abolished. It should, however, be condensed — there are 57 senators elected, and several more appointed. Finding a night or time that 60-plus college students can or will get together cannot be easy.
Abeseintse was so, rampant in this year's Senate that of 53 representatives elected, only 35 remained Sept. 24, according to a story in the Kansan, and nine more were on their way out. The Senate also lost — to time or theft — more than $11,000 in Senate-owned equipment. Add to that, the costs of buying new Wheels, Steve McMurray, has been charged with stealing more than $20,000 from the bus system.
Well, I suppose the Senate's purpose is not only to represent student interests, but also to expose
young politicians to the rigors of big-time politics. But I think the Senate has become a little too
The Senate is forced to spend far too much time policing itself and spends too little time gnawing students' thoughts. For example, the biggest story to come out of the Senate this semester has been the decision to restrict ballot boxes to campus locations. The Senate also wastes time debating criteria for removing members, and criteria for applying to run for the Senate, and criteria for criteria - self-governance ramming amuck.
Yes, I'm biting that hand that feeds me. The Senate partially funds the Kansan, and because of that it looks askance at any attacks on it in the Kansan. I sure we'll be deligged with letters, and I can already guess their imprints. The Kansan is a breeding ground for future hacks, we don't serve the students, we're on an ego trip, t乞 It's an old, old song.
Fine. Let 'em fire away. The fact remains that the small amount of space we are able to devote to Letters to the Editor provides more student time than does reading in the four and a half years I've been in school.
The referendum was a symbol, a test case if you will, and I think it served its purpose well. It accurately gauged the Senate's true concern for student input. Perhaps its time the students showed their true concern for the Student Senate.
Letters Policy
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters.