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The Red and Black. Friday, April 13, 1973
MICHAEL SIMPSON
THE OPINIONS OF THE RED AND BLACK
No help
The precedent set by the
Judicial Council in impounding
the results of Wednesday’s
student government election,
rather than insuring a fair
hearing of the suit against the
candidates, worked to obstruct
the existing system of checks on
SGA elections.
By impounding the results, the
Judicial Council created a
confused and disruptive situation
in which enormous pressure was
brought to bear on Jay Peacock
to force him to drop his suit. The
questions he raised about the
conduct of the campaign deser
ved to be answered — whether
they were justifiable questions or
not — just as the questions asked
by any student before the
judiciary deserve to be answer
ed. By handling the situation as
they did, the Judicial Council
created a situation that destroy
ed the possibility for answering
Peacock’s charges — and
potentially discouraged any other
individual with questions about
the conduct of the elections from
attempting to bring those ques
tions to light.
A seven-day period between
the election and the announce
ment of the official results is
provided by the Student Body
Constitution to allow for the
filing of complaints and the
hearing of charges. Precedents
exist for announcing the unoffic
ial results and then going ahead
with any suit. Such action was
taken last year, and a second
election was eventually held in
some schools as a result of
voting irregularities revealed in
the hearing.
We are sorry the Judicial
Council chose to ignore these
procedures and precedents. Their
action was detrimental to the
interests of SGA, candidates for
political office, and the student
body as a whole.
Congratulations
We congratulate Coalition par
ty on their victory in Wednes
day’s election. With control of
the executive slate and an
almost two-thirds majority in the
Senate, Coalition certainly has
the potential now to control and
direct the entire resources of
Student Government toward the
realization of their programs.
While we cannot honestly sup
port all of their proposals, we
admire and appreciate their
enthusiasm for action. We wish
them success in their effort to
revitalize student government,
for such an effort is most
necessary. Some Coalition candi
dates have said they would
support a referendum on the
future of student government
after they have been in office
long enough to give the student
body an idea of what SGA can
accomplish under their leader
ship. We support such a plan,
and hope that Coalition leaders
will neither wait too long to hold
such a referendum, nor lose their
enthusiasm for reforming SGA
once they become involved in
directing it.
Weather ?
Variety may be the spice of
life but where the weather is
concerned, it simply makes life a
little more difficult.
We have had more wind, snow,
ice and cold than any sun-loving
Georgia type cared to suffer
through.
Winter appeared to be finished
after the tornado and relieved,
thin-blooded people had out their
bathing suits and other warm-
weather paraphernalia. Then the
blood-chilling air currents struck
again.
The weather bureau people
have promised warmer air by
the weekend and that is nice. But
we are getting a little tired of
this fence-hopping the weather
has been exhibiting lately.
We hope the weather will take
a firmer stance, preferably on
the warm side.
mi 1 1,’
ACK
HI i i m ixljU i
A Pacemaker newspaper
Claudia Townsend, editor
Jim Thompson Jimmy Johnson
Business manager Executive editor
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sports editor; Frazier Moore, consulting editor David Hartin, copy editor; Bill
Durrence. photography editor. Ed Parker, wire editor Stacy McDaniel,
production manager. Brad McColl. art director
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The questions still remain
The night was full of beer, stale
cigarette smoke, near hysterical students
and the melodrama of an unfolding
B-grade movie And after the laughter,
arguments and comprises, came victory.
A dream which be
gan to materialize
last year, (and can
be easily traced
back at least two
more > had erupted
at two in the morn
ing in the student
activities center Co
alition, the party
which had refused to
die in the face of defeat last year, had
overcome internal strife and a campus
consumed in apathy to sweep both the
executive branch and student senate.
After the elections, the questions
remain What does this election mean to
most students? And is there any
possibility for any real change in the
direction of student government'’
The Coalition-dominated government is
faced with several immediate problems,
ones which reflect these questions and
will not wail for a slow response or an
impersonal reply. There are no excuses.
The promises have been given and the
electorate has spoken its approval. A
mandate for change in student govern
ment structure and direction has been
issued, and now the SGA and the
Coalition party are faced with the harsh
reality of making it work.
One of the paramount questions before
the new senate will be allocations. The
question is whether the power lo allocate
funds which are paid bv students will be
returned lo the student senate or will
continue to be given to the administra
tion The dorm situation is another
crucial point. There are many students
who find the present mandatory housing
requirement simply intolerable Lobby
ing begun this spring, and the threat of
court action later, may give an answer.
The parking situation is another area
which the SGA must deal with
immediately To many, a need for the
proposed south campus student center is
of importance also. And after the near
election fiasco, a complete study of the
present judicary system and a careful
scrunity of its powers must be made.
Much of the problem surrounding these
questions has been due to the lack of any
news dissemination on the part of student
government The immediate creation of a
Student Government Information Secre
tary is imperative. Such an office would
insure the vital flow between student
government and the various media.
A great underlying problem with
student government is apathy. The low
voter turnout is evidence that the
majority of students have been alienated
by the impoteney of government in the
past few years. Apathy is a disease which
must be dealt with. The time has come
for many students to realize that apathy
is a form of democratic suicide and the
pretentious naivete which accompanies it
on this campus is dangerous to the
extreme.
As soon as students arrive on this
campus they are told that they are
apathetic And, unfortunately, it has gone
lo the extreme of becoming something to
be. like having moustaches and long hair
and listening to the latest sound. A
realization that this is the same sort of
pious condemnation of the democratic
process which allows prejudices, corrup
tion in government and the horror of the
inhumane wars is unavoidable.
Irregardless of people's indignation
toward student government, it is NOT
going to disappear It will not simply go
away if no one bothers it. What will
happen is it will continue to be vulnerable
to manipulation by a powerful
administration and remain a tool to
rubber stamp administrative decisions
which are not in the interest of students.
And every student who does not vote
gives a form of silenl student support for
such a farce of a government. This
situation is unfortunately compounded
when others besides the administration
try to manipulate government on this
campus. The SGA is vulnerable as are all
democratic institutions to irrational
attack by anyone with the slightest
knowledge of its structure. This situation
has been forcefully made apparent in this
election with the misuse of the student
judicary for the ego gain and publicity of
a few.
These are but a few of the immediate
questions which confront the new senate
and executive branch. In many ways,
this is the year that will determine
whether we can justify the continued
existence of student government in its
present form.
Many new people within the govern
ment feel that they can meet the
challenge, and prove the merit of its
structure. But if they are wrong and SGA
fails to produce this year, it should be
dismantled Such a move would prevent
anyone from using government for any
purpose other than voicing students'
needs and answering that voice with
action
Liberals are moral cowards'
TO TIIK EDITOR:
Why is it that so many so-called
“Liberals" in foreign policy suffer from
the silly delusion that Ihe Communist
nations will yield to "moral pressure"
when they are requested to keep an
international agreement that they have
signed? I noted with some dismay the
editorial by the Ked and Black entitled
"Not Again." which said, in essence, that
there is no need for the United States to
threaten force to keep the peace in
Vietnam — that "The United States
needs to leave the administration of the
Vietnam peace to the Vietnamese people
and to the international commission..."
Ked and Black editors — do you really
think lhal this is going to keep peace in
Vietnam? It is an unfortunate truth that
the threat of force effectively applied
— is Ihe only means of keeping the North
Vietnamese from "liberating" the South
Vietnamese into tyranny — which is
much worse than anything the South
Vietnamese have ever had Would you
like an example'’ How about "moral
pressure" and Laos?
Actually. I think that the concepts of
"liberal" and "conservative" in foreign
policy ought lo be examined more
closely Take, for example, such foreign
policy "liberals" as Ted Kennedy and
George McGovern By and large, these
men reserve their critical barrages for
the United States and its foreign policy —
they gripe about political prisoners in
South Vietnam how about those in the
North, gentlemen'’
They criticize U S. intervention in
South Vietnam — but I don't see them
criticizing Ihe North Vietnamese (or
sending armed forces in South Vietnam,
or Laos, or Cambodia They criticize
American bombing policy — but little or
nothing comes from them about North
Vietnamese atrocities — and. incidental
ly. I have heard nothing yet from these
men about the tortures American airmen
suffered in North Vietnamese prisons
One wonders about their true concern for
American POW's
And. on a broader scale, these men
have little to say about the internal
policies in Russia It almost seems as if
these men are tacitly condoning
repression in the Communist world,
tacillv condoning naked agression
against other countries by the Commu
nist world.
Doesn't it seem that these men, and
those like them, are in fact supporting
dictatorship, repression, aggression, and
terror, because they do not have the
moral courage to speak out against it?
Pardon my confusion, but I thought
lhal "reactionary conservatives", those
who, in the popular mythology, are
racists," (such as, supposedly, myself
— I was called a "John Bircher" the
other day) were the ones who were
supposed to support this type of thing. 1
personally am opposed to dictatorship,
repression, aggression, and terror —
policies which are characteristic of the
Communist regimes of this planet.
As W B Walsh says in his book, Russia
and the Soviet Union, "I have an
implacable antipathy toward those who
deny men the right of free inquiry. I hold
enserfment and slavery to be moral
wrongs which debase both masters and
men I am convinced that the philosophy
of ends justifying means is an
unmitigated evil which can lead only to
greater evils I unreservedly prefer what
is loosely called the American way' to
either ‘the Russian way’ or ‘the Soviet
way'.*'
The "Soviet way" is the system of the
Communist countries, with very little
modification I oppose this, and I
considet myself a true liberal in foreign
affairs because I do so. It is unfortunate
that the so-called “liberals" don't have
Ihe guts to speak out against Communist
dictatorships In my book, they are either
moral cowards or ignorant Because of
them there has been unnecessary and
unwarranted repression and terror, in
Vietnam and the rest of the world I hope
these men and women can live with their
consciences — if they have consciences
Sometimes, I doubt it.
NORMAN MILLER CARY JH
R&B criticism
not fair to Stills'
TO THE EDITOR:
Too often the R&B labels a concert as
being bad without considering the
abilities of the musician Stephen Stills
graced this campus with his appearance
last week and displayed his versatile
talents. The review said he opened with
"It Doesn't Matter" but was wrong
because he played "Rock and Roll
Woman". The people who were not close
to the front could not appreciate his
performance so thev left early leaving
only a crowd on the floor for Stills to play
to I believe the review was unfair to
Stills and his group. They were
outstanding in concert and should not be
called disappointing because of the
Coliseum’s poor acoustics.
BILL RICKETT
ROBERT DUKES
Farmers should
share in wealth
TO TIIK EDITOR:
When one thinks of oppressed
minorities, he usually thinks ol Blacks,
Chicanos, and Indians. The grievances of
these minorities have been highly
publicized. A minority which hasn't been
mentioned that has been oppressed by
our society is the farmer The farmer's
income has not kept pace with the
industrial sector, yet so many always
gripe about any rise in food costs.
In the past labor has always won
generous wage increases Prices usually
went up as a result of these wage
increases At the same time farm
commodities prices stayed the same.
This resulted in less buying power for the
farmer However, when the farmer’s
income increases as the result of higher
prices, the shoe is on a different foot for
labor labor seems to say that it is all
right lor labor to make more money but
not farmers.
Anyone will tell you that the current
beet prices are caused by increased
demand In agriculture there is a time
lag between the time the consumer says
he wants something and the time the
producer is able to supply it. In other
words, it may be six months up with
demand A boycott is ony a temporary
change in demand. It may bring a
temporary price drop, but in the long run
it will do no good Only an increase in
supply will bring a permanent drop in
beef prices.
Also there are other factors besides
supply and demand affecting beef prices
last year 200-300 pound calves brought 30
cents a pound on the hoof At that time
feed prices were not real high. Due to
crops rotting in the field because of
excessive rain, the price of feed has gone
up 20 percent. A farmer doesn't make a
whole lot at 30 cents a pound, but that
price coupled with a 20 percent increase
in feed costs would wipe them out. At
that price the farmers could refuse to sell
and thus create shortages. So to
encourage the farmer to sell, the price
has to be raised to help him cover his
increased costs
With more people leaving farming
because it is unprofitable, it is
imperative that we do something. In
order to keep people in farming we must
try to make farming an honorable and
profitable profession Farmers are the
backbone of America, and they deserve a
fair shake and a share in American's
prosperity.
LARRY MOTSINGKK
Bar the vendors
from concert floor
TO THE EDITOR:
Listening to a concert in the Coliseum
with vendors constantly yelling "Coke" is
like listening to an album with a big
scratch in it There is enough noise
coming from the rude people in the
audience! The vendors' chant for the
sake of a fast buck is certainly not
adding anything to the already poor
acoustics in the Coliseum. Vendors
should be limited to the hall area outside
Enough said!
JIM WILSON