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diversity ol Georgia Thursday, March *9,1979 Volume 85, Number 78
Georgia's only collegiate daily newspaper"
News 542-3441 Adveitising 542-3414
Student government follows national trend
SGA considers abolition vote
By TIM BONNER
Staff writer
The Student Senate adjourned unexpectedly last night without reaching a decision on
a proposed amendment to student body President Harold Mulherin’s referendum to
abolish the Student Government Association.
The senate was considering a motion submitted by John Breaugh < Arts & Sciences) to
substitute a new referendum for Mulherin's what a quorum call found the aanata two
members short of the 35 people needed to transact business
Senate President Lynn Johnson was force to adjourn the meeting, which effectively
killed the motion by Breaugh Breaugh pledged afterward that he would re submit his
motion at a later senate meeting.
As it stands, the senate will present Mulherin’s referendum to the students on April 5.
However, senators and administration officials have said the referendum would not
legally bind SGA to disband
Floyd Buford (A&S), who asked Johnson for the quorum call, said “I want it to be
fair and I want it to be done right. That is why 1 opposed the methods used tonight
Keith Mason (A&S) claimed that opponents of the referendum used unfair tactics to
stall the motion.
| “These people stalled the debate. It's an abuse of parliamentary procedure.’’ Mason
Mid
Cochran said that Mulherin's referendum would “have teeth if it goes through proper
I channels ’’ However, he added that this involves passage of the referendum at two
consecutive senate meetings, with two-thirds of the senate voting for the referendum.
After this, students would have to accept the referendum by a simple majority.
The senate meeting convened in Russell Hall at approximately 7:15. The senators
•pent little time choosing the members of the elections committee, which was the
original purpose of the senate meeting. Mulherin’s single appointee to the committee.
Walter Muller (A&S), was approved by the senate.
The senators, by acclamation, approved five other nominees to the committee, which
Is chaired by senate Vice-President Barry Irwin (Law). The five members include Tim
Youngblood (AM), Larry Angel (AA8), KUck Hill Business' Gregg Jocoy (AAS) and
Bard Williams (Education).
Bard Williams said the elections committee will go ahead and plan the referendum.
“At least the elections committee is organized even if the senate is not,” said Williams.
In other business, Breaugh informed the senators he will distribute “student buying
power” cards in Memorial Plaza Thursday and Friday These cards, good through
September, give students discounts at merchants throughout Athens Over 5000 cards
will be handed out. Breaugh said
Senate Treasurer Mike Hearn (AAS) expressed disappointment at the senate
meeting "1 was very strongly against abolition. Now I’m not so sure.” Hearn said. “I
still don't think that abolition is the best final solution We have got to have some
alternative to what we have now.’’
John Breaugh submits motion
Other campuses apathetic too
K PS)—“You mean there’s a student senate here 0 ’’
That's how a Burlington County College student answered a survey measuring the
effectiveness of the student government at the small eastern school The sentiments,
however, are common to surprisingly large numbers of students who are showing
record amounts of apathy towards their student government.
The symptoms are national Voter turnouts from student government elections are
steadily dropping Surveys find most students are totally uninformed about student
government workings The senators themselves are frequently lackadaisical about their
responsibilities. Student leaders running cn absurdist" platforms are proliferating
To wit:
Although the average student turnout for student elections has been charted at 20
percent, voting at most schools is actually much lower At the University of Missouri
Kansas City, voter turnout dropped from nine percent in 1977 to 5.6 percent last year
Last fall, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro experienced an all-time low in
voter turnout—five percent A For? Hays Sta»e College recall election attracted less
than four percent of the students
Ninety-five percent of Florida Institute of Technology students didn't know who their
• college representative was less than ten percent of the studen»s at New Mexico State
University know
The University of Georgia student government president won office last spring by
posing as the “Unknown Candidate.' wearing a paper bag over his head The student
government heads at the University of Wisconsin Madison led the Pail and Shovel party
this past year through a series of self-admitted foolish expenditures
Last month, a University of Missouri-Columbia candidate won almost half of the
student vote with his “birthday party" platform, and by campaigning in clown suits
and strait jackets
But most importantly, more schools are finding student government so worthless they
are abandoning it. Since last spring, at least seven schools have considered abolishing
their student governments At two schools, the effort was successful At the others, the
votes were very close.
Reasons for the disenchantment with students vary from school to school, but
observers point to some common factors, including the lack of “bread and butter"
issues dealt with by student governments, the political maneuvering frequently seen in
the groups, and the encroachment of administrative controls over functions previously
controlled by students
The University of North Carolina-Wilmington student government is currently
opposing efforts by administration to strip the student legislature of its allocation
I power UNC’s student government which has had problems meeting quorum in the
past semester, currently controls $110,000 in student fees The administration favors
re-dividing the funding responsibilities between the program board, media and
publications board, and the student legislature
See STUDENT GOVERNMENT, p 6
J
UGA Today
Book exchange open
The Hook Exchange, sponsored by the Student Government Association,
is open for the quarter See the story inside, page 6.
Fines and films
Plan now to observe National
Library Week, which will run April
1-7 The Athens Regional Library will
tx? sponsoring Fine Free Week during
this time so that overdue books may
be returned at no charge Also a
Georgia Film Festival is scheduled for
April 1 at 3:00 in the library
auditorium, with three feature films to
be showm The festival is open to the
public
Jazz singers
The University Jazz Band II is
adding singer* to the group this
quarter If you sing well and are
interested in joining the Jazz Band 11,
auditions will be held Saturday. March
31, at 100 p m. in room 310 of the Fine
Arts Building
Buying power
Student Buying Power lard* can be
picked up today and Friday from 10-4
at the Student Senate's table at
Memorial Hall. The cards are free to
all students and entitle them to
discounts from various area mer
chants
Catch the fever
If you didn’t catch the original "R" rated version of Saturday Night Fever,
this is your last chance Shows will be at 7:00 and »;30 Friday and Saturday
nights Make plans now to be there
Creative education
Dr Joseph Khatena. president of the
National Association of Gifted Chil
dren. and Dr John C. Gowan. former
president of the association, will speak
at a series of programs on gifted and
creative education March 29-31 The
programs are sponsored by the
College of Education There will be a
$5 fee for the workshop on Saturday,
which includes lunch For more
information, contact Dr Kay Bruch or
Dr Mary Frasier at 542-4110
News closeup
The Killing Ground, an ABC News
Closeup will be shown tonight at 10:00
p.m on channel 11 The special report
covers the topic of toxic chemical
waste in America—a serious environ
mental problem and public health
hazard that is growing annually.
Included in the documentary are
segments concerning waste-hauling
and dumping practices, and chemical
contamination of animals Reporters
for The Killing Ground are Brit Hume
and Michael Connor
No decision yet on
special instances of controversy." Even
in those instances, however, the full
senate would be able to overrule the
decision by the steering committee
The motion apparently came in
reaction to A&S Dean Jack Payne’s
recent interpretation of the bylaws, under
which he appointed members to at least
five departmental search committees
There has been opposition to the dean's
appointments from several departments,
including physics and statistics.
In other action, the Senate accepted an
amendment from Malcolm Steuer
(Physics) which will require a quorum of
100 faculty members at the annual A&S
faculty meeting for any business to be
conducted
One faculty member spoke in favor of
the motion because it would “prevent the
possibility of a small number of faculty
members passing college policy ’’
However William Chittick 'Political
Science) chairman of the ad hoc
committee on bylaws, voiced the
committee's opposition to requiring a
quorum saying “it would be impossible to
act on even the most routine motions if a
quorum were required "
The only debate on Article V. which
concerns department head selection,
dealt with a two sentence revision by
Homer C ooper on the important issue of
the composition of future department
head search committees
Cooper's revision read. The faculty of
the department at the rank of assistant
professor and above shall elect a search
committee consisting of no less than five
members and shall have the obligation of
ensuring appropriate minority represent
ation from the professorial ranks in the
Flynt given sentence and fine
ATLANTA <l PI»—Hustler magazine owner Larry Flynt was found guilty Wednesday
of distributing obscenity in Atlanta and sentenced to a suspended prison term provided
he pay a $27,500 fine and keep his sexually explicit magazine out of Georgia
After nine hours and 40 minutes deliberation spread over two days, a state court jury
of four women and two men returned its verdict—guilty on all 11 of the misdemeanor
counts
There was a gasp from the audience in the courtroom but the crippled Flynt, sitting
in his wheelchair, showed no emotion as each juror was polled
Flynt s attorneys asked that sentencing be put off for 30 days but Flynt said he
wanted it done now Judge Nick Lambros then imposed the maximum sentence of 12
months on each of the counts plus $2,500 fine for each Lambros said he would suspend
the prison term if Flynt paid the fine and “you do not violate the laws of Georgia "
Flynt directed chief attorney Herald Fahringer to pay the fine by Friday. Fahringer
immediately filed notice of appeal and posted an appeals bond which was also set at
$27,500
Fahringer said that Flynt “would not refuse to sell in Cincinnati and I don't think he
will here " He said an appeal would be based on tne question of community standards
which had been “kept out of the courts for some time and the appellate courts have to
give some direction in this area This case could be the one ’’
The 36-year-old Flynt. who is also free on appeal from a similar sentence in Ohio, was
returned to the courtroom from a nearby hotel to hear the verdict He had been
crippled by an ambush shooting during another pornography trial in nearby
Lawrenceville
The state prosecution was built around 11 issues of Hustler and Chic, both published
by Flynt. which constituted the only evidence offered in the state S brief presentation
The state contended that pictures of explicit sex featured in the publications violated
Georgia's obscenity laws by catering to “shameful and morbid interests in nudity. sex
and excretion
Fahringer claimed the case represented a clear choice between American freedoms
as expressed in the First Amendment and intolerance by a majority over an emotional
subject.
By NELSON d. ROSS
Staff writer
A meeting of the Arts and Sciences
Faculty Senate adjourned Wednesday
before reaching a decision on the bylaws
controversy over the role of the A&S
dean in the selection of new department
heads.
Dr. William O. Chittick
Because the entire set of bylaws is to
be revised, the senate was able after
nearly two hours of debate to pass only
four of the seven articles up for
consideration
A motion by Homer Cooper (Sociology)
was passed which would allow the
steering committee of the senate "to
determine the meaning of the bvlaws in
A&S dean’s role
department on this committee "
Chittick voiced committee opposition to
the criterion arguing “we would
explicitly exclude a lot of people
including women and minorities if we
accept this.”
With a lull in the debate, Ellen
Mattingly 'Zoology), President of the
campus chapter of the American
Association of University Professors,
began debating the problem Chittick
raised
“The significant question is, why
nothing has been done to move (women
and minority members) up I would urge
not to create a situation which would
keep women at the bottom .”
Following Mattingly's comments, the
meeting was adjourned “due to the
lateness of the hour.”
IF APPROPRIATION IS CUT
Tuition hike possible
SUfl illuktrttian Frank La*
R> JOHN LACK1E
Staff writer
The possibility of a shortage in
appropriations to the university system
in the state budget could result in a
tuition hike for the coming year,
according to University officials
A tuition hike was discussed at the
Board of Regents February meeting,
according to Vice-Chancellor Howard
Jordan, but any action in that regard
would have to be taken at the board's
April meeting
As of Thursday afternoon, no business
concerning a tuition increase was on the
agenda. Jordan added
The tenative budget as of the board's
March meeting indicated a $10 million
shortage in appropriations, according to
Barry Wood, director of public relations
for the University
“It is a very complicated situation.”
Wood said “The Board can’t do anything
until they see the state budget "
The state budget was submitted to
Governor George Bus bee for approval
after the legislature adjourned Tuesday
night
The Regents are scheduled to meet
again Apnl 10-11 in Atlanta
“The legislature appropriates a lump
sum to the regents, and they in turn
distribute it to the various institutions (of
the university system),” said James B.
Kenney , assistant to University President
Fred C Davison He added there should
be some indication of what the budget
will look like no later than next week
If the final version of the state budget
fails to provide the regents with all
necessary funds, officials say they may
have to cut back on some construction
allocations
Projects for which funds have already
been allocated would not be affected by
such a change. Kenney stated These
projects would include the new student
center and the annex to the law library
Meanwhile, officials at the University's
Office of Business and Finance say they
cannot begin work on their own budget
until they find out what this year’s
allocation will be
Officials in all departments, however,
seem to agree that a veto by the
governor of any or all appropriations to
the Regents could have serious repercus
sions on the allocations process
Busbee has the authority to veto any
item in the budget