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Leaders of Tomorrow! MARCH 1998 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER 11
In My Opinion
Taxation Without Representation
by Carvel Bennett
Director Student Activities & Student
Publications/ Columnist
(jappeneb
tn ponton m
1776,
several years later in Paris,
in the 1960’s it occurred through
out the British Empire. ‘It’ is revolt
against the British, or in the case of
the French-revolution by the masses
against an oppressive system, for tax
ation without representation. Several
African and Caribbean nations gained
their independence from the British
during the 60’s because these nations
felt they were being used to fatten the
coffers of the then British Empire, yet
were not self governing and did not
have a share in the decision making
process of their respective domains.
I am by no means advocating that
the staff here at Morris brown pollute
the Chattahoochue river in protest, or
that we storm the proverbial Bastille
(Administration Building), as the
French masses did in the later 1770’s,
but I am advocating that it is about
time we became recognized as a group
and be a part of the main decision
making body of the college, i.e. the
Board of Trustees.
I find it interesting that the stu
dents have a representative to the
Board, the faculty has a representa
tive, but the staff does not. There are
approximately 2,100 students, 102
full-time faculty and 247 full-time
staff members here this academic
year. There obviously is something
wrong with this picture. The number
of full-time staff more than doubles
the faculty, yet they are represented
and the staff are not. Let it not be
said that I am trying to lead the rev
olution here, I am by no means a
Robespierre or Marcus Garvey, but
I had to address this issue.
At a recent meeting of the Faculty
Council (yes I do attend these, after
all where else am I going to find out
what’s going on, I am not represented
anywhere), we were told that when
a member of the Presidential Search
Committee asked why there was no
representation from staff, the re
sponse was - they have no unified
body, i.e. council or senate the way
the students and faculty do. This out
raged me, as such a response was far
from the truth.
For several months in late 1996
and the early part of 1997, I served on
a committee that was supposedly put
in place by the administration to draft
the by-laws, etc. for such a body. I was
asked to serve on this ad hoc commit
tee, as I was one of the chief archi
tects of the now fully functional Stu
dent Senate. In late Spring of 1997
a draft of the document was supposed
to be submitted to the Office of the
President for final approval. We have
been waiting since.
I fail to understand how anyone
can respond to Board members that
the staff is not trying to get organized,
when the committee on which I serv
ed for so long, did all that work. What
happened to that document? What
was the administration’s response to
the draft document, if they ever saw
it? Where do we go from here? Who
has it and why was it not distributed,
debated and approval sought?
I will be vigilant in finding out
what happened to this document, as
I have a copy in my possession along
with minutes of the meetings that
were held. I feel strongly that the
staff should have a body that repre
sents its interest and a voice on the
Board of Trustees. We were asked to
take pay cuts and other measures
during the crisis of 1992 and we have
always supported the college finan
cially at Founders’ Day. I think if we
are being “taxed” then we should be
represented. Right now the Faculty
Council and Student Senate are like
the fifty states of the Union and we
are like the District of Columbia.
Get yours
Today
AUC Fund Raiser
PRE-PAID ORDER FORM
Announcing the Official Fall 1997 Fund-Raiser of the Student Activities Directors for Clark-Atlanta
University, Morehouse, Morris Brown, and Spelman Colleges. The fund-raiser will benefit each AUC
Student Activities fund for programming and sponsored activities. Please note that all products are officially
licensed and reflect the logo and high standards of quality required by each institution.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS AND CODE NUMBERS
Logo Varsity
Jackets, Sweat
Suit, Satin Jacket
Hockey Jersey
1101 Embroidered Logo Varsity Jackets. 24oz. melton wool with vinyl or leather sleeves. School logo
embroidered on left chest. Available in male and female format.
Vinyl Sleeves ...$119.95 Leather sleeves...$189.95 XXL add $10.00 XXXL add $15.00
1102 Zip-up Sweat Suit (with matching pants). Full front zipper elastic cuffs and waistband, zippered pockets
and lightweight jersey lining with nylon lined sleeves and approved school logo embroidered on left chest.
$79.95
1103 Quilt-lined Satin Jacket. 100% citation satin with quilt lining, includes color coordinated knit stand-up
collar, cuffs and waistband. $79.95
1104 School Name Hockey Jersey. 150 denier polyester gameweight mesh with two color school name
tackle-twilled on front with 8” #1 on the back (two colors). $69.95
CONTA CT PERSONS:
Clark-Atlanta University
Dhanfu Elston
Office of Student Life
(404) 880-6392
Morris Brown College
Carvel Bennett
Office of Student Activities
(404)220-0312
Morehouse College
Ellice Hawkins
Office of Student Activities
(404)215-2681
Spelman College
Vicki Williams
Office of Student Activities
(404)223-7521
Ship my order to: (cash, money order, certified check only, payable'to WJB Sportstufl)
Name
Address
City State Zip Phone
Item
School
QtV-
Size
Item Description
Vinyl/Leather
Male/Female
Unit Price
Total
j
— 1
Total $
Samples may be viewed in the Office of Student Activities
Order