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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1973)
Page 2 College Station, Texas Thursday, March 22, 1973 THE BATTALION CADET SLOUCH by Jim Earle Listen Up— Senate Size Bill Offered Editor: The proposal to reduce the membership in the Senate may have some merit, but not for the reasons listed by Layne Kruse and other. The point which is overlook ed is that the 100 senators, each must communicate with 160 con stituents (16,000 students divided by 100 senators) and that cutting the number of senators will in crease the number each one must contact. This indicates a bias which says that it is more important for stu dent senators to communicate with each other than it is for them to communicate with their constituents. I disagree vehe mently with this attitude and I propose that the number of sena tors be increased to 130. With this figure, each senator would have to communicate with 129 other senators and with about 130 constituents, thus giving the stu dents more input into the senate. For those who claim that this will destroy communications in the senate, let me point out that communications must be already destroyed with the students, since each senator contacts far more than 100 constituents. I propose the following: I. “No confidence” position on every ballot. This means that if you just don’t like or don’t know any of the candidates running, then you vote “no confidence” and if no confidence wins, then a new election must be called with at least one new candidate on the ballot, and of course, no confi dence. II. Referendum. Anytime the Senate was to vote on the alloca tion of funds in an amount ex ceeding $1,000, a referendum must be called in which at least 20 per cent of the student body votes. If fewer vote, then the measure either fails or can be called for a revote. The referen dum votes will be binding if it passes, however. No money can be allocated or spent until the students pass the referendum. III. Petition. Anytime 500 students sign a petition for a measure and present it to the senate, then they must consider that measure. A petition can also be called to bring a proposal out of committee. In this way, any possible dictatorship of an agenda committee can be bypassed. I challenge any of the candi dates running for any student government office to endorse all ^ the principles herein named, andj^j^^ I encourage you to vote for nnv-^ who do. Mike Perrin ’75 ALLEM 15 'YOOIZ. MAN for. rae VoOfc N6X V; ' Re-Shuffling The Deck Question: If you were Student Government president how would you make an effective, communicative job of the position for the majority of students. Better Question: Since the majority of people at A&M is by far made up of students, what should students expect to receive from their president and elected officials as a whole? It’s easy for many to sit back and say, “oh, yes, the students—they’re so uninformed about the issues that they are apathetic in their own right.” We don’t believe that is presenting the whole picture, only part of it at most. A seemingly big issue for the coming spring elections is “Why hasn’t A&M Student Government communicated with the individual?” The answer to this question, of course, can’t be pinned to any one individual or group of individuals since “we are all in this thing together.” And to some this probably seems unfortunate. We do know where to toss some of the blame for the supposed communication gap between elected representatives and the student body. And it goes something like this: 1. This year’s Student Government president was weak in that he refused to take a public stand on all but three or four of this year’s issues, some being female yell leaders and the higher mandatory hospital fee. 2. Most student senators themselves have refused to contact their constituency on issues, otherwise most students’ balking at the emptying of dorms for women and higher fees would not have been so bad. 3. Most students are here for an education and aren’t interested in running a university that has existed fairly well on its own for almost 97 years. Therefore, they don’t have the time to delve into the different angles involved in A&M’s operations, nor the desire to. But now we have a chance to re-shuffle the cards, so to speak and with the slicing of the Services Fee pie posponed until after the election, the ante has been sweetened a little bit for those in office now seeking power next year. In the final wash, then, it comes right down to what we, the students as individuals, want to make of our government and not really what can be done once the election results have rolled in. Surely trying to make the correct choice of individuals is a hard thing to do from such a vast and many-opinioned field of candidates. But it seems the thing to do would be to search out the candidates who want to communicate with the student body, ones who want to count on the opinions of others. - Utopian or idealistic? You can bet on it! But right now it looks like the only way the situation can be changed until someone can come up with a better form of representation. We might recommend students watch the ‘Student Sandwiche’ show on KAMU-TV, Channel 15 Monday at 9 p.m. to see candidates for the president’s post express their views. Shows such as this are for the benefit of the students as well as the campaigners. We don’t believe in armchair politics; get out and do something about the shape we’re in. Vote next Thursday! €b* Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those Of Represented nationally by Natiqpal Educational Advertising the Student writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax- Services, Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. supported, non-profit, self-supporting educational enter- MEMBER prise edited and operated by students as a university and The Associated Press, Texas Press Association community newspaper. Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school LETTERS POLICY year; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 5% Leueu the editor tout, he typed, double-spaced, and no more than 300 words in length. They must be Texas 77843. signed, although the writer’s name will be withheld by arrangement with the editor. Address correspondence to The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, otherw’ise’cred^ted^n thT'pap^and'locll^ewt of spontaneous College Station, Texas 77813. origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman ; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, J. W. Griffith, L. E. Kruse and EDITOR MIKE RICE B ~ ^ Sears News Editor Rod Speer Women’s Editor Janet Landers a ® tud . ent newspaper at Texas A&M is Sports Editor Bill Henry SSfiSr* Assistant Sports Editor Kevin Coffey May, and once a week during summer school. ?n SfcMTB ‘She does get your attention, doesn’t she!” Loving Care DR. Y. E. HSIA, director of the Yale-New Haven Genetics Clinic, Yale University School of Medicine, takes blood sample from George DeCarolis Jr., 10, of Groton, Conn., assisted by Anita Waters, clinic coordinator. An inborn kidney malformation caused rickets and stunted growth, which are treated by a com bination of medical and surgical methods. The March of Dimes helps support Medical Service Programs for prevention and treatment of birth defects. 1973 LICENSE PLATES NOW ON SALE 8:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. Monday - Friday Last Day March 30 Main Lounge of MSC Gotcha Covered’ has got ‘you’ covered — with styles in baggies, hip pants and blazers to make your college days brighter! Come and find your spring wardrobe THE CLOTHES HORSE Town & Country Center 3801 E. 29th —846-2940 Just off University Dr. THE PERCY HUMPHREY PRESERVATION HAIL JAZZ BAND MONDAY MARCH 26 - 8:00 P. M. BRYAN CIVIC AUDITORIUM ROTARY COMMUNITY SERIES SEASON TICKETS HONORED TICKETS: Student & Date $2.00 Patron $4.00 DISCOUNT LIQUOR No. 1 Friday - Saturday No. 2 1600 Texas Ave. March 23-24 315 Texas Ave. College Station College Station 846-2521 Credit Cards Not Accepted On Sale Items 846-0990 1 CASE COKES $3.15 1 CASE SCHILTZ $3.95 CUTTY SARK Scotch ll VIOO L. $6.15 GORDONS Gin Quart° f .. $4.19 WHITE TAVERN Vodka 80 proof QO Quart . JIM BEAM Straight Whiskey 86 proof 5th epd.7J SEAGRAMS Y. O. Canadian Whiskey 86 proof d»r QQ 5th .... BACARDI Rum Xr $4.59 OLD CROW Straight Whiskey ZnT { $4.69 ANCIENT AGE Straight Whiskey 86 proof QQ y 2 Gal. ep0.77 LANCERS ROSE or BIANCO WINE $2.99 5th PEANUTS PEANUTS JZje Jxrzu- (A. /tZoZ ctuAnXfr. 'lit & tA/u Oyvrfi a lit Jut Cauvaau ZL CdAjxnt.... By Charles M. Schulz A, AuJurUl^nt.