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By Jim Earle
“It feels good to be campaigning for an issue that
is clear-cut and understandable.”
Opinion
Battalion not to endorse
The Battalion will not endorse any candidates for student
office this year.
This does not mean we are neglecting our option of be
coming involved in the political process: quite the contrary.
Any student representative who voted to defy the spirit, if
not the letter, of the Student Body Constitution does not
deserve to be re-elected. The essence of a representative
government is in the ability of a constituency to keep in
formed about what that government is doing. To deny stu
dents the right to know is inconsistent with the ideals of
representative government.
The Battalion urges students to vote for no student gov
ernment candidate who voted to close Wednesday night s
senate meeting to the public — since student leaders claim a
unanimous vote for the closed session, that includes all
present.
They wanted to hide something from you — if you think
they erred, don’t hide your displeasure.
small society
by Briclcman
Viewpoint
The Battalion
US PS 045 360
LETTERS POLICY MEMBER
U turs l„ the editor should not exeeed 3tX) words and are Tw »' Pr ‘ "
subject to heinu cut to that length or less if longer The < on*r,^
editorial stuff reserves the right to edit such letttrs and docs Editor RoV Brazil
not guarantee to publish ana lettt'r. Each letter must he A • . t-* w -.T --r. i ®
signed, show the address of the writer and list a teleghone Associate Editor Keith Taylor
numlnr for verification. News Editor Rusty Cawley
Address eorres/tondenee to Lettirs to the Editor. The Asst. News Editor Karen Cornelison
Battalion. Room 2lfi. Reed McDonald Building. College Copy Editor Dillard Stone
Station. Texas , ,S4'i Sports Editor Mike Burrichter
H.-pr.'N.-nt.-d nationally by National Educational Adv. r- F()CUS Edit()r Rhonda Watters
tismg Services, Inc.. New York City. C hicago and Los
Angeles. '
City Editor Louie Arthur
TV Battalion is published Monday through Friday from Cam P US Edit ° r Dime B,ake
September through May except during exam and holiday Staff Writers Nancy Andersen,
periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesdux Tricia BrunHart, AngeliqUC Copeland,
The Battalion
Texas A&M Univebsity
Monday
March 31, 1980
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By CHAP
Senate’s closed session...
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Senate has obligation to students
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Last week, The Battalion printed several
stories and editorials concerning the stu
dent senate’s vote in closed session to give
$100,000 to the Athletic Department.
In editorials on Thursday and Friday, we
attacked the senate for its actions.
On Friday, we also printed a story that
explained the reason for the closed session.
In Friday’s story, the senator who intro
duced the bill quoted University President
Dr. Jarvis Miller as saying the senate was
acting at his request to allocate the money.
The money — reportedly to be taken from
MSC Bookstore profits — is to be given to
the Athletic Department to help make up
an anticipated $150,000 deficit in women’s
athletics caused by implementation of Title
IX guidelines.
The Department of Health, Education
and Welfare is charged with enforcing Title
IX, the law that sets federal anti-sex discri
mination guidelines for educational institu
tions.
Miller said one reason for the financial
tomfoolery is a legal ploy: to involve the
student body in the issue and confuse
HEW.
Miller reasons that when HEW tells the
University it’s in violation of the rules —
and it’s at least an even-odds bet that they
will — HEW will have to file suit against
the entire student body.
In the story, Miller implies HEW will
have a harder time suing 30,000 people
than if the case involved a few administra
tors.
The attempt at implicating the entire
student body in possible litigation is appall
ing. Miller, the administration, the Athle
tic Department and the senate are operat
ing under the assumption that no one cares
if they use students for their own shenani
gans. They’re wrong. We care.
Our original contention was that the sen
ate violated the Open Meetings Law. The
senate claims that they’re not covered by
the Open Meetings Law. Based on a pre
liminary indication from an official in the
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|iat would go I
attorney general’s office has
probably right.
But the legality of the action is
point — it's the idea of keepin]
issue secret that’s frightening.
If senators think they can get
this nonsense, they’re wrong. Theyfl
moral obligation to the students olii
A&M University. They don’t towei
the student body — they are pi
Everything the senate does ii
or part of the student body. Closi
ing that involves the entire student
to the extent that they are made
lawsuit — is a violation of the publics
— Ho)
ith a maximi
laid.
The first pi
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The cashier
Senator’s silence on issue confusing
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He pulled o
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During the senate’s closed session
Wednesday night, William Altman, judi
cial board chairman, told Battalion repor
ters that if students wanted to know what
happened at the senate meeting, they
could call their representatives the next
day.
On the face of it, that statement is ridicu
lous. In practice, it’s even more so.
Have you tried calling your student sena
tor to find out what the senators talked
about?
The Battalion has. For five days, Batta
lion reporters and editors have followed
Altman’s advice, asking student govern
ment members for details on what they
talked about Wednesday night.
Very few people are talking. Those who
are talking are scared of something.
Whether they fear for their reputations or
question the legality of their actions, we
don’t know.
What’s more incredible, though, is the
line used by some senators, including Stu
dent Body President Ronnie Kapavik: T’d
tell a student who wasn’t connected with
student publications.”
What that statement means is that there
are 30,000 students on this campus who are
free to know about what went on at the
meeting, and who are free to disseminate
that information at will — in short, every
body, except those whose job it is to pub
lish the news.
The idea of requiring 30,000 students to
call their student senators so they can find
L . . , jck. She ham
out what occurred at a senate meefcf^, t ] lcn f| e( j
practical. That’s why newspaperswei« owns } lire S ]
vented.
te'WWHUMJUypi
What is a newspaper if not an e
of the public? What is the basis of a in
paper’s request for information if
extension of the public’s right to b>
Student senators obviously bavef
ions inconsistent with those norn
about the role of the press in afreeso
Constitution violated by bylaw changel
The student senate’s attempt to circumvent
the students’ interests by going into closed
session to discuss a grant of money to the
athletic department was in violation of the
student government constitution.
The senate wanted to discuss the alloca
tion in closed session, but according to Sec
tion V of the constitution, “all meetings of
the Student Senate shall be open to the
public unless the Senate enters into execu
tive session by unanimous consent.”
In order to change the unanimous vote
requirement, the matter must be submit
ted to a student referendum — the consti
tution cannot be changed otherwise.
The senate got around this rule by
attempting a parliamentary flim-flam. Paul
Bettencourt, vice president for rules and
regulations, proposed an amendment to
the student senate bylaws that changed the
requirements for going into closed session
from a unanimous vote to a two-thirds ma
jority. The senate then approved the
amendment — an action in violation of the
constitution.
The senate then then passed the entire
bill.
As soon as the bill had been passed, Bet
tencourt’s copy, with penciled-in amend
ments and changes, was passed to Rip Van
Winkle, speaker of the senate. Van Winkle
signed the bill, and passed it to Ronnie
Kapavik, student body president, who also
signed it.
The senate’s next order of business was a
motion to go into closed session under the
newly passed unconstitutional bylaws.
The vote to go into closed session was not
unanimous, but student observers and two
Battalion reporters were nonetheless told
to leave the meeting.
Then, the senate applied its own version
of Catch-22. After the closed session began,
senate leaders said, those who voted
against it changed their votes.
Senate leaders, therefore, claim a unani
mous vote. It was a unanimous vote, but it
occurred in closed session and the closed
session itself was unconstitutional,
fore, the changes in the vote that off-j
in the session were invalid.
It’s a circular argument that has its
in itself. Going into closed session in
to justify the closed session isn’t
cut it.
The Battalion is filing a complainl' 1
the student government Judicial Bos»
void any actions taken by thesenatein 1
closed session.
Even if the action taken in closed 0
is not illegal understate law, itisagaM
senate’s own charter.
— Tim St
Thotz
109-111 Bo