THE BATTALION
FWOAY. APRS. 25. 1980
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•M FROAY, APRS. 25. 1980
Lack ot real power OK with student government
^ Campus Reporter for rules and reeulationT P r 5. si< ^ ent r ^ r ‘ vice president Tech s statement that, The desires dents at that time, only about 5,000 The Senior Cabinet refused the be voted on in the fall woul
•student government is a sham; it Newlv ^ .. for student services, feels that the of the student association seem to fall voted. document, auestionine the abilitv of broaden the of
By SCOT K. MEYER
Campus Reporter
‘Student government is a sham; it
no real power ”
That is one or the most popular
given by students for not vot-
Tj n Texas A&M University stu-
^ n t government elections. Not vot-
ffl »*a5 very popular this year; only a
[(tie more than 7,000 students
voted.
In terms of actual power, the
student government at Texas A&M
ys little, if any.
But it’s role that both adminis
trators and students seem happy
role of a student govem-
nent is not to exercise power, but
to find the equilibrium between
that the students want and what-
the administration will give,” Paul
treasure
destroyed
By JANA SIMS
Campus Reporter
Wilburn A. Cockrell’s resignation
as the State of Florida Underwater
Archaeologist will become effective
at the end of June — a position he is
leaving out of “sheer frustration.”
Cockrell spoke last night in Rud
der Tower about the trouble under
water “treasure hunters” (persons
who salvage cargo from shipwrecks)
cause archaeologists who want to
protect shipwrecks.
The speech was sponsored by the
Texas A&M Sea Grant College
Program and Marine Fellows.
T fail to see why we don’t get the
message across to the American
public,” Cockrell said, “that fewer
than a dozen (treasure hunters) are
destroying our entire maritime
heritage.”
Every shipwreck in Florida feder
al waters, Cockrell said, is now
destroyed since the abolishment of a
federal law protecting shipwrecks.
Also, countless artifacts have “disap
peared” — decomposed because
ley were not properly protected.
Cockrell said a shipwreck’s value
lies not in its cargo but in the history
it can provide.
He said Florida’s Antiquities Law
is in danger of being declared uncon
stitutional because of a challenge by .
treasure hunter Melvin Fisher.
Fisher is known for his discovery of a
Spanish galleon which he claims to
be the Atocha that wrecked in 1622
off the coast of Florida.
IfFlorida’s law is overruled, Cock- .
rell said the antiquities laws of all
states are in danger, which he does
not want to see.
Cockrell said no one is justified in ,
destroying the structure of a ship
wreck to get to the ship’s “goodies,” 1
oceptfor the “furtherance of know-;
dge.”
Cockrell said he wants states to!
take two stands: 1) Archaeological!
sites should be destroyed only by
operts using proper standards, and
2 No publicly owned materials
should ever go into private own
ership."
He said treasure hunters and sport
divers should not be refused access !
to the sites, but they should be !
“Nnd by professional ethics.
Cockrell said he thinks shipwreck j
cl rgo should not be “finder’s
nepers.”
Its mine. It’s my children’s. It’s
everybody’s.”
Bettencourt, former vice president
ferrules and regulations, said.
Newly elected student body presi
dent Brad Smith agrees with this
perception of student government’s
role.
The term student association is
more descriptive than student gov
ernment, Smith said. Our function
is to serve as a link between the stu
dents and the administration.
“We research problems and pre
sent them to the administration.
Usually very little pressure is
needed; they go out of their way to
help us,” Smith said.
One illustration of student govern
ment s lack of real authority is avail
able in the history of a senate bill
passed in May 1979. The bill was a
recommendation on visitation hour
changes for dormitories.
In September 1978, the Resi
dence Hall Association and student
government formed a joint commit
tee which designed and distributed a
survey to determine student atti
tudes toward visitation hour revi-
The role of a student govern
ment is not to exercise power,
but to find the equilibrium be
tween what the students want
an d what the administration will
give, ” — Paul Bettencourt, for
mer vice president for rules and
regulations.
sion. Dorm residents were asked
what period of visitation they would
like to see on weekdays and on
weekends, if they would object to
24-hour visitation and if they had
ever violated visitation in the past.
Sixty-four percent of the 1,040 stu
dents who responded to the survey
said they would like to have 24-hour
visitation on weekends. Based on
this and other findings, such as the
fact that 43 percent of the students
said they had violated visitation, stu
dent government passed a bill prop-
osing 24-hour visitation on
weekends.
Bettencourt, who was a commit
tee member, said student govern
ment pushed the bill fairly hard.
“The administration wouldn’t
touch 24-hour visitation with a 10-
foot pole, though,” he said.
Bettencourt said the visitation
issue had come up before, and de
spite the efforts of student govern
ment, the administration would not
budge.
Dr. John Koldus, vice president
for student services, feels that the
relationship between the student
government and the administration
is a good one.
The student senate, and student
government in general, have been
very responsible and we’ve been
very supportive,” he said.
Koldus also stressed the role stu
dent government plays in spending
student service fees. Bettencourt
agreed.
“That’s the most important thing
we do,” he said, “and it’s the least
publicized.
“We have about $2.2 million to
spend, and we do it in a very special
way,” he said.
After student government deter
mines its own needs, it takes propos
als from other organizations funded
by student service fees, such as the
Memorial Student Center commit
tees, student publications and intra
murals, Bettencourt said.
“It’s not a rubber-stamp proce
dure,” he said. “We go over all the
proposals with a fine-tooth comb.”
Student government makes a re
commendation to the administration
based on its studies.
“This year they didn’t make a sing
le change, ” Smith said. According to
both Smith and Koldus, student gov
ernment recommendations on the
student service fees are usually not
changed much by the administra
tion. This gives students, through
student government, a real role,
Koldus said.
Still, the recommendation is just
that — a recommendation. Koldus
can remember one time when stu
dent government recommended
spending $42,000 for a day care cen
ter. One of the deans did not support
the idea, Koldus said, so he took the
bill back to student government’s ex
ecutive committee. The committee
revised the bill.
The amount of influence a student
government has depends on the
quality of the relationship between
that government and the administra
tion. Both student government and
the administration at Texas A&M
perceive that relationship as a good
one.
In 1970, the student government
at Texas A&M did a survey of similar
bodies at other schools. One ques
tion the survey asked was what re
lationship existed between their stu
dent governments and administra
tions.
The responses ranged from TCU’s
feelings on “good rapport” to Texas
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Tech’s statement that, “The desires
of the student association seem to fall
on deaf ears. ” The response from the
University of Texas probably ex
pressed the most negative relation
ship: “We are basically a whipping
boy for the administration. ”
In March 1978, students at UT
voted to disband the student gov
ernment there. Actually 2,644 stu-
“The term student association is
more descriptive than student
government. Our function is to
serve as a link between the stu
dents and the administration, ”
Texas A&M student body presi
dent Brad Smith.
dents voted to abolish the govern
ment. Although UT had 39,682 stu
dents at that time, only about 5,000
voted.
The students who voted against
the government, according to a story
in the Austin American-Statesmen,
did so because they felt it had no
power.
It may have seemed appropriate to
them that the student government
could not even disband without the
approval of the board of regents.
Tliat approval did come through, and
UT has been without a student gov
ernment since.
That may change, though. In Feb
ruary, 25 delegates were elected to a
constitutional convention. They
drew up a constitution for a revised
student association.
The Daily Texan reported last
week that student reaction to the
document has not been enthusiastic.
The Senior Cabinet refused the
document, questioning the ability of
the association to provide any ser
vices that students want or don’t
already have.
The new constitution, which will
be voted on in the fall, would
broaden the powers of the student
association s powers. Convention
delegates hope that by avoiding a
do-nothing government, they can
avoid student apathy.
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