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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1983)
^ ^ L/L L V V y C ©Bod/QP'.^O ,sj©a.o/\ / Influential, complex organization Student Government changes staff photo by Bill Schulz The Student Senate studies the contents of a few bills at its March meeting. by Pamela Haisler Battalion Reporter From eight members in 1910 to more than 450 today, Student Government has grown with Texas A&M to become one of the most influential and com plex organizations on campus. From its start in the early 1900s, Student Government has tried to be an effective voice for the students at Texas A&M, said J. Wayne Stark, special assistant to the president for cultural de velopment. Stark, Class of ’39, said that from the early 1900s until the mid-1960s, student concerns were handled through the Corps of Cadets. These students were con cerned with the activities of the Corps and most of them were friendly and well-liked, he said. Many had been involved in the Future Farmers of America where they had gained leader ship skills, Stark said. Jeff Anthony, Student Gov ernment freshman programs adviser, said the first form of Student Government was a stu dent council in 1910 that con sisted of one representative from each class and the four class presidents. The council en forced the honor system and su pervised individual conduct, but because it was outside the Corps of Cadets it had no real disciplin ary or advisory powers. It was dissolved in 1916, he said. Anthony said a new student council was formed to serve civi lian students in 1945. The coun cil advised the dean of men and the Student Life Committee on matters concerning student acti vities. Council members in cluded the four class presidents, the cadet colonel and four re gimental representatives, he said. In 1948, the Student Govern ment Constitution passed and the Student Council was trans formed into a Student Senate, Anthony said. Representation in the senate was based on living areas, he said. James Hannigan, Student Government adviser and dean of students from 1959-1973, said that in the late ’50s and early ’60s, students involved in Stu dent Government were in terested in government but fo cused their activities on generat ing funds for student organiza tions. Student Government primar ily allocated money from the ex change store — better known to day as the bookstore — among the different student organiza tions, he said. Hannigan said three diffe rent groups of students — the Corps of Cadets, dorm or civi lian students and off-campus or married students — had their These groups met during constitutional meetings and eventually evolved into one body, he said. “Enrollment at Texas A&M at that time was around 5,000 stu dents,” Hannigan said. “Since there weren’t many students, everyone had a chance to be in volved in Student Government. But as enrollment increased, the number of students involved de creased proportionately.” Kent Caperton, student body president from 1970-71, said Student Government’s primary goal in the early ’70s was to bean effective voice for the student body. One way the organization tried to do that was to get its 200 to 300 members involved with University committees, he said. For instance, Caperton said that betore the Student Govern ment initiated the pass-fail prog ram, the dean could kick a-stu dent out of school. After the pass-fail program was initiated, we revised the University Rules and Regula tions in order to give students some rights,” Caperton said. Dr. Carolyn Adair, current Student Government adviser, said that in recent years Student Government has experienced tremendous growth. In 1972, Student Govern ment formed three branches of government: executive, legisla tive and judicial. Four standing committees were formed to sup port the legislative branch: academic affairs, external affairs, rules and regulations and student services. “Now we have between 450 and 500 students involved in Student Government,” Adair said. “We have student repre sentatives who are members of the University committees, stu dent government committees and sub-committees. Some com mittees have two or three stu dent representatives.” Adair said that students in volved in Student Government today are professional and busi ness-like. “The students are not only in terested in the welfare of the stu dent body, they are also in terested in the welfare of the overall university and commun ity,” she said. Adair said that although Stu dent Government has changed in the past years, its primary goal is to be an effective voice of the students at Texas A&M. Polling places open Tuesday Student elections will be held here Tuesday and Wednesday. Eight polling places will be open, including: Zachry En gineering Center, the Memorial Student Center, the MSC bus stop, Sterling C. Evans Library, Kleberg Animal and Food Sci ences Center, Heldenfels Hall, the Academic Building, the Academic and Agency Building and Sbisa Dining Hall Students must show election officials a current Texas A&M I.D. card. Seniors are eligible to vote in the elections. Election commissioner Les Asel said election officials will make sure that ballots are prop erly filled out and that each bal lot is coded to insure election security. He also said election officials will make sure there is no campaigning within 100 feet of polling places. Asel said he expects voter turnout to be approximately 20,000 students. “That’s 8,000 students more than last year,” he said. Asel said the Corps of Cadets is the largest voting bloc in the student elections. He said that more than 15 percent of all votes are cast by cadets. Underclass men cadets are required to show upperclassmen that they have voted, he said, but are not re quired to vote for particular can didates. on the cover voters’ guide The Voters ’ Guide is a special sup plement to The Battalion. This guide was prepared by the Batta lion staff to assist Texas A&M stu dents in choosing candidates in this week's student elections. Journalism 203 and 204 students assisted with the production of this supplement. The System Administration Building has long been a landmark on the Texas A&M campus. Built in 1932, it houses the offices of University and System offi cials. Once the site of the annual Aggie Muster, the building is the symbol of the Texas A&M administra tion. Photo by Diana Sultenfuss. contents Candidates Class presidents 10 Class officers 11 Graduate student council 11 Off Campus Aggies 12 Residence Hall Association 12 Senators 11 Student body president 4 Vice presidents 8 Yell leaders 6