Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Editorials Anoth USC's student elections, which never got off the ground last week, will be attempted again this Tuesday and Thursday. It is important for a number of reasons that students exercise their right to vote. After last week's election's mix-up there is probably a natural tendency for students to be discouraged and to stay away from the polls. However, this should just be one more reason why students should want to vote. There has been a general apathy of USC students to the Student Gove,rnmen t Association (SGA) for many years. The SGA has been said to have little or no power, except the power they are able to exert in getting midcourt basketball tickets. It is true that SGA has little power to make University officials act in a manner favorable to students. SGA is a relatively weak organization in Green Street issue alive The battle over Green Street is again heating up now that Campco Engineering's traffic survey findings are in the hands of the city manager. And, based on the firm's recommendations, a full-time closing of the street, which students have been fighting for years to get, looks increasingly doubtful. The University is now drawing up a list of alter natives to the permanent closing of Green Street, in cluding closing the street except from 4 to 7 p.m. However, maybe USC should not give up so soon on the * chances of a full-time closing of the street. City officials still may be susceptible to pressure * to close the street if enough people show that they favor that measure. Although it is almost a cliche * to say so, perhaps the best thing USC students and other people who want the street closed could do is overwhelm the city manager, Gray Olive, and city council members with letters demanding that the street be closed and then at tend the meeting in which the fate of Green Street will be decided. ?r try 1 the workings of the University and most of its actions require the support of the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees. Thus, it is easy to argue that SGA is just a formality granted to students so that there is an appearance at least of student input in the University. Even though it is not easy, hardworking and industrious student representatives can make the system work to a greater extent than SGA has in the past. Face-to-face confrontations between student represen tatives and administration officials can help to express the point of the students and push measures through that or dinarily would not be passed. Conscientious student representatives would seek frequent face-to-face contact with administration officials and would see to it that the Administration knows that the students are concerned with a certain measure. Diligent student represen tatives could find other means of making the Administration aware of the students' views other than simply passing resolutions in a weekly Student Senate meeting that often have no impact with the Ad ministration at all. Because the SGA is such a weak organization, it makes it all the more important that students willing to a little more work than the SGA Con stitution requires be elected this week. Let it grow With all the construction going on around campus it is almost an oasis when a patch of green grass appears among the mud and dirt created by the construction crews. The University has planted several plots of grass around campus in an attempt to make the campus more aesthetically pleasing. But, at times It seems as though some people are not inclined to allowing the grass to grow as they stomp through the freshly planted seeds. With a little more thought students can see how much better the grass will make the campus look and stop walking on the gras Official word SGA electio come 6 moin It was election morning and the only i scene at the SGA offices was one of Nee confusion and disorder. the sc Secretaries were constantly on the of a telephone, hastily dispensing in- takes structions bind information. orgar Candidates and their supporters detail were milling around waiting on the mach official word of the fate of the one r elections and their candidacies. handl Administration officials were also If S wandering around, slowly shaking state their heads at the whole mess. specu And what was that official word: those were the elections on or had they to vot been called off? One elections about official told The Gamecock at 11:30 watcl a.m. the elections had been can- watct celled, yet one floor below voting mach continued. It was not until early gradt afternoon that all polling places infori had been officially closed and all the I votes nullified. inelig The problems encountered in who Tuesday's attempted elections are statio too numerous to mention in this whole space. Most can be explained in arour the haphazard method in which the was i elections were planned and Hoa organized. Rather unjustly, the cellat brunt of the blame for Tuesday's Total debacle has fallen on former Tues4 Elections Commissioner Bob away Swelgin. Yet others, notably the of a Student Senate and SGA President Leigh Leventis, must equally share the blame. Under the SGA Constitution, Leventis is required to appoint 12 elections commissioners to oversee all SGA elections. He appointed only one, Swelgin, in early February. Swelgin was thus given sole responsibility of organizing SGA's elections in less than two months.r In addition, the Student Senate has been debating aspects of itsr various elections bills for months now. A final budget was approvedt 2J from SGA bulletin n plans iths late By Bill Grani hree weeks ago. dless to say, an event with ope and relative importance student government election months of planning and ization. Working out minor s, such as how to work voting ines, cannot be crammed into ight. Elections cannot be ed by just one person. GA officials seemed to be in a of disorder, one can only late about the state of mind of few students who attempted e. What was the guy thinking who stood in line helplessly ing as poorly trained poll ers attempted to fix voting ines? Or how about the tate students who were coldly ned that they, according to [niversity's computer, were ible to vote? Or the student went down to his polling n at 3:30 p.m., only to find the thing shut down and nobody d to tell him what the hell ~oing on? v they will react to the can ion remains to be seen. ly disillusioned over lay's events, many will stay from the polls. The chances good voter turnout, always THE GAM E ditor Mana9in9 Editor JIM H S,TE VE PARKFR The Gamecock welcomes letters from re. ubject and a maximum of 300 words. TI ame. Pseudonyms or other aliases wIllr iithheld if circumstances warrant. To as leaSe include your mailing address and eached. We reser ve the r ight to edit all let mitations. Address:- Campus Opno,D 4f questionMM SG wishv ofc Nv- PHRMACY IUMANtTIES. p s govnmen.I Can ~*~ WA80LA 5~oard Johnoiy Drummings slim, seem to be almost non existent now. The issue of credibility is a question SGA will have to face now. One can only envision USC's high and mighty sitting back ard enjoying a good laugh at the ex pense of student government. Can they be expected to take seriously a group that completely botches the relatively simple matter of an election? The general ineptitude in the way elections were carried off Tuesday also raises the question of whether SGA election results will ever g be id ted h thoughtnce candidate apointmentsihae filin cosuitueetion irrelaritianedi anofr byonssd eiaaempt Any smaritiesxto Tuesda's effortins proee an canite allotheroud It' mightame nte hast inei mTsa apoinmnshaebe consttutioAdverlas canged adr by-paessd linie an atneto eymstke snet wtheie's etions po e ed, au ltte wrtsmter.lb ESis Asi eiyn h dertisin Managier a telephone numb,er where you can be Pers, not for content, but to meet our space awer A. USC, Columbi 2920.