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viewpoints Awards selecti By WAYNE BROOKS Opinion Page Editor On Thursday, April 20, meritorious awards will be presented to graduating seniors who have excelled in academics and contributed their time and efforts to extracurricular activities. Among the awards to be presented are Outstanding Senior awards. Manv of the reciDients of thp Ontstanriinc* Conmr r .-j ? v?.vww%??VU*a^ k^VtUVl awards (there are about 35 awards to be given) will be of no surprise to those attending the ceremonies. Many of the most likely recipients are quite visible and are well-known for their contributions to the Carolina community. Other recipients will not be too much of a surprise, while others may be held in question by many. Then again, there will be some students who will rweive nu recognition ana win oe thought to have been slighted. BUT THERE'S no reason that an undeserving student should be awarded, nor that a deserving student should not be awarded ? unless, of course, the process of selecting recipients needs improvement. Even without knowing who will receive awards, I must say that the selection process is not the best one. n is 1101 my intention 10 discredit the members of the Outstanding Seniors Committee. The personalities involved are not the problem, although some of them can conceivably hinder a fair selection. The main problem with the selection process is that it is too subjective. Criteria for selection is poorly defined, if at all. And whereas there should be no room in the process for politics, personal biases and nrPillHirPS Ihp nrfkPocc ollniiir- 4 ? r J ...v {/ uwoo uiu/yvj iui 11 ICTIi 1 IU Ut'Clir. ALSO, MANY nominees who could offer impressive resumes to the committee are given little consideration because committee members are not familiar with their qualifications. No resumes are required. So how can a nominee be given serious consideration if his qualifications are not made known to the committee? This, of course, limits selection to only those nominees with whom committee members are acquainted. Personal friends of committee members obviously, under these circumstances, stand the greatest chances of being selected. A bill calling for the creation of a Student Honors and Awards Commission (SHAC), which . would base the selection process on a point 5 CVCtom Ilior ?4.-J *. ' I ujukvin, nno uppiuvcu uy me biuucm senate I (under former Vice President Joe Drawdy). The I bill's sponsor, Michelle Crout, a member of the I Outstanding Seniors Committee and a student Lechner's will be loss to univt To the Editor: be ii advi Thanks to Mr. Gross' letter in the Anril fi corii edition of The Gamecock, readers have been publ alerted to the tragic situation concerning the repr dismissal of Dr. E. T. Lechner from the English this Department. Lecl I do not wish to assault the rules and policies com of the English Department. Instead, i hope to Di direct as much attention as possible to this excc problem.. excc As Mr. Gross stated, Dr. Lechner has many worthy credits to his name. I am one of the Eric fortunate students who have had the chance to Eng on process nee< senator, said she had been trying to get the selection process revised for three years. The bill is a good one, and is sorely needed. But thanks to former Student Government President Brad Steele, who is also a member of f rv*Will 2? J 1 1 *A * * uk I.V1I1UIHICC, urc urn is ueau. tie veioea 11. And for what reason? Sources say Steele claims that he "wanted to give President (Seamus) O'Boyle something to do when he gets into office." Whether or not Steele wishes to keep politics and personal biases in the selection process, I don't know, but that is one heck of an alibi. kaattly what ifie selection process needs is a comprehensive, well-defined point system. Resumes would be required in order that commission members consider all criteria (academic achievement, participation and offices held in organizations, etc.) for all nominees. Those who accumulate the most points would be selected; no other criteria, including politics and personal biases, would be considered. Because there are probably students who will be slighted on Awards Day, I feel that it is necessary to give recognition to those who have consistently made the most, the greatest and the most significant contributions to the Carolina community. And what qualifies me to compose such a list? It is my job to know who does what on this campus. MANY OF those I have selected will probably be among the recipients next week, for there are those who are highly visible and could not concievably be overlooked. Because of space limitations, I must restrict my list to those who have made contributions that are the most significant and of the greatest number. Because the Outstanding Seniors Committee. considered only those who graduated in the summer and fall of 1977 and those who will graduate next month. I will attempt to maintain consistency by restricting my selections to those who could have been considered by the committee. Before I make my selections known, I must explain my reasons for not selecting one highly visible student who will undoubtedly receive an award next week because of the position he held ? former SG President Brad Steele. If one is to be purely objective about the whole matter, he could give the award to Steele only for holding a position. STEELE CLAIMS credit for countless accomplishments, some of which he had little or nothing to do with (aside from signing bills) and some of which were not accomplishments at all. Yes, student government did accomplish certain things, but with little help from Steele. And on i! ([ srsity / N< ifluenced by him both as a student and an see. His contributions to this university ainly outweigh his distaste for th#? I ^ ? I t-OP! ication requirements. I feel ,my voice I esents many Carolina students when I say school will suffer a heavy loss if Dr. iner does not return next year due to this plication. dn't someone once say that there is an option to every rule? Dr. Lechner is that I Psaudony >P?on class star - Knopf lish Sophomore 4 ds revision numerous occasions, Steele was a hindrance to what could have been accomplished, including Ms. Grout's SHAC bill. Steve Beckham. For his service to the student. senate as Athletics Committee Chairman and to Carolina Cares and Homecoming 1977, and for the onthneiacm nnd 11 l%n J ' ? J_s n? vnuiuoiaoiii anu gUUU Will I1C 5I1UWCU 111 UUlIlg II10S6 services. Michelle Crout. For her three years of service in the student senate, her countless, well-intended bills, and her service on numerous senate and university committees. ANDY ELLIS. For his four years of service to WUSC-FM, including the past two years during which hp has ?PrVPH ac ctaHrtn TT~ 1 ?? w<wm ? vu UU ?.!*/? HiailOgCl . I'll? served as manager when WUSC received its FM license. Faye Flowers. For her contributions to University Union, in which she served as chairperson of the Ideas and Issues Committee, and for her service to the Young Democrats, in which she had served as vice president. Doug Kotti. For his continued service to student government as a senator and a mpmiw nf CAi70t*n1 i committees, for his efforts in directing the airport shuttle service; and for exceptional performance in academics. TANYA LEWIS. For providing the Association of Afro-American Students with exceptional leadership and strengthening it to become a powerful force in student politics, and for her service to the student senate and university 1 committees. I Harry Palmer. For his service to University Union, specifically the Contemporary Sounds and Cinematic Arts Committees, and for excelling without recognition as one of the most visible student leaders on campus. (His reluctance to conform to certain standards of dress and lifestyle should not be considered as criteria for selection. The unselfish interest and concern for the welfare | of the student body he has expressed during his service in the union is only one example. He is a leader of students, he has many followers and he speaks for them.) KENNY PALUCH. For his involvement and work behind-the-scenes in student government, his service to the Student Allocations Commission, and his three years of service to University Union. Jan Price. For her service to the Garnet & Black, of which she is editor-in-chief. Peter Shahid. For his two years of hard work as chairman nf Pnmlina -vui V11MU VOl Mickey Trimarchi. For his four years of service to The Gamecock, including one semester as Editor, and his service to the Board of Publications and Communications. ] / iAMEOOCK John R. West ineShealy Editor Wayne Brooks irws Editor Opinion Page Editor Barbara Mathews Graduate Assistant Matt Ward Sports Editor anFobes Barry Glenn News Editor Entertainment Editor Mike Hunt 1 anPalma Mark Mueller Chris Myers f Desk Chief Asst. Entertainment Editor Asst. Sports Editors ?ne Morgan Karen Wooten Bill Filipatrlck jraphy Editor Production Manager Ad Manager AECOCK welcomes letters from its readers. Letters should be limited to a tingle rid a maximum of 300 words. They mutt be signed with the writer's true name, ms or other aliases will not be used, but the writer's nama will be withheld if meet warrant. To attitt us in verifying the identity of writers, pleate include ? -? . ? ? ana m iviepncne number where you can be reached. Please include iding and ma|or, alto. 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