Brown and White Vol. 92 no. 4

              lehigh university brown and white hi i 1 1 k l vol 2 — no 4 bethlehem pa friday september 12 ibm coalition of students seeks creation of new government hv andy lehren there is a lack of unified student voice m university matters and dissatisfaction with the current system of representation at the university according to a report issued by the concerned student coalition the report was issued after the group met sept 5 and 6 at the kirkridge con ference center north of bangor pa the conference was attended by student leaders holding positions m various campus organizations including the student activities council sao residence halls council rhc forum xi and the interfraternity council iifc several faculty members also attended m an advisory role participants were told that they were chosen because of their positions m the various organizations and because of this it was felt that they represented a strong cross-section of student opinion representatives were instructed however that they were to speak as in dividuals and not as members of their groups members of the conference stressed that the common denominator amongst them was a previous dissatisfaction with student body organization robert barnes professor of philosophy and chairman of the forum said the students were chosen not only because they were thoughtful capable and in terested but also because they were from special interest groups therefore barnes said their opinions would in trinsically represent the points of concern of their group no matter how much the students tried to participate as in dividuals the kirkridge conference report states there is a fragmentation of power among a number of student organizations a lack of communication between student groups with common interests and a lack of a common sense of purpose m the student community it was agreed that a new unified student government is necessary to ad dress these concerns the report con cluded but the proposed organization must not diminish the basic powers and responsibilities of the current university committee on campus life planned by lewis forum by jennifer wilson university president deming lewis announced plans at monday's faculty meeting for the creation of an ad hoc committee to evaluate the quality of campus life the committee's main purpose will be according to lewis to review and eval uate social life and cultural opportuni ties on campus and to direct its attention to these problems lewis said he will make a request to forum chairman robert barnes for the names of about 20 faculty members and students to serve on the committee but added that he will personally appoint its chairman committee members will be divided into two tusk forces one dealing with cul tural life and education and the other with social life lewis said , prior to lewis announcement barnes presented a forum report dealing m part with the weekend's concerned students coalition meeting at thc kirkridge con ference center barnes said the coalition met to dis cuss the university's lack of effective student governance but made it clear that thc group's concern m no ..... placed blame on or reflected displeasure with the forum the student forum is not intended to he a student government but rather a university government barnes pointed out chip delaney 81 temporary coordi nator of the concerned student coalition cited several aspects of the university's present system of student governance that the coalition saw as problem areas the lack of a unified voice inadequate representation power fragmentation a lack of communication and lack of a common purpose were among those areas mentioned a new student government is neces sary delaney said but not one to supersede the existing university governmental organization following barnes and delaney s remarks tothe faculty dean of student william quay addressed the group m regard to delta tau delta fraternity's alleged wet t-shirt contest according to quay associate dean of students robert cohen reviewed reports of the alleged wet t-shirt contest and determined sufficient evidence lo fall spirits bb.w photo by andrew ginsburgi these bikers are set lo travel through the cooler autumn air as leaves begin lo cover their pathway near packard laboratory new committee will unite councils by michele gerencher an entertainment committee has been formed by the student activities council sac interfraternity council ifc and residence halls council rhc m an effort to unify the previously conflicting groups according to del markward 81 ifc president the councils have always been separated in the past year they have had conflicts especially with concerts mark ward said this committee is one step toward unity he added the committee will also serve to im prove the variety of entertainment available to students and the community according to markward and will involve more than just concerts it involves cpffee houses cultural events comedians and all other forms of entertainment that would attract interest university-wide pete fioretti 82 sac president added the committee will be given all necessary power to coordinate their ac tivities according to william quay dean of students he added that the committee will have the use of any university facilities under the guidelines created for those facilities iranted access to packer memorial chapel and the catacombs the committee will use the facilities for several lectures we can add some character to pre sentations by having them m the chapel fioretti said the entertainment committee charter states that the student elected sac concert chairman will serve as committee chairman the position has been filled by fred schaufeld 81 who will make all contacts with promoters managers groups and facility organizers he will also make final decisions concerning entertainment functions according to the charter two vice-chairmen not yet chosen also will be appointed one each from the ifc and rhc markward said the remainder of the committee will be comprised of any interested students who gain the approval of the vice-chairmen and who are then appointed by the chairman the committee is not a substitute for the sac but a working device to bring the groups together under the sac quay explained the sac budget will be used to fund the committee fioretti said but markward added that if necessary ifc and rhc funds also will be available we have tremendousbacking from the administration fioretti said they approve of our efforts to pull special in terest groups together church time ibs.w photo by andrew ginsburgi once church services were mandatory but now only the more faithful attend on sunday mornings m packer church see hearing pane li see coalition page .. inside dean search p 5 art displays p 1 1 maine preview p 16