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Show Page 4 The Thunderbird Monday February 18, 198 5 Opmkm ASSUSC election bylaws are not constitutional The ASSUSC Election Bylaws are an honest attempt to control that, unrestricted, could get sorely out of hand. But unfortunately, portions of the bylaws are something else as well. They are unconstitutional. They are an abridgment of some of our most basic rights: freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom pf the press. but sadly misbegotten bylaws. These are Among other regulations, the bylaws specify the following: A candidate for ASSUSC office cant speak at any public meeting prior to a time designated by the ASSUSC Elections Committee. All meetings held by the candidate prior to that designated time must be private and can only be held to discuss strategy. No candidate can campaign prior to the designated time. If there is any question of a candidate having violated the bylaws, election results will not be announced until the possible bylaw violation has been cleared up. In fact, one candidate told The Thunderbird that he was not even supposed to let anyone know he was running for office, or he would suffer some unspecified punishment from the elections committee. These bylaws hurt the candidates, obviously. More than that, they hurt the voters, most of whom need all the time they can' have to study the issues and candidates before voting. It is obvious that these bylaws restrict freedom. Some people may be so audacious as to say that on this campus, under our system, we are allowed to ignore the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. To that we can only say, Hogwash! The constitution was meant to protect all Americans all the time. No local government, school, business, fraternal group or other organization has leeway to ignore and violate those protections. People who believe that the ASSUSC constitution and bylaws supercede the U.S. Constitution are woefully ignorant of the truth. The Thunderbird hopes that our new crop of student leaders will quickly reconsider these election bylaws. Some restrictions are necessary, but no one on this campus has the right to take our constitutional protections from us. The bylaws must be amended! a process door-to-do- Graduation by the seat of my pants BY JAMES HOWELLS Access is a recurring column that highlight issues and areas of concern andor of interest to members of the campus community. James Howells is a junior geology major and serves as photo editor of The Thunderbird. Editors Note: The Thunderbird awarded the following entries as winners of the Editorial Contest: James Howells placed first and will receive $50 for his editorial which appeared on Feb. 4. Anne Marie Nicholson placed second, $25, and her editorial will appear Feb. 25. Mike Nielson received third place, $15, for his editorial which appeared Feb. 11. IHL Hl'IUM Che Chunderbird NtSV'N AND It Ob xU'IHtllN UIA1! 1A'L I 'Oil fcOt fcDAR I ITV UTAH , A college is sometimes referred to as a seat of learning, a place where an aspiring student may receive a fine education. Often the seat of learning is in a different place between the students tailbone and the floor. You can just about tell what class youre in by the sort of seat your seat is in. Take, for example, the business department seats. These are the Cadillacs of college chairs. They swivel; they tilt; they almost recline a la Lazy Boy. When reposed in one of these comfort stations, it is easy to imagine oneself a highly paid executive, feet on the desk, secretary at the ready, surveying some vast, n commercial center. The English department has some real antiques for their learning spots. Theyre somehow reminiscent of old movies, with a stern-faceschool marm at the head of the class, slapping a ruler into her palm, making sure her pupils learned the significance of Hardy or Conrads incomprehensible prose, while the musty smell of mildewed pages filled the room with smog-ridde- VOLUME 79, NUMBER 19 Editor Lynn Nolan Associate Editor Lanai Greenhalgh Copy Editor Paul Husselbee Photo Editors James Howells Derek Miller Senior Staff Writer Ralph Schr:cck Assistant to the Editors Annette Grooms Production Manager Tracy Girdwood Advertising Representatives Laura Wearing Bnan Goetthch Sports Editor Stewart Smith Entertainment Editor Doug Christensen Faculty Adviser Larry Baker The Thunderbird is published each Monday of the academic year by and for the student body of Southern Utah State College. The views and opinions expressed m The Twruferkmi are the opinions of the publications individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the institution, faculty, staff or student body in general. The unsigned editorial directly above is the opinion of The Thunderbird as a single entity. Letters to the editor must be typed and include the name, student number (if from a student) and phone number. Only the name will be printed Names will not be withheld under any circumstances and the editor reserves the right to edit letters for length and to preclude libel. Letters must be submitted by noon Friday for inclusion in the following weeks edition. The Thunderbird editorial and advertising offices at 529 West 200 South, Cedar City, UT 84720 Mail at SUSC Box 384, Cedar City, UT 84720 (801) 5867757, 7758 d gag- - Then there are the chairs of the science department. I dont know who designed these monstrosities, but relative of Dr. it surely was a Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, perhaps). The lab stools are either too tall for the work tables, so your knees are crammed into the drawer underneath, or the chairs are too short, so the frog youre trying to dissect is squirming right at eye level. The lab seats are luxurious compared to the science building lecture halls. Dr. Mengele, the experimenter of Auschwitz fame, could be proud of these little horrors. They are hard, stiff, set at the wrong angle, and so tightly spaced that you have to clack elbows with the person sitting next to you. The rows are so close together that anyone over five foot four has to imitate a pretzel in order to fit within the alotted volume. The writing platforms (the ones that havent fallen off, that is) are so tiny that a notebook drapes over the edges like a stack of sodden pancakes. Hie rows are set in tiers, so the marking pen you place on the seat next to you slips through the crack at the back, then rolls kerchunk, kerchunk, kerchunk down three aisles, before wedging itself firmly in a hole beneath a student who is performing the impossible sleeping in one of these slots. Through some great feat of foresight and microchip The Science Centers lecture seats would have done Mengele proud. manipulation, I managed to get three consecutive classes in these marvels of human engineering. The first hour is not bad. The class is small, and I can homestead a whole row with my books and pack and feet. The second hour is more crowded, and so are my legs, which either have to go under the seat in front by a contortion Harry Houdini would have been proud of, or over the top, exposing the soles of my size nines to the disapproving glare of the prof. Meanwhile, the sharp seat back is severing all the tendons in the back of my knees. The third hour is the charm. SC 412 fills to capacity with business students for Stats 270. Their short legs all seem to fit perfectly between the rows. Hmmm...I wonder. ..Naw... By this time my bodys in revolt, my chiropractor is thinking of the new condo he wants to buy, and Ive had enough. When someone says Theres a seat over here, I have to say No thanks, I'd rather stand. |