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Show Page 4 The Thunder bird Monday December 3, 1984 Rift over center funding requires communication Scott Price, ASSUSC president, and Gerald R. Sherratt, SUSC president, both say they want the same thing: a new student center to replace the old and admittedly inadequate one SUSC now has. The problem is they want to go about it in different ways. Price wants the college to create a special account and start setting aside money for the center. This approach, he admits, wont get a student center very soon, but it is concrete action. To Price, the problem is that students have wanted a new student center for as many as 20 years, but in all that time not one red cent has been set aside to pay for the center. So here we are today, still wanting a new student center but with no money to pay for it. Sherratt also wants a new student center. His plan is tentative and fragile, and he admits it could' collapse at any time, but if it succeeds SUSC may have a new center in less than two years. Sherratt wants to lease land in a central campus location to a private contractor. The contractor would then build a new student center and the college would contract to rent most of the space. The rest of the space in the building would be rented businesses, fast food by the contractor to student-orientelike. the and restaurants, If this plan works, Sherratts approach will be hailed as unique and imaginative. If it doesnt work were still without a new student center, and we still have no money to pay for one. Although he doesnt oppose the plan, and in fact hopes it is successful, Price believes that Sherratts plan will still cost money-mo- ney that will probably come from the students in the form of increased student fees. It does not appear to The Thunderbird that this difference of opinion is an unbreachable chasm. It is, in fact, more of a difference of perspective than anything else. It can be bridged, and it should be. Communication is the key. Price and Sherratt must communicate. According to Price he hasnt approached Sherratt about his complaint for two reasons: first, some administrators have led him to believe Sherratt would not be receptive, and second, Price wanted to get the controversy in the public spotlight before closed-doo- r negotiations begin. Sherratt responds by saying that Price should have talked to him about the controversy before going to The Thunderbird with it. Perhaps, but from our perspective, obviously, it was good Price brought the affair into the open. In any case, the time is now ripe for negotiations. Perhaps if both sides understand the other, theyll find they arent as far apart as they imagine. And who knows, maybe out of all this will come something we all can applaud: a new student center. d face-to-fa- Che ChunderBircC in 'll ni m m- - nm- - i'i oi ii VOLUME 79, NUMBER Editor Lvnn Nolan n Managing Editor Doug Copy Editor Paul Huclhee Photo Editor Tamara Rumhaugh Sports Editor Stewart Smith Entertainment Editor Lanai Greenhalgh n k - mi i .'1 .. H1 r i in The rn 11 Senior Staff Writer Ralpli Sihriocl. Assistant to the Editors juu Rikh, lion Production Manager Traiv Girdwood Advertising Manager Laura Wearing Assistant Manager Brian Goettluh Faculty Adviser Larry Baker of the .u.idciviK yc.ir by and for the student Tu. Tiumkrind published i ah Kxk of Southern Utah State College The uews and opinions expressed m The Thiindirhin are the opinions of the publication's individual writers and do not nexess.irilv reflect the views and opinions of the institution, faculty, staff or student b.xJv in uencTuI The unsigned editorial directh above is the opinion of The Timidtiird as a Minsk entity Letters to the editor must be tped and include the umber Only the name will be name, student number (if from a student) and pho printed Names cull not be withheld under an circumstances and tin editor reserve's tlie riht to edit letters for length and to preclude libel Letters must be submitted by mvm Friel n for inclusion m the following week's edition. LT t ThmnLWirJ editorial and advertising offices at West 200 South, Cedar Cite, 77tS Mail at SUSC Box US4, Ced ir Cit, LIT 84720 (801) Anatomy of a story: rumors and rankling Doug Christensen is managing editor of The Thunderbird, and is majoring in communications. Sometimes rumors have a tendency of feeding on themselves. Consider these examples: Rumor: Some of the money collected from student fees goes to pay the salary of M.L. Smith, who secretly travels the country recruiting new players for SUSC athletic teams. . Fact: Smith is a half-tim- e teacher and a half-tim- e special assistant to SUSC President Gerald R. Sherratt. Half his salary is for teaching forensics classes and labs, and the other half comes' from a fund controlled by Sherratt however, none of this money originates as student fees. Smith does travel the state, but his job is to establish liaison with SUSC alumni and to create branch chapters of the Thunderbird Athletic Club, which raises money for athletic scholarships, among other things. He does not officially recruit players. Rumor: Bookstore profits made from sales of textbooks to students are routinely transferred to other funds. Once there, no one knows what that money is spent for. Fact: Profits from the bookstore go for a number of tnings most recently a large chunk has gone to pay for previous losses by the college food services. However, some $60,000 was transferred this year to a pair of funds controlled by Sherratt a recruiting fund (which also does not recruit athletes) and an emergency fund. Sherratt says the bookstore does not make a profit on textbook sales the profit comes from sundry sales. Also, although much of the money the bookstore earns comes from students, a great deal also comes from departments on campus and from customers. All of which doesnt make bookstore textbook prices any easier to swallowj The Thunderbird first heard these rumors about two months ago, and Mark Morman, a stff writer who has proven himself capable of handling complex stones, was assigned the task of digging through the garbage and coming up with the trutlji. No one then could have imagined how complicated this story really was. As Morman conducted his interviews and sifted through budget reports, it became increasingly obvious that the rumors that formed the basis of our investigation arent true. We were, in fact, impressed that Sherratt puts all his discretionary fund money into student scholarships, something no other Utah college president does. But we still had a story, albeit not the one we expected to have when we started. What we found was a dispute between ASSUSC President Scott Price and Sherratt. The details of the dispute are complicated and in the story on page one. But the interesting factor is that this dispute is not one that existed before we started our investigation, but is a result of that investigation. Sherratt was plainly amazed to hear of Prices objections to the way he spends auxiliary enterprises money not from Price but from the newspaper. Since then, Price has said he didnt go to Sherratt because he wanted the controversy aired in the public spotlight so that Sherratt couldnt put pressure on him behind closed doors. In my opinion and thats all it is they both have legitimate points: Sherratt shouldnt have to be surprised by something like this. Price should have taken his objections directly to him. On the other hand, Price cant be blamed if he felt intimidated by the system. Dont underestimate the inherent difficulty anytime a student officer tries to take on the college administration. As Price knows, should Sherratt object to Prices ideas he has only to wait him out; in a few months there will be a new student body president. By taking his case to the press he has, at least, brought it out of the shadows. Were glad we were able to dispel some rumors. Now we hope that soon well be reporting that Price and Sherratt are working together again, since both have the interests of this college at heart. well-outlin- |