Show The Constitution of ASCEU is a straw dog! Maxfield by Barry staff writer The danger our student government faces by seeking guidance from this vague travesty called the constitution is there lies a potential challenge to everything they do Thisdangcrcvcn carries legal ramifications I am sure the last thing our student government face it the constitution of the ASCEU is a straw dog with straw teeth It would buckle with the first that came along This important document governing wants is to be drawn into court over some common but stupid area No technicality the constitution left out in some fringe-gra- y the authority granted by the Board of Regents to the student government has little substance When authority is granted by whatever means there must be a mission statement and policies put in place that channel the authorThis is the reason why the ity to keep proper constitution of ASCEU exists Unfortunately this document is so vacuous it doesn't succeed at anything but to waste paper A document this hollow would invite misinterpretation contention and abuses and certainly there are loopholes that can be exploited CEU has seen plenty of this in recent times For example the most recent student body officer elections raised some questions Can a high school senior campaign at a college she is planning to attend next year? Ethically there are questions raised at this issue however the constitution is so vague that a loophole was discovered and this very thing happened There were protests from other candidates in the race but nothing ever came of theses the elections went on Another question raised in the same election can an ASCEU officer endorse a candidate Again more ethical questions and protests by other candidates No doubt the vagaries of the constitution allows the exploitation of situations It can argued effectively that this document has no teeth so it has no credibility Then what about the legality of the document A document of questionable character such as this one would in no doubt be chastised by judges in a court of law and lawyers would haggle over the vagueness of each point for the next 300 years It's true that loopholes can be found in any document In drafting a document the object is to make Ibophole seeking real expensive or difficult to do The loopholes in the constitution are so obvious it's not even fun to look for them Its credibility is shot to heck while its legal significance is rendered impotent The document carries no dignity whatsoever one will benefit from such actions but the lawyers This is a considerable dilemma that is laid at the feet of ASCEU President Craig Knott He has been left with this parody The reason why he is stuck with this problem is because it's almost school tradition to not question the validity of the constitution “We have done it this way for years why change now” is the attitude at CEU Some examples of our constitution's failure can be cited For example the office of the ombudsman The ombudsman according to both Black's and Barron's Legal Dictionaries is an individual who is responsible for taking the complaints of students These complaints are of a local nature always regarding school policy or disputes that rise from policy The ombudsman is also charged with investigating all sides of a complaint and then reporting the findings to the student government or administration to see if a resolution can be sought out However the constitution states one of the responsibilities as follows: “Ensure protection of student's rights according to the law of their state and the ASCEU constitution and policy and procedures manual" Huh? What does this sentence mean? Is the ombudsman some kind of super attorney that knows the laws of every state and territory in the union And since when did the ombudsman start dabbling in legal affairs? The position is purely administrative The ombudsman does not interpret law if he interprets anything it would only be school policy and the student body constitution If three people were to read the responsibilities of the ombudsman it would be assured that three invariably distinct interpretations of what was read would be derived Other areas where the constitution falls short include: oath of office (or should we say lack of) impeachment of an officer (or lack of a procedure) or sanction clauses stating reasons why officers could be disciplined There are no clears lines to distin- - Let's checks-and-balanc- es CLetterto x Why are college kids dumb? One would think that being in college would require a certain level of maturity Apparently this is not the case At the recent coffee house the attending audience was unbelievably rude to all the open mic performers as well as Peter B reinholt himself Throughout the show members of the audience were talking often being loud and obnoxious First of all this was unfair to (hose who came to listen to and enjoy those who were performing I usually go to coffee houses to enjoy what is being performed not the incessant cackle of moronic students who can't appreciate other people's talents Second some of those people have real talent in the music they play and rarely do they get the chance to play in front of audiences Additionally those people who play have a lot more courage than those who sit around ruining the experience for the performers Why destroy the experience for others? I think those who jue going to talk should either stay home or be removed from the coffee houses There are some who can appreciate talent when we hear it ' Cameron Allcott No rape on guish what arc bylaws and what is constitution There is no requirement to report changes of the constitution to the Board of Trustees There is no procedure to petition the ombudsman no mention of recall election or no clear bylaws concerning the budget (remember ASCEU funding is contributed by both traditional and nontraditional students This implies a need for separate accounts) The list goes on and on ASCEU advisor Brad King agrees the constitution needs to be reworked Writing a constitution is not a simple task It takes committees to determine a mission it takes lawyers to determine rights and content it takes political scientists to determine cause and effect and language specialists to give the document eloquence it is a group effort CEU has some of the finest humanities and social science professors available at any college Yet I doubt that any of them have ever been approached about advising a constitution rewrite There are at least two attorney’s on the Board of Trustees has anyone approached them about an advisement role? A core group of advisors exists at CEU that could assemble a dignified and credible document people that would probably be more than willing to assist in this endeavor What has been lacking in the past is will and leadership This is a void that President Knott could fill To seize the initiative to dignify our constitution bring credibility to the document and by doing so elevate the professionalism of his office Besides there is an added benefit It would look good on a resume In this era of where we are all now classified into some kind of subgroup and where every subgroup claims its right are being violated any legally binding document will come under scrutiny even attack The ASCEU constitution is no exception For the constitution to survive such a scrutiny it must be written with clear intent and meaning The challenge has been laid on the table Let's take the constitution scrutinize it criticize it and then decide that we are going to chuck it in the circular file Then let us write a document that is dignified and holds credibility This can only help boost the image of CEU's student body and its government So let's get to work there is a lot to do for the '9697 school year super-righ- ts campus? Think again by Cameron Allcott staff writer Rape on campus is a sensitive issue It is one of the silent crimes which people believe that if you ignore it it won’t happen or will go away That is not true Rape has occurred since the dawn of humankind and it is not likely to go away without engaging the problem head on Rape occurs in many forms: campus rape date rape acquaintance rape etc but the truth is it is still rape and it occurs at CEU Whether you believe it or not rape is a problem on campus If you have been paying attention you would have nuticcd (he survey boxes marked “rape survey" around campus Even though there was a less than ideal turnout in responses probably because people didn't care it yielded surprising results Of the students polled 6 percent were assultcd or had known someone who had been raped or sexually assaulted while attending CEU Additionally 54 percent reported they coerced or knew of someone who was copreed into doing a sexual act they did not wish to do Of those 33 percent believed rape and sexual assault was a major problem CEU statistics found only one instance of rape reported last year That may not seem like much to the average person but combined with the possible number of rapessexua! assaults which may occur here and with the personal trauma which one has to go through after the attack it surmounts to a problem of epic proportions Survivors of rape attacks suffer both physical and emotional trauma When one is attacked it destroys the emotional and spiritual integrity of the individual “everything we believe about the inherent rights of personal autonomy bodily integrity are utterly destroyed (Funk 1993)“ This is only exemplified by the fact that over 90 percent of sexual assaults are from acquaintances (Funk 1993) We trust each ' tee rape on page 9 1 on campus Is rape a problem at CEU? These results are probably only a fraction of the actual occurrences which occur here We will never know the true number of assaults because only 10 percent of rape victims report the assault and then only five percent of the attackers go to jail (Time June 3 1991) A CEU employee estimated that probably 50 to 1 00 women are assaulted each school year very few of whom come forward to report the assault Let your voice be heard k 1 The Eagle encourages students faculty and members of the community to submit letters to the editor guest viewpoints and 1 political cartoons Write: The Eagle CEU 451 E 400 N Price UT 84501 Letters and guest viewpoints must be typed (300 words or less) All works must have the author's full name and phone number where they can be reached ' Editor will grant anonymity of opinions only under special circumstances The Eagle reserves the right to edit any letter or article Cartoons must be in ink and are not returnable " 1 ’ |