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Show .4 Letter to the Editor ram Editor Jennifer Killian Managing Editor Business Manager N. L. Spackman Advertising Manager Laura Reeves Photo Director Karla Joost Contributing Writers Cara Cahoon Karen Chamholm Myriam Hernandez Lee Roszczynski Erick Scheen Randy Sullivan t Laurie Staton-Carte- r Faculty Adviser Scott Cairns Forum of . Westminster College of Salt Lake City will be published and distributed approximately every other Tuesday throughout the academic year by the Associated Students of Westminster College. The newspapers address is 1840 South 1300 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105. g The Forum is an member of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Press Association. Typesetting and printing by Kimball Smith Advertising, 1059 E. 900 S., Salt Lake City, Utah 84105. The Forum welcomes letters from students and other readers. Submissions must be signed and include the authors telephone number (telephone numbers will be used only to verify the authen Submissions ticity of letters). must also avoid the use of profanity and libel. Lengths may not exceed double-space- d pages with lines 50 character spaces wide. Deliver letters directly to the Forum office (under the door if necessary) in the basement of Shaw Center by 3 p.m. on Tuesday one week before the date of publication, ormail them to th eForum office at the above address. Please be concise and to the point in your letters. Opinions expressed on the Forum editorial pages are those of the writers and are not to be construed as the opinions of the award-winnin- , three-type- d, Associated Students of Westmin- ster College or of the college administration, faculty or staff. March 29. 1988 - Issue 14 The former officers of ASWC have taken actions based on a questionable interpretation of the Constitution without consulting the student body. On Feb. 2, a proposal by the Executive Cabinet to change the intent of the ASWC Constitution was passed. The new proposal states that the Executive Cabinet will consist of the President, Vice President. Speaker of Legislative Assembly, and Chief Justice of Judiciary. The intent of this proposal is to Cabinet yith four individuals would be maintained. They take it one step further by saying, "This proposal follows the intent of the Constitution." Someone has cast your vote in a Constitutional Convention,' were never notified that it was to be held. From the Constitution, concerning Amendments, Public Review, and Ratification of the Constitution: Section 1 : Petition Article of amendments to the constitution may be place on the official ASWC ballot by a petition signed by not less than ten (10) percent of the active members of ASWC. ProSection 2: Public Review to amendments this constiposed tution shall be publicized in a conspicuous place in Shaw Center for fourteen ( 1 4 ) days prior to being voted on by the active members of balances. How does this differ from previous systems? Former Executive Cabinet consisted of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Executive Cabinet for 1987-8- 8 contends that too much power was concentrated in that branch of government. The new proposal will now give voting power to the Chief Justice of Judiciary and Speaker of Legislative Assembly which will decentralize that power and bring the three branches of government together. Is this a better system? It may or may not be. That is not the question. The question is: Can the branches of government make such a decision without free and open debate representing studentbody views? The87-8- 8 ' government sees decentralizing power from the foregoing Executive Cabinet as preferable because it has the potential to create better representation for students. However, their method denies that very representation. The students of Westminster cannot vote on this proposal until January 1989. How can such a change be made without consulting the students? The answer is that our constitution has been interpretted in such a way as to make it legitimate for such actions to take place. Judiciary stated that, The proposal was in line with the present constitution in the sense that an Executive As a general rule, school governments fashion themselves after the Federal Government so it teaches us how to function within the system. Citizens are informed via the media when changes are being contemplated and through a voting process we give feedback. Concerning this new proposal the first article I read was in the Feb. 9 issue of the Forum. According to Forum staff members, that was the first they heard as well. The article informed us that the proposal had already been passed according to the constitution. The article did not make us aware that changes were being considered, but instead told us that a change had been made. Rights require responsible representation. ASWC. ARTICLE XV: RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION Section 1: Adoption Proposed amendments shall be adopted by a favorable (23) vote by the voting members of ASWC. Section 2: Constitution Update Upon ratification of this constitution, all preceding ASWC governing constitutions will become null and void. two-thir- ds Students are responsible for protecting their rights. We need to be certain we are informed and represented. We may even prefer the .Changes prescribed in the ASWC proposal -but we have the right to be asked. Kurtis Johnson Let the Utah Symphony blow your Join Us The Westminster Forum welcomes an letters to the editor or other student or faculty input. Letters will be subject to correction for journalistic style. Please bring all comments, letters or ideas to the ASWC box in the Dean of Students office. We want your opinions. April 2: Thats Entertainment! Sid Caesar, Skits & Sketches with Orchestra April 8 & 9: Lynn Harrell performs DVORAK Cello Concerto INF Treaty : Game of Fish? By NL Spackman In some ways the INF treaty seems like a missiles? game of Fish, Got any SS-2fish. Nope, go The INF (intermediate nuclear forces) treaty is a negotiation between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets will be verifying the United States tnventoiy of weapons, while the United States is busy checking out the Soviet Union for the next 13 years or so. Right next door in Magna, Utah, 30 to 40 Soviet inspectors will be assigned to Hercules Aerospace. Neither the Americans in the Soviet Union-othe Soviets here will be allowed inside the missile factories, but each can inspect cargo at the exits and perimeter. The first three years of the treaty allow for 20 surprise visits from each country to suspected weapons facilities. After the inventories are taken, both sides will monitor the elimination of weapons by following the treatys how-t- o instructions on destroying nuclear missiles. The missiles targeted for destruction are those 'with ranges of300 to3,400 miles, the short-rang- e We now have two conflicting constitutions functioning. Focus attention on section 2, under Ratification of the Constitution. Only when the constitution has officially become ratified will former governing laws become null and void. How can we legally adopt such a policy when a majority vote of the active members of ASWC hasnt been taken? The result is an implemented invalid policy and a valid, unimplemented policy. ARTICLE XII: AMENDMENTS offer students a more efficient form of government that has efficient checks and Ginny Gale Thc Implementation!, No Representation April 13: Finishing Touches (dress rehearsal) 10:15 a.m. April 15 & 16: RACHMANINOFF The Rock & NIELSEN Flute Concerto April 22 & 23: BEETHOVEN Symphonies No. Symphony Hall, 8 p.m. unless noted 1 & 9, Choral, Joseph Silverstein conducting Box Office: 533-640- 7 UiahSmphony 0 r and intermediates. Turning away from the arms race may initiate a better relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, but suspicions about possible cheating could hamper the development of future agreements. Trust needs to be developed between the two superpowers, because they both have a shared stake in the outcome. Forum 7 |