OCR Text |
Show iWestminster Westminster College of Salt Lake City Tuesday, September 25, 1990 Volume XXXVIII, Issue II Task Force Creating New ASWC Constitution by Bill Kilpack Forum production assistant The Student Governance Task Force, appointed by President Charles H. Dick, met for the first time during the new school year on Sept. 14, 1990, to discuss further developments of a new constitution for Westminster College. The task forces goal is to reorganize student government, change what it does, and get students more involved in whats done on campus, said JeffSwanson, ASWC parliamentarian and chairman of the task force. For the past two years, the ASWC be ready in time for, the spring meeting of the Board of Trustees, said Ed Sweeney, vice president for institutional improvement Rules Committee has worked on a new school constitution, but the final draft was vetoed by administration after the Executive Staff meeting April 2, 1990. As a result, the task force was assembled. The primary purpose of the task force will be to review the existing ASWC constitution or governing structure, including a review ofthe changes proposed by the Rules Committee, said Dick after the April 2 meeting. The task force has since met six times during the summer to flesh out a new constitution, and will continue tomeet every Friday at noon in Shaw Center to put the document together. It is hoped that it will and task force member. According to Swanson, the plans should be finalized by November, and from there, be open for approval by the administration, Board of Trustees, and students. Were looking at a student government assembly where representation is by academic major, to better represent all the students at Westminster, to form a sense of community and share information, Sweeney said. In addition, Sweeney said it is being proposed that members of the assembly New Student Substance Abuse Policy Incorporates Pro-Activ- Strategy e students, traditional ASWC and Forum staff writer faculty. The students, reviewed the committee policy, spending President Charles H. Dick and the months on its preparation. Mead said, The final draft ofthe policy Executive Staff approved a new alcohol and came out of that committee and then we substance abuse policy on Aug. 31, 1990. : The new policy is a change. consulted a law firm, to make sure the Before we received the federal requirements wording and verbiage conformed to the for a drug and alcohol abuse policy, we were regulations. According to Mead, the alcohol and already making changes in the policy. said Ginny Mead, prevention program substance abuse policy needed to be made more clear to everyone. The standard for coordinator. of draft first Westminster received the appropriate as well as inappropriate the Drug Free Schools and Communities behavior needed to be defined. The whole administration was in Act Amendment regulations from the of in Education Federal Department May. support of taking a strong stand. This The final regulations arrived in August, policy is completely different. The only and the new policy had to be in the mail by thing kept from the old policy is the right of to drink on campus, said Sept. 4 to avoid government sanctions on Mead. met Westminster College. Westminster The policy contains a Westminster the deadline. We wanted a policy that could be mission statement, a listing ofhealth risks consistently enforced. One that made it associated with alcohol and substance very plain that Westminster College and abuse, a list of federal, state and local drug its administration are against drug and and alcohol laws, and a list of the sanctions alcohol abuse of any kind on campus. This to be imposed on those choosing to ignore also includes prescription medication the policy. According to Mead, the sanctions for abuse, said Mead. Members of the original committee to violating the policies are clear and draft the policy consisted of administration, enforceable. by Connie Diehl pro-acti- staff, non-traditdon- al ve Sanctions used to be done on a very individual basis and there wasnt any consistency. Now, there are new substance abuse sanctions as well as new alcohol abuse sanctions, said Mead. All students should be aware of what is contained in the policyr Ignorance will not be a defense against violations of the new policy. A large change in the policy reflects the fact that Im here on campus. I am here to help people with drug and alcohol problems. Those- - who feel they have a problem, or a family member with a problem, can come to me and I will get them the help they need. If a student has a problem, coming to me may help mitigate sanctions. said Mead. Mead has 20 years of experience in drug and alcohol rehabilitation counseling, has worked for Dayspring at LDS Hospital and has directed two rehabilitation residential houses. The new policy will be published in brochure form and will be mailed to each student and faculty member. Board for but not as voting members, committees, the interchange of ideas between the committee and the bodies they represent. The 27 academic majors have been broken down into 15 categories, and two or three representative positions are being left open for traditional freshmen with undeclared majors, Sweeney said. Several paid positions have been proposed such as activity chairman, budget chairman, president, vice president, secretary and parliamentarian. It is possible that these positions will be elected only by the assembly, not by a general election by students, Sweeney said. It has also been suggested that an election committee replace the judiciary as monitor of campus running elections. Gary Fitzer, dean of students and task force member, saidhe thinksitisimportant to use existing ASWC organizations to get the new plans into place. Were not just forming a group to run activities, which is important, Sweeney said, but also to help run the school. Were mainly putting together the nuts to see how the new constitution bolts and will fit together and work, said Chuck Tripp, associate professor of psychology and task force member. Were not doing anything radical, were doingsomethingsignificant. Other members of the task force include, Dr. Virginia Frobes-Wetze- l, memberofthe Board ofTrustees and former dean of students at the University of Utah; Bruce Lambert, 1990-9- 1 ASWC president; ASWC Vasi Katsikathas, 1989-9- 0 president; Laurie Prince, director of Campus Life; and students, Shannan Stalnaker and Gene Eubanks. The needs and demands of todays Westminster students are completely different than twenty years ago, Sweeney said. The student bodys average age is 29, with two graduate programs, a small student residential population, more part-tim- e e students and a great than number of students taking night classes only. become part ofthe decision-makin- g full-tim- Two Nursing Students Awarded National Veterans Scholarships by Verna Casper Forum staff writer Two Westminster nursing students have been awarded the Veterans Administration Health Professional Scholarships for the upcoming school year. The scholarship awards include full book expense tuition payment, a one-tim- e and a monthly living stipend for the entire academic year. Corey Ames, senior, and Michael Smith, junior, were chosen from a group of 800 students in a national competition based on GPA, service to the community and their involvement in achievement of the professional goals of nursing. If the two students maintain their GPA and continued performance within the community for the scholarship year, they are automatically eligible for a second years benefits. After graduation, all scholarship recipients will spend one year employed with the Veterans Administration. This is the third consecutive year that Westminster nursing students have won the Veterans Administration scholarship. Ames, scholarship recipient and president ofSNOW (Student Nurses ofWestminster), said that he definitely feels the small campus and the encouragement within the school of nursing has been a great help to scholarship applicants. When asked how he felt when he got the news about the scholarship, Ames said, What can you say when someone gives you $15,000 for your last year of school, its great! A. , . by Fellow Westminster Parsons teammates congratulate Ian Gunderson (5) after netting a goal off of his head in Saturdays 4- -1 victory over Azusa Pacific University. The Parsons 1990 record now stands at 9 wins, 1 loss. |