Student-faculty committees lack members,
“interest has died down”
By WALTER BENSON
Of the Emerald
Despite presenting students with an ideal opportun
ity to have an active voice in the University’s operations,
student-faculty committees have a conspicuous number
of vacant student positions.
“Five years ago these committees were really active
and a big issue,” says Debra Goldsbury-Corbett, ASUO
vice-president. “But now interest has died down and it is
hard to fill all the positions.”
Because of this, Goldsbury-Corbett will circulate a
questionnaire to current members of the 40 committees,
seeking their opinions about the system.
“We want to know how their committees are going, if
student positions are necessary and whether several
committees might be combined,” she says. “There has
never been a systematic look at these committees until
now. This form is vital to getting information.”
Combining committees would be difficult, according
to Robert Bowlin, dean of student personnel services. “I
don’t know how you’d streamline it,” he says. ‘The reason
for committees is to pull together the different elements
and ideas of the campus. This takes time, and bureau
racy becomes difficult to avoid. Committees are slow,
without question, but still necessary.”
The main problems are lack of student interest be
cause of not knowing the committees exist and the belief
that the work isn’t challenging.
“Committee work is really important at the University
level," rebukes Goldsbury-Corbett. “They all report to
Pres. Clark with recommendations.”
She stressed that spectacular results are not the only
important result of the committees. ‘The everyday work is
important, too. For example, the Education Liaison
Committee is looking into how the Division of Continuing
Education will fit in with the University, and the Committee
on the Status of Women is conducting a lecture series.”
Committees are organized various ways. The most
common is by faculty legislation. These have the strictest
guidelines, as they have to adhere to the legislation which
created them. Committees organized by the administra
tion are more loosely defined, with no binding legislation.
As yet, no such committees have been organized by
students, although it is possible.
After filling out a “very explicit” application, students
are appointed to a committee by the ASUO office. The
ASUO Committee on Committees then reviews the stu
dent and sends its recommendations to Johnson Hall.
There, the administration checks into the student's status,
making sure he is, indeed, a student and that he has no
academic or discipline problems.
"The student need not have a lot of experience,"
says the ASUO VP, “but he must be a vocal student
advocate and be willing to stick to an issue, and he can get
two to five hours of SEARCH credit for committee work.”
A slight change in the application process is in the
offing, according to Goldsbury-Corbett.
“In the future when a student is accepted by Johnson
Hall, a copy of his application will go to the committee
chairperson so he can have a grasp of the new member,
and so he will be able to integrate him better.”
Often the student is new on a committee that has the
same faculty members year after year. To combat this
disadvantage, Goldsbury-Corbett urges new committee
members to research their committee beforehand.
“We want students to have a well-outlined idea of
their new committee,” she explains. "Things such as what
it did last year, its long-term history, why it was organized
in the first place — just so they have a good grasp on
things.”
Terri Spotts, director of ESCAPE and past student
member of the Education Experimentation, Innovation
and Improvement Committee, cites time and lack of stu
dents as the major problems.
“It’s hard to get things done, because the committee
work is very time-consuming, and members are
swamped with what they’re doing outside the committee.
Make ends meet
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“And we need more students. Of the four positions
available on my committee, only two were filled.”
But, she continued, positive results do come out of
the committees. “We went to the audio-visual department
and got them to publish in the Emerald a list of films that
come in early so they can be used more than once. In the
past, if a film came in early nobody knew it around cam
pus, and the film would sit there unused.”
There are two major areas the ASUO is concentrat
ing on concerning these committees. First, they’re decid
ing whether students should have advisory consultant
memberships, such as a handicapped student serving on
the Campus Planning Committee to make certain ramps
are provided for wheelchairs in new buildings. Second,
they hope to decide when the best time is for student
appointments, currently made in the fall. Since some
committees do not meet until spring, these appoint
ments would be better left until then.
...nuclear power,
the pros and cons
( Continued from Page 3)
The main dumping site may be the Hanford area in
Washington oh the Columbia.
At the same time the legislative debate continues bet
ween two of the senate's best known members, Atiyeh
and Hallock. The issue pits two men whb hold widely
divergent political ideas, but strangely fulfill similar roles in
the Legislature.
Both are prolific bill sponsors, and they are committee
chairers as well as party leaders. Atiyeh is Senate minor
ity leader, and while Hallock has no official position, to
many people in and out of the Legislature he is their
spokesperson on various issues identified with “liberal”
causes.
Both are famous and both have their eye on higher
positions in state government: Atiyeh ran for governor last
year and Hallock made an attempt to become Senate
president.
Both men are known for their wit—but in subtly different ways, and
their respective brands of humor offer an insight to what they are like
as legislators and as persons.
Each is a put-down artist. Hallock frequently squashes the testimony
(and ego) of unprepared committee witnesses—he bores in on specific
people. But Atiyeh, who usually confines his remarks to friends standing
close by, usually chides the sometimes slow incomprehensible legisla
tive process.
Here they show their main difference. Atiyeh knows how people work
together, how they operate. Hallock understands ideas and how they
work. This is not to say either man is deficient in the other area—they
are both keenly intelligent. But when they look at nuclear power, each
sees something different.
The differences—not the similarities—will become more clear as the
issue develops.
( Continued from Page2)
AV FILMS
The following matructonal rental films have ar
rived early Faculty may schedule them for clas
sroom showings with the Audiovisual Media Center
before 2:30 p.m. the day previous to day needed
Students for faculty may request showings on a
first-come-firsl served basis Monday through Fri
day 6 to 10 p.m. in the Audiovisual Media Center
Studios Flms are not available after the show
date6 listed below
TWe Show Dale
Dept.
Blocks A Medium tor Perceptual Lewimg 4-28-75
Cl
Force Five 4-23-75
PE
Animal Communcation 4-23-75
Biology
Sailing (Parti) 4-24-75
PE
Piaget s Theory Conservation 4-24-75
Ed Psych
Phobias 4-23-75
Psych
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