Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

m
Hit LonU. Nmtmbtr I. '/9M. p
.IN DEPTH
Internal feuds, shouting matches
threaten student government
B) EricFwUfr
The Lowell Executive Council
recently reaffirmed its suppurt for the
stated purpose of student government.
The student officials agreed
that their primary responsibility b to
"represent the student body at
Thh action b actually a reaftrmaboo
of what Thftanrll Charter tic
£at-« as the rejpoatibiliues or student
government. The Chaner is the coo-
Cmitioo of stodent government, it
daignjtes the syacm of govcrnynen;.
prottrfu: 9 for effective operatioc.
and obligations expected to be fulfSkxi.
Krtznelu-o supports Laurence.
"They [the other boards] arc supposed
to be at LEC wettings. When
they arc not here, they hlame not being
formed MI IW Ithe LEC|." be
states.
A second rift bctwr-n ofTiccn has
broken over job performances to
date.
"Right now I believe boards have
been representing personal views (of
the off-cm) instead of sddent body
views." Laurence declares. "The
sponsors domtnafe the meetings.
There b almost no ttudent influence."
Chu dbagrccs. "The officers have
The primary responsibility of student
government is "... to represent
the student body at large,'' according
to the Lowell Charter.
The Chaner, tint written in 1967
and lad revised in 1981, dictates that
there arc to be four government
boards. First, the Lowell Executive
Council (LEC) b designed lo be the
coordinating body of LowtU government.
The LEC b compowi of its
own members, such as treasurer and
secretaries, as wdl as representative,
fnxn the other boordk and the ctasxs.
The LEC b the official voice for the
student body.
Second, the Board for School and
Community Service (B5CS) b designed
to coordinate (IK c.ubs. The
DSCS has specific member* elected
by the student hody. such a* vjecchairrcrvin
xr«J irrsourer, in addition
to a reprcscnutive front every club.
Third, the Student Activities Uo*rd
(SAB) b supptMcd in coordinate
Mru^tured citis-curricula* act iviiict,
such as i/anccs and ralliei. The SAD
K mads up of individual ;»fficen «ikrli
AX a secretary an 1 dance CU.TUTUMHW*cr
and also the spin; *qu*li (Sting
girU. chccrlradcn. etc.).
Fourth, thr Board ofCUvt Officers
(SCO) b ilcugncd to control and civ
orduute LSC (out clauo. All cla>» officers
are members of the BCO. as
well as BCO officers ra:h as WJCttry
and chairperson.
}he G*mu represent
the student body. Therefore, because
governrncct officen rcccnil) reaffiraod
this pcrpove. the philosophy
and notivklinn for ttulcnt government
at Lmvell has not changed.
Some people in student government
fed that some officers have failed to
enact thu purpose so far thu year.
"No, we have not been representtag
the Mudcnt body." sail LcC
VIcc-Chair[ «.non Oavid K.«znclM>n.
Aviv laurcnce, LEC chairperson
and studect body prciirVn. agrcrs.
"At 1Kb liire I wouM say ... that
Kudcat govcrnmeot ia not being ma
foftljcbcocrjoflhcuud.-rtbndy."
The malahc in governnw-jt results
(row several different causes.
First and fbccnoM. there b dbagiectnenl
between the vvious
botrdi a*' their officen. For exam-.
pie, a conflict tus arisen as to the
authority of boards within the LEC.
l.artrmrr uated. "The other board*
ate taernbm of the LEC. The I DC
dDesa*! come to die oefaef boards. The
LEC b over the other boartv"
However. bCO Cbairprk for i»uf Surd."
"Therefore, lV SAll uiunirmMisly
reject* the CAL pn*p»wji." Mjied
mrirc'cal LSc c
Ji>c\ n>>t mean ii J»*>lii y\.
l\-n
ftc
SufkjmnedlhcS,\B:fir lej^c il." he declared.
"But ii is futile for uudenu to wj*n
up and then not be on a committee.
Thi\ problem *a* hadl> run." objected
Gigi KJW. SAB dorwe eonmu^
^wKier.
SAB Vtcc CHjir Eunice Voon now
joiixd in. "TIK LEC has no right m
infringe on i!v SAB. We'll *ik for
toluntccfs twrcUci."
"Read IIK CK.ir.er."
Koenig.
With time cirnrrd.
staled the final word* of protest.
"The SAH ctto^ies not to use thu
resource; it doesn't work for ui/'
A week later, the second ctraflict
arose. This time tlic subject concerned
the Forensic Socety asking
for a $3,000 grant frczi the General
Rc*cr*c Fund.
The LEC meeting auktdy descended
iaio a barde between Koenig
and Poubkidas about the Chaner and
the procedure for dutribmion ot
fundi.
"We've got the money; let's give
it to them." declared Poulakidas.
Kocntg replied. "It's vx lhat we
don't w*at to give them the money,
it'a lhat we can't."
"I don't believe that," said Poulakidas.
"Then read the Uianer." affirmed
Koroig.
Student government has weathered
problems in the past. For example.
elections have been plagued with low
voter turnout. Another example took
place four yean ago when one officer
w» voted on four aefuate occasions
caused by election rule violation*.
Student government passed over
these problems, but appears to face
more serious challenges ahead.
The mmt important prcMem fa»
i.ig government n thb time b the lack
of communication between tl.:
btur.l*. >onx students feel.
"Then* i\ hjJ vommuntcaticii."
obvned Kaunc!u>n
PuuUkida» apfte*. b*n alu> has a
vrtuiicn to the pri*.^m. "I'd nlhcr
vf pct-flo get tliinjei oul than hold
ihinft in. other**Uc fkHhtnj: vmuld
]*it J*tnc."
"Tlier: U-JM be hcttcr nxinnurjcatuKthct>e*nUte
Uufdv*' vi>% IJUtcntt.
"1 hupc tu use the influence
ofiny [XKI;RWI lo chanpc J«* Uiordt."
A funhci ivV. of aitfmiunx'jiion
FLU developed 31 \*cll. Thu gap b
with the Mudcnt bcxly-ai-large and u
wx neccAurily the fault of »iudcnt
government.
"iyeclttLcrrntalkn>:toa wall at
reg. rep. mecttngi," complaint
f>utin.
An anon)^o»u senior officer
gripes, "The majority of students
don't appreciate the work going into
activities."
Student government will [ace seme
very senous challenges in the year
aneari. If government meets these
challenges. LoncU High School will
change for the better. However, if
government continues on its present
course of not resolving cornrmmicaikr=
problems, then there will be little
purpose for student government at
Lowell.
Orel half, a centti'.tj iv^o, Rafuetta \'ivoti vpened]
thf /iCM uv.td-tcittuiitd '.e/icc, ltntu.
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