South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 5, Ed. 1, March, 2001 Page: 2 of 12
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Page 2
Comment
March2001
Hush Money
Last year in this column, to stress the importance of voting for the SBA president, we
told you how much the position got for a scholarship. At the time, we got this informa-
tion right from the horse's mouth: then SBA President Marvin Laws. After the column
ran, we got a lot of good feedback from students on the "gosh I never knew that" meter.
So we thought that this time we'd include all the scholarships for the leadership positions
at STCL. Our assumption was that most students weren't aware that top positions on the
advocacy organization, the student government, law journals, student newspaper and
others receive sizable scholarships. If more students did know, then more would seek
out these positions. We premised that some students may feel that they would like to get
more involved but cannot because the have to work part-time to finance law school (see
related story on page 8). Granted that some students may not be quite as civic minded as
that and would seek out the positions solely for the money, but so what? Even though
these students may be motivated by money, it doesn't mean they won't bring valuable
skills or do an excellent job.
We began to make tentative inquiries about how much the leadership scholarships
were. We started with the SBA. From past experience, we though the SBA President
would be happy to tell us. With the election at hand, the publicity might produce greater
interest in the candidates. Surprisingly however, she refused to tell us either how much
her position receives, or how much any of the others positions earned. She referred us to
inquire through official school channels, but she wasn't going to volunteer any informa-
tion to us.
So we went to an administrator who is pretty high up the ladder. We thought the
administrator would help us get the information on leadership scholarships out to stu-
dents since he was above student politics, and because the information would open
student interest in the positions. Well, we were once again in for an unpleasant surprise.
He told us that this was privleged information and that basically that it was none of our
business what the SBA scholarships, or any other leadership scholarships were.
We respectfully disagree.
We feel that students have a right to know about all the opportunities that exist here at
South Texas. We don't see any reason why this has to be a big secret kept from the
student body and why only the students who are privy to the information are those al-
ready in the "inner circle".
Is not the purpose of having these scholarships to encourage students to participate and
become active in the school and the community? How is this accomplished if the exist-
ence and amount of the scholarships are kept secret?
For example, we think it is a dismal state of affairs when only two students out of 1200
have expressed an interest in being the SBA President. Do you think there would have
been more candidates if it was widely known that the position came with a $10,000
scholarship? You're darn right it would. This is not to say that both of the current
candidates aren't quality individuals. They are. But more candidates would mean more
choices, and more choices is better overall for the student body.
We aren't picking on the SBA. This applies to all leadership positions that get scholar-
ships at this school. It is in the best interest of everyone at STCL if these opportunities
are widely publicized and offered to all.
We therefore send an invitation to all the student leaders at South Texas to publicize
their positions here in next month's Annotations. Just sent a letter or e-mail describing
the position and the amount, if any, that the position offers in scholarship. Please contact
us by March 20. We invite the leaders to end the appearance of a conspiracy of silence,
and let everyone in the student body know what opportunities exist. We feel confident
that the pool of candidates for your positions will increase, and all of us will have the
opportunity to select strong leaders for next year.
Someone once rebuffed our inquiry into the issue by asking "How would you like it if
people knew how much YOU (at Annotations) made in scholarships?" Well, our answer
is that we would like it just fine. In fact the student newspaper will lead by example by
being the first to break this silence and literally put our money where our mouths are.
After all, we have nothing to hide, we work hard for the money and we are thankful to the
Scholarship Committee for granting the amount which we think is fair. Here is what the
Financial Aid Committee has granted this year. The amounts are for the entire year.
Editor-in Chief: $6,500; Business Manager: $3,500; Assistant Editor: $2,000; Assistant
Business Manager $1,000; Writers and Photographer: $500 each.
We trust the leaders of the other student organizations will be as forthcoming as we are
trying to be. We are far from perfect, but we do the best we can with our resources and
we care very much about this school and this newspaper. We want the most qualified
people to come forward because we want our organization to be the best it can, and we
want to encourage a more diverse membership. We hope the leaders of the other student
organizations feel the same, write to us before March 20, and join us in ending the
leadership hush money.
Cap, Gown and Hood
By Craig E.Bohn
Business Manager
The most familiar sym-
bol of each student's suc-
cess is the diploma, but
during the ceremony the
recipients receive another
symbol of their status: the
right to wear the official
doctoral regalia. The ba-
sic components are a
gown, a cap and a hood.
The style originated in the
12th to 14th centuries
during the development of
traditional universities,
and took their style from
cleric apparels. Typi-
cally, both faculty and
students wore gown dur-
ing their time at the uni-
versity. Now the wearing
of regalia is reserved for
ceremonies and special
occasions. Graduation is
one such ceremony.
In the modern regalia,
the robes are typically
black. Three horizontal
stripes of black velvet on
the upper sleeve and a
wide black velvet band
around the neck and down
the front symbolize the
doctoral level. Velvet of
a color representing the
discipline of the degree
earned may be substituted
for the black. The stan-
dardized colors designat-
ing the specific disci-
plines did not come about
until the late 19th century,
in the United States. The
color for law is purple.
Over the years, some
institutions have chosen
to design distinctive
robes to represent their
school. (You can see
some of these at http://
www.herff-jones.com/
capgown/college/.) Most
typically, though, the con-
ferring school is identi-
fied through the hood.
The dimensions and
design of the hood varies
depending on the degree
attained. Doctoral hoods
are four feet long and
trimmed with a five-inch
wide band of velvet of the
color of the discipline.
The hoods are lined with
the official color of the
school. Here at South
Texas, the gold field strik-
ingly sets-off the crimson
chevron, pointing down in
the middle of the gradu-
ates back. Tradition dic-
tates that graduates
should not wear the hood
of their degree until it is
actually conferred.
"Hooding" at South
Texas is done by either a
member of the faculty or
an immediate member of
the family who is an
alumnus. This is the fo-
See REGALIA, pg. 9
EDITORIALS do not reflect the views of any one member
of ANNOTATIONS, but are selected by majority vote from
the Editorial Board. EDITORIALS are selected to encour-
age thought and provoke discourse about important issues.
Written response to topics are welcome and generally, all
letters are printed. Questions and comments about ANNO-
TATIONS editorial policy should be directed to the Editor-
in-Chief.
Annotations
Editor-in-Chief. Sean Palmer
Assistant Editor. Richard Weaver
Business Manager. Craig E. Bohn
Assistant Business Manager Amanda Trapp
Staff Writers Carla Lujan,
Laura Forsythe
Staff Photographer SJ Davidson
Faculty Sponsor
R. Randall Kelso
Annotations is the student newspaper of the South
Texas College of Law. The office is in Room 206. Please
address mail to Annotations, 1303 San Jacinto, Houston,
TX 77002. The phone is 713/759-9142.
Annotations welcomes letters, contributions and
suggestions from students, faculty, alumni and staff.
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Palmer, Sean. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 5, Ed. 1, March, 2001, newspaper, March 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144546/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.