The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 19, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 3, 1974 Page: 2 of 12
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Page"2 The J-TAC April 3, 1974
Editorial Page
Elections: A Time To Change
by David Williams
Another year has gone and once again it is time for student
offic.ee elections. Student senator elections will be held
shortly thereafter.
Each year at about this, time college newspapers reserve
their editorial space to urge students to vote, to exercise their
rights. Many people are worried about apathy. They can't
understand why students,don't turn out to vote.
The problem is not uncommon at Tarleton. A majority ol
students seldom vote in the student officer elections.. In the
senatorial elections the turnout is poor also. Two people
showed up for a graduate student senator election this year.
Voter turnout is not only poor for student officer and
senatof elections; the same is true of other elections. Few
TSU students voted on a recently proposed amendment to
the student constitution.
V
Other areas affected .by dwindling voter turnout are class
favorite, Mr. and Miss TSU, and Homecoming Queen
elections. It is not uncommon for only 200 students to vote
in these elections.
When only a minority of students vote in student officer
and senator elections, it is doubtful, it is at least open to
question, and if the majority of students are receiving fair
representation in student government. Some people might
say these people get what they deserve.
If is perhaps ironic that our. student leaders are elected by
a minority, that power or control is not granted by the
"majority.
VVJiat this control:means at Tarletoivis not, however, what
it means in other governments. The Senate at TSU has very
little power and even less backbone. Just last week, two
members of the Student Senate told one J-TAC reporter,
who was trying to get some comments or reactions from
them for a story concerning a recent Senate proposal, that
they could not, or would not, comment, that they "want to
graduate from here."
- The insinuations are easily discernible. It was not only a
comment on the TSU administration, but it also showed
something about the Senate. If our student officers and
senators are so easily intimidated, will any changes take
place, will anything controversial ever even come up before
the Senate?
It happened once this year. The Senate voted during the
fall semester to sponsor a petition to call a wet-dry election.
However, a motion to reconsider came up at the next
meeting and the Senate once again looked at the situation.
Their final decision: drop the original proposal and try to get
someone else interested in sponsoring thef petition. Why?
Some members of the Senate were worried about a negative
reaction from the people of Stephenvjlle. There may have
been other reasons, but that was the main one.
The subject of birth control pills in the Student Health
Center was also mentioned at one meeting. It had surfaced
i because a Tarleton student had asked a student senator to
bring it up at a meeting in order that the Senate might
■ consider taking .some sort of action on it. It was quite
suddenly and silently dropped.
But the Senate's lack of backbone in the face of
controversy will not hinder or stop the elections. They will
go on and the J-TAC will take much the same stand as other
college newspapers. We urge students to vote in the upcoming
elections.
But perhaps just as important, the Student Senate should
consider a change. It is too late for the people now in office,
but as for the students who will be voted in soon, they are
not forced down the same road as the senators and officers of
the past. Maybe they will ask themselves why students do not
participate, why students do not care. Maybe they will set for
themselves real, tangible goals, goals that students can share
in and relate to. Then it is possible that the tokenism of
bumper stickers, silver dollars, and spirit flags will be
forgotten and lost in the minutes of last years' meetings.
LITTLE MAN ON
by Bibler
But this ,F'cc>£5ntr measuiae what 1 Mow about the
subjecr— \tjus' shows Itm not good at taking tests,"
Civic Series Committee
Excel Is in Presentations
< by Travis Brown
This year with a budget of S7,650, the TSU Civic Series
Committee has presented Mel Tillis, Tanya Tucker, B.W.
Stevenson, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and
Maynard Ferguson. The committee will also ,present Sammi
Smith on April 25. These artists usually demand a guaranteed
amount, averaging around S3,000.
According to J. Louis Evans, chairman of the Civic Series
Committee, SI.45 of each student's student services fee goes
to the committee's budget ;The committee has also received
financial help from the Student Senate. And for the first
time, students were charged SI admission to the committee's
presentations this year. Evans said the reason for this is that
"•enrollment has gone down while the price of talent has gone
up."
A limited budget often restricts the choices of talent
available for the committee. After the Anne Murray show
was cancelled last week, the committee attempted to get
Tom T. Hall. But Hall would not come for less than $4,500,
which the committee eoulil not afford. So they got Sammi
Smith for S3,500. It's too ^bad that not more than $1.45 of
the student service fee, which is S30, goes to the Civic Series
Committee's budget.
An impressive aspect of the Civic Series Committee's
programs has been the diversity of the music presented. A
poll taken by the student committee of the Civic Series
Committee last year revealed that the majority of TSU
students preferred country music. But the committee has
attempted to satisfy all segments of the student body by
presenting rock, jazz, and classical music through B.W.
Stevenson, Maynard Ferguson,' and the Fort Worth
Symphony Orchestra .
Despite a restricted budget, thfe Civic Series Committee has
excelled this year in presenting diverse and quality
entertainment for the students of TSU.
| The J*TAC
The J-TAC, student newspaper of Tarleton State University, is published by
Tarleton State University on Wednesdays during the regular tall and spring
semesters with the exemption of school holidays and examination periods.
Printer is the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, Stephenville, Texas.
Second class postage paid at Stephenville, Texas.
Editor David Williams
Assistant Editor Travis Brown
Business Manager ■ • -'>aul Stuart
Staff Reporter • • Buddy Waddell
Sports Reporter and Columnist .Skip Nichols
Columnist Barbara Guest
Photographer Bob Hill
Composer Danette Whitt
Faculty Adviser Tom Shuford
APL Computer
Terminal Arrives
llic AIM. computer .terminal
lias finally arrived on campus anil
should he operational in the near
future. The. terminal. A
Programmed Language, resembles
an ordinary typewriter, hut il has .
the vast range ol' all the
information stored in the base
computers at Texas A&M.
' Campus officials experienced
minor difficulty in tying Ibe
terminal into the base computers
early 1 his week, but il should be
operational very soon.
The computer, located in
Science Building 219, is to be
available to all TSU students, and
according to Dr. Joe C'ude, it only
requires around 10 minutes to
leach a student to perform simple
mathematical equations. Dr. Cude
plans to present a number of
lecture sessions next week,
explaining the operation and
capabilities of the computer.. The
sessions are open to all students at
no charge.
The terminal has been delayed
for many weeks for' various
reasons, but it i's. expected to be
widely used. Chemistry' students
as well as math and , physics
students will find the APL-wery
useful in their studies because of
its simple operation, according to
Dr. Thomas C. Ilinkson.
The APL will eventually be
available almost any time of day
to anyone interested in using it.
The APL can even be programmed
to test the luck of a student in
various games of chance.
However, the APL can only
remain on TSU campus as long as
it i.'y being well used.
Interested students should
contact Clair B. Smith in
computer science, or Dr. Cude in
the Math-Language Building.
Choirs To Present
Concert on April 11
Members of the Collegiate and
A Capella Choirs will present a
concert April I I with members of
the Fort Worth Symphony
Orchestra. The program, entitled
"An Evening of Baroque Music,"
will begin at 8 p.m. in the Main
Auditorium.
Speakers Iniitei
1
Speakers are invited to talk
with st4dents during an informal
noon l(uncheon each Thursday at
the Baptist Student Union.
According to John Virkler,
sludentrio-student worker, the
meal is 35 cents.
Discussion Sot
An informal discussion on
"Marriage--What to Look for"
will be held at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday at the Lutheran Center.
According to the Rev. Mr-
Frederick Traugott, this is the
third in a series of such talks, and
Upcoming Pages
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The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 19, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 3, 1974, newspaper, April 3, 1974; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth141287/m1/2/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Tarleton State University.