MUSIC:
ALL POINTS UP
JEBEDIAH STONE
Volume 1, No. 8
[p 3]
Revolutionary Change in BSO [BSO=Black Student Organization,
I suppose many people don't remember that now]
After looking backward and reflecting on the past performance of the leadership of BSO
and student participation in the organization it seems most appropriate, since the BSO
elections are nearing, to raise some critical questions concerning the selection of officers
to BSO, student participation in the organization and the organization's policy output.
By no means is my intention to offend anyone. Rather it is to raise some serious questions
which in the short run will determine whether or not BSO will survive another year given the lack
of student involvement in the organization and the absence of capable leadership -- irresponsive
to student wants and desires -- which taken together has produced anonfunctional organization
and an apathetic student body.
As spelled out in the constitution, the chief policy making body of the organization is the
Consultation Assembly which votes in conjunction with the Chairman. The former consists
of 5 members elected by the body and the latter is selected by that Consultative Assembly
either from among itself or the body. Since the constitution did not lay down a format for the
election process, in last year's election, the most well known candidates out of those who were nominated got elected to office. More specifically, the election was a popularity contest which
allowed the less qualified candidates -- in terms of organization, administrative ability, and
imagination -- to win office at the expense of the more qualified and imaginative,but lesser
known candidates. Yet it is important to mention that two qualified women did assume
important positions in the leadership structure.
Now the question all this raises is should the election of officers be a popularity contest
that discriminates against freshmen graduate students and which also has a tendency
of placing the less competent candidates in office at the expense of the lesser known
but more competent candidates? My own personal view is that the election process
should not be a popularity contest, for reasons which can be discussed later. Rather
candidates seeking office should discuss with students on a personal level the
policies they deem desirable for the organization if they want that student quota.
This can be done by having a candidate for office receive 40 or more signatures
on a petition that spells out his or her policy proposals which should be discussed
with the student before the petition is signed. It is important to notethat this is just
one procedure for electing officers and does not exhaust the possibilities of alternative
methods.
The major reason for a need to avoid a duplication of last year's election is that it put
in office a group of students, not withstanding their sincerity, who lacked an imaginative
and broad perspective in formulating the organization's policies. They did not solicit the
ideas and information from the body in drawing upprograms, i.e. the leadership was closed
rather than an open system and did not create nor invite an atmosphere that encouraged
students to offer suggestions in formulating programs or to criticize existing ones. More
specifically, the leadership constituted an elitist body that did not necessarily reflect the
students' interest. What the process did reflect was the leadership's perception of what
they thought the students should have rather than what the students wanted.
As a result students did not volunteer for committees that the Leadership drew up which
caused the latter to question the body's sincerity rather than to reevaluate their programs
to the body.
Another critical question concerns student participation in the organization. Why is it that
Black students don't even attend their own organizational Meetings? The single most important
factor that explains this occurrence relates to the performance and behavior of the officers.
It has been already mentioned that the leadership was a closed system which had the effect of discouraging student participation, therefore, there is no need to elaborate further on this. Yet there
is another dimension that has added to the students' lack of involvement in the organization, namely
the personal rivalry between male members within the leadership structure which often approached physical levels. Therefore it should not be surprising to discover a crisis of confidence in leadership because all the talk of solidarity, unity and cohesion was undone by that rivalry.
The last question I would like to raise concerns the organizational policy output. What should be the
programs and projects that the BSO engages in, and, equally significant, what should be the role of the
body in helping formulate the organization's policies? Only the students themselves can answer such
questions by placing in office serious minded students who are qualified, intelligent and imaginative; who
are tolerant of other people's viewpoints; who can distinguish between what is important and what is
necessary; and, perhaps more important, who will open up the system to allow significant participation
from the students in setting up programs and formulating policies. Following are a few examples of how
students and officers can interrelate to make the organization more beneficial and resourceful. Students
could in their respective disciplines, get together and act as pressure groups to hire black faculty. Recently
Meberry Medical School conducted a survey of about 1200 black residents of Nashville. This study
revealed that 92% of those surveyed had nutritional problems, and because they did not have medical
or other health insurance to receive medical treatment they were unaware of treatment availability. Perhaps students in food, nutrition and pre-ed [?] would be interested in doing internships in hospitals located in low income areas to gain practical work experience in their disciplines.
For the students not to pull together and engage in significant discussions, workshops, seminars, and
projects concerning relevant issues, constitutes a brain drain and real loss of talent. A lot of conditions
for revolutionary changes do exist in B.S.O. by way of the coming elections. But if the opportunity is not
seized upon, then the future of B.S.O. as a functional organization remains questionable.
If the B.S.O. continues to hold elections resembling popularity contests and to elect leaders who have
been nonfunctional in constructing worthwhile policies, then the people I communicated with last spring
will be hearing from me soon concerning the Black Political Science Club, a constructive alternative.
Sidney Parker
Pol. Sci. Econ 3
Volume 1, No. 8
[p 3]
View Point
Dear People,
We wanted to inform the Ames residents of a newly formed organization in Des Moines. Gay Community
Services, primarily a service founded by gay people for gay people, but will accept anyone who is willing
to participate in a predominately gay organization. GCS is an organization with goals such as a phone
referral service, coffee house, public relations, roommate service. Within GCS a social activities group
has formed having different clubs and groups, i.e. Tennis, horseback, swimming, roller skating, volleyball,
judo, intellectual rap, rap group, music appreciation, literary, drama, entertainment, backpack, sewing,
cooking, etc. This is a new organization and all input is welcome. We have no central [phone] number as
of yet. For further information contact
Barb Chandler
227-2447
1009 28th
Meetings of GCS every Sunday - Unitarian Church, Bell and Cassidy, 4 p.m.
[p3]
Notice:
RECYCLE YOUR FREE FLOWING [! heh]
posted by Old Fogey @ 3:34 PM
