1977_01 The Daily Collegian January 1977

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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
THURSDAY. JANUARY IT.' 18TT
Lack of apathy shown by survey
Bill Brewer also facte that the
-e Indifferent to giving
the senators puses
"I think the students of thi*
campus really don't car* if the
sen* tor* have passes or not. And,
I think if th* students realised
what tbey (tbe senators) would
"I dont think students sre    b* getting, tb*y (th* itudent*)
apathetic    towards    atudent     would care leas," he said.
government,"  he  said.   "They       Senator* may also not realise
procedures
An ad-hoc committee which
wa* formed to survey itudent
Involvement on campus haa led
IU chairman, NaU Wirt, torn '
Just don't know how to relate b
biology professoi
remarks follow a survey Uken
last semester by the Associated
Student* to determine bow much
th* CSUF itudent body actively
participated in atudent affair*.
A questionnaire waa circulated
to over 7,000 studmts near tbe
end of last semester. During th*
winter recess, Wirt said bis
committee   bad   tallied   700
The survey covered four major
areas: itudent activities, faculty
and administration evaluations,
student services, and student
government.
WW said that be bad not
broken down the statistics into
demographic factors.
On* of the most unpopular
choice* in ttudent participation
ha* been student government.
10 per cent crose only two per cent ot those
, „,„.,.,., que*tioned said they were in¬
volved tri such affairs, while 98
per cent said they frowned at the
Wirt said that h* tbe m	
adopted three main atudent
concerns In their campaign
platforms, (counseling, the
library expansion, and voting), it
great practice hi
"I don't think the studenU
would be apathetic towards it
(student government) at all, if
they could see the machinery at
work," Wirt said. "It's s case
more or lea* of Ignorance, not
foliow-up
report to the senate, at its first
meeting of the semester last
Monday. He aaid now that the
senate had the Information they
wanted, action should be Uken to
alleviate any problems.
"Tbe senators should come
forth with ideaa to solve the lack
of participation' situation," be
told tbe governing body.
CSUF students, the survey
shows, fall by a 8-to-l margin to
vote in the annual atudent body
ASB President David
Nikaaarian was elected to office
laat fall by gathering only 733
vote* from ■ student body of
18,000.
Senators' freebies  are overrated
SUff Reporter
Despite attempts to get free
passes, the Associated StudenU
(AS) senate members are still
paying admission to student
activities. But, obtaining free
passe* would not give tbe senate
many free service*, *ccording to
Bill Brewer, College Union vice-
president.
"I think when the senate thinks
of free passes they're thinking of
(free) concerts, speakers,
movie*, and dance* which are all
controlled by the CoUege Union
Board," be uld.
Brewer aaid free admission to
union activities would have to be
approved by the Board. Aad the
Board's approval must be
seconded by th* CSUF
Association, Inc., a controlling
board of director*, which U
comprised of administration,
fsculty and David Nlkssarian,
AsaocUted StudenU president.
Brewer aaid the senate haa not
asked the for free admission
to CoUege Union sponsored ac¬
tivities, and be doesn't anticipate
that they wiU.
And, free admission to in-
tercoUegUte athletic activities
would require approval of the
National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA), he aaid.
But .he NCAA wiU probably be
asked to grant senators free
admission to athletic events,
according to Uanne Kent, In¬
terim chairperson of the senate's
oppose free senate passes, 27 per    instructor of the course, aaid
' 44 per cent had     ,enate meetings would
Theatre Box Office charge, and
the 81 "Backwash" magazine
fee, according to Bob Vega,
Associated StudenU business
Tbe suggestion of free passe*
for senator* waa introduced to
the senate at IU Sept. 3 meeting
by Senator Gary Neleon.
At this meeting Nelson said,
'"There are many activities on
this campus that the senator*
know about, but they could gain
more out of them If tbey could
participate tn them..."
Senstor Brent Bowen
disagreed. He felt voting for free
paasea would be committing
"political suicide."
The issue wss turned over to
th* Legal and Legislative
Committee for further study.
The Legal and Legislative
Committee recommended ap¬
proval of free senate passes st
the Dec. 10 meeting. Th*
senator* agreed, and asked that
the committee work out the
"technicalities   and  details  of
Thia apparent atudent In¬
difference to the free passes
Influenced the senators, ac¬
cording to Kent.
"They're weren't enough
Wa'," she aaid.
Bowen admitted that be was
Influenced by the senate survey.
"At tbe time, (Oct, 8) I hsd
done ■ survey myself, and found
little support for the passes. But,
after the in-depth survey, I aaw
According UNlkaaarian, giving
free passes would necesstUU the
changing of existing by Uws.
Currently,    sn    Associated
viewed   aa   the   mandatory   IS
hours of Instruction.
Senators would be required lo
attend possibly four or five short
workshops, he aaid. Tbe exact
(Continued on pg. 1)
Thirty per cent of the itudent
body was against tbe student
senators getting free pesses to
sponsored activities, although 44
per cent had no opinion on the
The *urvey Itself did not limit
the questioning to itudent
government. Similar negative
response* were recorded for
atudent Involvement In forensic*.
Rodney Douglass, a professor of
• peech communication*,
speculated on aome reasons for
limited student participation in
the debate cUsses.
"There usually aren't great
number* involved, because of tbe
extended travel," be aaid.
He disagreed with the con¬
tention lhat itudent participation
in forensic* was limited, because
of the "snobbish" reputation of
tbe claaa.
"I think that's true in a lot of
places, but not in Fresno," said
Douglass.
StudenU heavily attended
evenU where celebrity speaker*
were sponsored by student funds.
Two of tbe more prominent
speaker* but semester were
WlUiam Buckley Jr., and George
McGovem.
High itudent Interest wa*
recorded in dances, movies, snd
the upcoming Vintage Day*
festivities.
Student services received *
moderate to poor response. Tbe
cafeteria, mack bar, and tbe
many vending machines situated
around campus were given an
above average rating ln food
variety and quality.
The cafeteria and snack bar,
however, were negatively rated
on It* price*. This wss ln lieu of
laat semester's  food price in-
(C.'onllnurd oa pa, 2)
Communication problems
hinder  placement office
/placement service by paying a
/ yearly fa* of 815.
Dr. Harold D. Jones, director
of tbe biggest .
the CSUF Placement
according to William Head,
assistant director of placement.
Heed said It la common for
pletsiy agree with Head'a
evaluation of tbe communication
situation in the Placement Of¬
fice.
» feels that most studenU
Kent laid tbe senate's approval
of the committee's recom¬
mendation waa mostly based on
the results of a senate-student
opinion survey.
The survey, conducted by tbe
senate's Ad Hoc Committee on
Student Involvement, found 26
per cent of the studenU did not
"Since w« hav* such a high
turnover of senators, I think it
would be best to leave existing
policy ss It is," be ssid.
A* an alternative to tbe free
paaa, Nlkssarian outlined a
proposal for giving dass credit to
senators at the Jan. 34 senate
meeting.
He suggested that senator*
could be enroUed ln Speech 189,
which is sn Experlmenstal
CoUege class.
Tbe senators would receive one
unit of credit for 15 hours of In-
class meetings.
Dr. John Cagle, acting director
of the Experimental CoUege, and
itudent until be la Just
weeks away from graduation. He
feels many students either don't
know tbe Placement Office
exists, or that tbey feel tbey dont
need Its service* until the end of
their senior year.
"It's sad, a student will come
here and spend four or five year*
in acbool and then expect to find *
Job In two weeks." he said.
Tbe Placement Office, located
in the Joyal Adminlatration
Building, offers free assistance
to currently enrolled students.
Alumni can take advantage of
the    career    planning    and
know that the office exists. Be
doe* not feel that lack of rturJent
awareness U a major prublem.
He explained1 that many
atudenU    do    not    use    the
lot of studenU don't use our office
because the/ are going on to
graduate school and dont need
our services," he aaid.
Head,   however,   thinks   tbe
Placement  Office  must  "con¬
tinue to communicate."
oa pg. 4)