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WCU - Western Carolina University Publications

Western Carolinian Volume 41 Number 29

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Western Carolinian Volume 41 Number 29

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Western Carolinian Volume 41 Number 29

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Western Carolinian Volume 41 Number 29

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Western Carolinian Volume 41 Number 29

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  • VOICE OF THE STUDENTS Vol.XLI No. 29 TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1976 WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY CULLOWHEE NORTH CAROLINA Is student government legal? by Allan Rabinowitz What power does a student government have? Student government would be just an academic exercise in at least one state, if the Arizona Board of Regents, which has control over the state's public universities, has its way. The Regents, now being sued by the University of Arizona student government, claim that the student government is an arm of the university. They view it as a state agency with no legal standing of its own. The battle over the legitimacy of the student government arose from a controversy over who is entitled to $10,000 worth of profits from the campus bookstore. In 1937, the Regents sold the bookstore to the Associated Students of the University of Arizona for more than $21,000. In the contract signed at the time, the students agreed to turn over profits to the Regents until the bookstore was paid for. This was done. Then, in 1971, the university business office, which handled the bookstore finances, refused to turn over $10,000 in bookstore profits to the ASUA, claiming that the contract was invalid because the ASUA did not constitute a legal entity. The ASUA filed suit against the Regents in 1972. Before the 1971 controversy, the ASUA did get a large por- tion-$40,000-of the bookstore profits. But this money was distributed to the government by the university as it was needed. In essence, said David Hameroff, ASUA President, if the university did not like what was being done with the money, it simply did not hand the students a check. Such was the case when the student government wanted $10,000 to start a birth control clinic. The money was withheld. The university administration controls the purse strings of the student government and sets the rules. It allows no money to be given to political organizations, to be used to compete with private enterprise or to be used for lobbying efforts. The ASUA suit centers on two points. Did the Regents actually sell the bookstore to the ASUA, along with all privileges of profit that would go along with that sale? The second and more important point is whether the student government was a legal body with the right to make such a contract in the first place. To complicate things further, there is the question of whether the ASUA has the right to hire a lawyer to defend its legal status. If the ASUA is actually a state agency as the Regents contend, then by state law it cannot use state funds to pay for a private attorney. By this logic, the ASUA would have to go through the Regents in order to obtain a lawyer to sue those same Regents. A similar Catch 22 faces a student organization at the University of Texas which is trying to sue the Regents of that state. The ASUA has not been able to owes him more than $5000. The Regents deny that they ever agreed to turn over profits to the ASUA. They deny that the ASUA fulfilled its obligations in running the store, and they deny that the ASUA even has a legal right to sue, since it is "a part and parcel of the University of Arizona community." But if the ASUA is not recog- pay its attorney thus far, and njzec| as an independent legal en- Senate resolutions cause 'lively9 debate Two senate resolutions, both affecting reform in the student judiciary, caused lively discussion at last night's Student Senate meeting. The establishment of a residence hall hearing board was the subject of one of the resolutions. This board, if established, will give verdict on cases involving "misconduct, destructive behavior and attempted destructive behavior on the part of any student or students of the university with in a university residence hall." This resolution was sent back to the Rules Committee for further study. The other resolution, also returned to the Rules Committee, is to establish the governing rules and regulations of the Traffic, Superior and Supreme Courts. A resolution was passed to increase the "voluntary restitution" that a "guilty student- defendant" may pay in place of work hours from $.50 to $1. The resolution to increase stipends paid to Student Government employes was defeated. A roll call vote was called. The measure did not receive the necessary 2/3 vote. The resolution to approve office expenditures, read for the first time last week, was passed with one negative vote. The resignation of Doug De- .lamet* WSW roprt anH arrpntAd. tity, why did the Regents sign the contract to begin with? "You're asking me to speak for people who were around forty years ago, and I can't do that," said Blair Benjamin, legal advisor of the Board of Regents. The Regents, he added, certainly have an obligation to live up to a contract, "if it was valid."This one is not. And even if it had been valid, the ASUA has long since abrogated its obligation. They never sought to undertake running the bookstore, and they don't seek to now. All they want is the profits." Students are just as hostile towards the university's motives as the Regents are towards the students'. "At a time when the bookstore was viewed by the Regents as more of a headache," argued the students in their suit, they were willing to sell it to the students. But "as profits have soared," continued the students, "the Regents have had a change of heart." The ASUA suit asks for a payment of $10,000 to ASUA, and calls for a declaratory judgement stating that ASUA has the right to bookstore profits. More importantly, the suit asks for a decision as to whether ASUA is an independent entity, and whether it has the right to hire an attorney and pay the fees with ASUA funds. A judgement is expected w"hin s month AREA SNOW SCENE (Photofby Gatewood).
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Western Carolina University Publications

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolin...

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