• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1978-09-28_Vol44_No06_03

SEPTEMBER 28. 1978/THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN/PAGE 3 Wanda Nelson: A close look •From Page 1 * aj of doing their job. They need to think about it now , not in the spring. 1 can't quote any one person as being politically ambitious, but of course I can feel it th< i What do you consider the main function of the senate? Nelson: fo act in accordance with the wishes of the students, to represent the people w ho elected theni and not then personal feelings, I see thai as mine and Phil's job alto. Has the Senate traditionally fulfilled this obligation, If miu want lo call it that? Nelson: 1 call it responsibility, ■ verv nature responsibility , I think there have been times when the) have neglected it because there wasn't enough student input. 1 think there should be more student input into SGA matters, There is of course, an elite group ol Students who al leaat make their views known and tell the senators what ihrv need. I think the senators need to make an all out effort to make themselves known, to lei Students in the dorms know who the) are. I would also like to see senalors keep office hours, mav be once 5T * ■ o "0 3- C Nelson: That's right. there's talk going around about a pay raise that you and Phillip got, some people have said that this Has dime illegallv or in a shad\ manner, can vou explain that? Nelson: There was a revision, and it passed the senate in the spring to revise the summer stipends to fit the semester system but there has been no pav raise vet. Da vuu still get the same amount each academic year? Nelson: Nes. I also get the same amount during the summer that I would get during a regualar semester. So vou did not gel a pay raise? Nelson: I'll check inlo it, bill 1 don't think so. Mv check tor this summer was S22S each ol the two sessions tor a total ot S450 which is what I would get during ihe regular term. On the radio the other night. I gave mvselt $50 extra. When lllev asked how much 1 get. I said VM). but Iget $900pet year. Whal do you attribute your overwhelming victory in the spring elections to? Nelson: I siood out in the rain for eight hours. I've been Heaven' or something like that, which is a rating guide. Any Ihing else yuu v»anl to point oul? Nelson: I'd like to make it a point that 1 want students to come bv here and gel involved. 1 hi v want to gripe about what's going on up here, but I can't go out and grab evi iv student here and sav. 'What 00 vou want lo gripe about.'' I've been on the radio twice already, but we'd like to set up a regular radio show where sluilenis can call in for information or anv thing else. I think W W< U has done a real ginid job so far coveting S< I \ activities. One nl vour campaign issues was the OffC ampus Housing Co-op. Ilov. is it progressing? Nelson I he committee has nisi been formed (since) the resolution forming it just came out of the senate. Luther Hollingsworth, who is director Of legal Assistance ot SGA, will be the chairman, and thev are supposed to start a stud) to establish i committee which will bring then resulls lo the senate on or before the 22nd ot January. If the) vole thai it should go through, thin.il V 7 call it a responsibility, a very mature responsibility. I think there have been times when they (the senate) have neglected it because there wasn't enOUgh Student input.' Wanda Nelson or twice a week. If a student has a question, il can be settled withoul an all out senate bill or something of that nature, Are there any new offices within SGA this year? Nelson: We have established an Office Of Academic Assistance that's new for this vear. How did this come about? Nelson: The brainstorm feme when a Student came lo me lasl year and said lit; had a beef about a teacher. The average sluilenl doesn't know the route VOU're supposed to take with the Academic Grievance Committee, first you go,to your professor, then to the head of the department, rhen you go to the dean, then you go to Dr. Stolt/ and the complaint goes from him to the Academic Grievance Committee. The administration says vou have to follow this procedure step by step Or they won't consider Ihe grievance. This student came to me and didn't know what to do, so that was the lirst thing that happened. Phil went ahead and wrote the bill to form the office. Docs the office handle anything other than complaints r.bout teachers? Nelson: lt will vary. Right now vve would like to have a place for a student who has a complaint who doesn't know what step to take next and can't find their advisor and this sort of thing. Of course we cannot take on the responsibility of being their academic advisor, but we can make it a point to get them in touch w ith an advisor. or make an appointment with an advisor for them. They will also work a lot with the Senate Committee on academics. When you set up something like this, you have to publicize it somehow. What sort of "public relations" office arc you going to have, will it be like last year's senate public information officer? Nelson: Right now. that does not exist because I had a candidate who backed out on me at the last minute, so I'm in the process of getting another one. Right now I'd like to work with vou all. Is the position still open? Nelson: It's still there, yes. If you know anybody who wants to do it. let me know . Its a stipended position. How about explaining a little about the referendum that was held in this last election. Nelson: There was a discrepancy concerning when elections are to be held. The referendum involved the time element. So it involved just a technicality then. Nelson: That's all il was. exactly. What about the other referendum issue? Nelson: It specified that the SGA President and Vice President have a QPR of 2.0. It has always been an unwritten rule, but it's never been in the constitution. Then both referendums were technicalities. through iwo elections, and I knew thai the election could be swayed on election dav. No matter how many people vou trv lo reach during that campaign period, if you're out thereon the lawn of the UC thai dav vou see more people than vou would anv oilier wav. I had a lot ol good people working for me, too. Do you think the fact that you're a woman had anything to do with it? Nelson: Yes and no. That I'm a woman I think mav have gotten me the female vote, but I'll attribute it to the people I had working for me because they were a good crew . and they got me elected. What happened to the PVA committee? Nelson: There is a senate resolution to reinstate the committee lor the fall but right now the members don't know if they are going to have time for it. and the chairman. Linda Street is having trouble getting information from Al Lagano. who was the chairman until he quit the senate this summer. Do you think the Promote Voter Awareness |PVA] committee is still needed? Nelson: Yes. if that's what it's going to do. The PVA attorney was paid a large sum of money by the SGA for his services after we were led to believe at first that he was donating his time for the case. I don't doubt that he probably earned his pay, but 1 was told that he was only going to be paid about $450 by Phil Cates. Then I hear about him getting a couple of thousand. Who is responsible for his paycheck? Nelson: That expense was incurred by Pat (Murphy) and Gary (Brown), and we had to follow it up. They had signed a contract of some sort with him. Of course. Phil was heavily involved with it. but I was in the senate and was not involved even as much as you were, but I think it was through personal association with Phil that he decided to take the case. I don't have the exact amounts he was paid, but you can get them from Roger McKinney (SGA Comptroller). I think the average Student has never had the opportunity to have dealings with a lawyer, and legal expenses are outrageous no matter w here you are or what you're doing. I appreciate the fact that he took on this job. and that a lot of the work he did. he didn't charge us for. He has disassociated himself with us and I don't think he can help us anymore. I think when he first got into it. he saw it as a good cause but when he realized how deeplv involved we were going to ger. Garv and Pat took it upon themselves to contract him as our lawyer. What's next for you in SGA? Nelson: I'm looking forward to the publication of the Co-op Housing Guide, which I'll make sure is out bv the first of the year for students to pick up. It will contain all the information from local landlords who would answer our questionnaire we sent out this summer. Carolina puts one out called 'The Southern Side of will establish the Of! Campus < o-op. What do vou expect the Co-op to accomplish? Nelson: %<' expect it lo make it a little easier for oil campus Students to find a nice place lo live. Nobody's kidding anybody, students' budgets are low and il would help ihem avoid the big deposits and such. Have you contacted local landlords about this? ^Nelson: When we first began, il was more of a iilililies CO operative, an idea we got from the University of Alabama, but with the landlords we thought we might develop a written agreement with the student where he and the student would go in aud check for damages, check for the way things an when the Student moves in, verv similar to the wav thev do it in Ihe dorms. The landlord and the student would sigrf il before tin- student moves in, and before he moves out he either gels his deposit back, or it is kepi bv the landlord. Have you received any response fromeanyone outside the university about the Co-op? Nelson: Oh ves. this summer Eddie Shuford. who vvas director of Legal Assistance for the summer, and Sam Caudell. who was attorney general, went out and visited all the landlords. We sent a letter out first which asked for the name, where their places to rent were, how much they rent for. and ali sorts of good questions, like "Do you require a deposit?" "Is tbere garbage pick up?" "Are pets allowed?" "Are references required?" "Furnished or unfurnished?" and a lot of other things. We got a lot of response back from the letter, but some landlords refused even though it would be good publicity for them. We hope to get a housing guide out by spring semester which will be printed by the WCU print shop. Did you get any verbal comment from landlords during the summer study ? Nelson: Most were verv helpful because they looked at il as a means of publicity for them. What about any hostile reaction from landlords? Nelson: I know that some of them refused lo participate in our survey or said thev just wanted lo be more discreet in who they reined to and who thev didn't which in my opinion may be discrimination in a sense Should landlords have the discretion to choose who they rent to and who they don't? Nelson: If they put down in writing specifically what their regulations are then fine, but other than that it's hard to sav because it is their property, and it's a touchy situation. What does vour daily routine as SGA President consist of? Nelson: I come in at about 7:30 a.m. and usually I'll check the mail first. All of my mail is opened and stamped by my assistant before I sec it Usually I have a lot of memos for Patty (Whitson, SGA secretary) to •Turn to Page 4, Please

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 Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1978-09-28
  • Date digitized: 2018-08-27
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22" x 16"
  • Pages: 16 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1978-09-28_Vol44_No06
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library