Rubber Stamp

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Reminiscent of high school student government, the Freshman Council acts as a rubber stamp body for the administration and performs no service for students. A prime example of the Council's ineptitude is its handling of the referendum on the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities. At Wednesday night's meeting, the Council voted to accept the unclear result of the December 9th referendum as a mandate supporting token freshman representation on the CRR.

The referendum's result was further distorted by the Council's own procedures. It voted to disseminate information on the CRR prior to the vote yet did not. While deciding that the referendum was to be binding, it did not decide prior to the vote whether a plurality alone would be sufficient for passage. Finally, the Freshman Council is an unchartered body without, according to some of its members, a constitution. It was presented to freshmen as a social organization, not as one whose responsibility extended to such politicized matters.

This highlights the absence of a functional student organization on campus. It is perhaps forgivable that the Freshman Council mishandled this matter when one considers that it was never meant to deal with such issues. An umbrella organization is needed to assess student opinion and to channel student action on campus issues presently decided without significant student input. Lacking such an organization, students must continue to endure the inadequacies inherent in the current system. Laura Besvinick '80   Tom Levenson '80   Kelly Roney '80