The Other Press December 12, 1986 Page 5 Well, the anguish of the SGM _ (Special General Meeting) held on Decem- ber 4, 1986 has come to a ' close. For those who did not attend let me begin by stating that the meeting, put bluntly, was a. total farce. Fortunately we did make quorum, which is needed to make voting legal. Curiously enough, the majority of the ass- embly was in fact Phys. Ed. or Athletics students, and amazingly the speak- er, Mr. Scott Nelson, knew them all by name. Yes, that is where Mr. Nelson’s_ friends lie -- how convenient. The At- hletics Dept. seems to be around only when Athlet- ics is concerned, yet very little is known about the real issue. The Athletic levy has been passed and it seems that the Phys. Ed. stud- ents are still not satisfied. I am not against Athletics but I do believe that their | interests are blown out of proportion. Many people have raised their opinions -and concerns about Ath- letics and since we are a_ democratic organization, we every right to do so, including our Treasurer, Christopher Lirette. At the SGM, an attempt was Senator speaks made to discuss the im- peachment of Mr. Lir- ette’s position. Due to limitations of time, the Agenda did not get that far. First and foremost the major question is: on what grounds would it be prac- tical or beneficial to im- peach our Treasurer, Mr. Lirette? I do not believe that this can be answered logically, reasonably or without personal bias. Many students, even th- ose of us in the Senate, really don’t know what the job of Treasurer en- tails. Mr. Lirette has every right to express his opin- ion just as any other stud- ent does, and when a dec- ision is to be made affect- ing the students of Doug- las College -- be it the Athletics or any _ other Department -- it is voted upon by an entire Student Society and only. a major- ity, not an_ individual, decides what will be in the interests of the students. Christopher Lirette is one of the finest Treasurers the Student Society has seen for many years, and his position has, and is, being _ fulfilled 100%, objections brought forth to this statement have only been’ based on personal bias. Then again, such bias is only opinion and is irrelevant to the issue. The position of the Treasurer is at stake here and the position only. Under no circumstances is there reasonable grounds for impeachment. Where the most import- ant question lies is: “Do we have a responsible and trustworthy President?” Mr. Nelson, who chaired the meeting was very in- effective in keeping order among the assembly. The Athletics students were always permitted to speak, but where it was not in the interest of Scott Nelson other _ students, namely those with rel- evant points to make and who knew the rules of order were either ruled “out of order”, insulted or sworn at. Is it really in our best interest to have a President whose speech habits surrounds itself around ‘“F-words’? One who is only familiar with the rudiments of Parli- mentary procedure, and who insults fellow stud- ents. We encourage other students to speak up and come forward with their concerns and _ opinions, not make them feel rid- iculed or too embarrassed to do so. As far as the SGM, Scott Nelson was continually out of order. The intent of the meeting was hardly met. The Athletic Levy was to be limited to 10 minutes when in fact, over half of the meeting was based on Athletics. At least 75% of the Assembly consisted of the Athletic students and although they were there to support and back up there own interest, evid- ently little knowledge on their part was expressed. When proper questions were being expressed, Mr. Speaker (Scott Nel- son) would either interupt or call “out of order”. This behaviour was __ entirely “out of order” on his part. However his friends in the audience seemed, for some strange reason, to approve whole-heartedly of his outlandish antics -- could the phrase “flies being attracted to feces” be applied here? Again I will state that I am not against Athletics, but to be effective in argument some understanding and knowledge should exist pertaining to important issues affecting the Douglas College students. We are a _ democratic organization and_ should have no barriers in ex- ercising our rights if we really know what they are Athletic Levy which has been passed by Manage- ment does not benefit all students. It now serves as an even greater restriction on the accessibility of Let it be known that the. post-secondary educa- tion. Student fees con- tinue to rise and _ those students who do not have any interest in Athletics are going to be obliged to pay the extra fee to the Athletics Dept. This mandatory fee strikes me as being very unfair to the aprx. 4500 students who have nothing to do with the Athletics Dept. It is up to these students to speak up, for this levy does not need to be final. If there is no reaction however, it should be realized that this levy sets a precident for the departments in Douglas College to ask for similar levies. Under the logic used to support the Athletic levy, it would be fair and right for any department, for example: Theatre, Nursing, Music, and any other. Contrary to all students’ desire and request to maintain or decrease admissions costs, they are uncon- siously being self- defeating, for fees and costs will continue to rise if nothing is done. I urge all students, including Athletics, to think about it and act upon it. As a final statement I would like to say, “Scott Nelson, next time try to abstain from the liquor until after the meetings.” Petra B. Bangemann Social Sciences Rep. The Other Press The Other Press is a democratically run, autono- mous student newspaper, serving Douglas College since 1976. It publishes 8 times a semester, every two weeks, under the auspices of The Other Publications Society. Our funding comes by way of a direct student levy paid at registration, and through local advertis- ing. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press, and subscribes to it’s statement of principles. OPS Board of Directors Chairperson: vacant Entertainment Co-ordinator: Richard Haines Member at Large: Cynthia Kilt Features Co-ordinator: Doug Finnerty Member at Large: vacant Classifieds Co-ordinator: vacant Staff Rep: Kirstin Shaw Sports Co-ordinator: vacant Staff Rep: John McDonald Recruitment Co-ordinator: Karen Dhillon Business Manager: Mark Roberts Graphics Co-ordinator: Chris Brown Photographic Co-ordinator: | Rachael Smith Other Press Staff Production Co-ordinator: Typesetter Co-ordinator: Jeff House John McDonald, Rob Hancock, Colin Production Assistants: Rob Hancock Copy Editor: vacant News Co-ordinator: vacant Editorial Co-ordinator: Colin Turkington John McDonald Contributors