Betty Welch
Feature Editor
The foundation of the Student Affairs Committee was shaken, as Calvin Szueber, Associated Students Federation (ASF) Forum member, expressed the concerns of students and faculty members in the selection of the 24 seniors chosen to be in the 1982 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, a national honor.
Traditionally, the criteria for Who’s Who candidacy were students’ involvement pertaining to on and off campus activities, and showing leadership ability and scholastic achievement. Convener of the Student Affairs Committee, Leonard Harper, addressed the questions of Szueber, as did ASF Chairperson and Vice-chairperson Dan Hayward and Joseph Lewis.
Harper stressed that the general nature of the criteria made the selection process difficult to standardize. Also, he said the committee could not talk freely about certain “confidential information” concerning the personality of each individual senior.
In analyzing the reasoning behind the committee’s considering seniors who had presented no formal Who’s Who application, Harper said that non-applicants were considered by the committee because it felt that there were several students who didn’t want to profess their achievements, academic or otherwise.
Harper said, “Some students aren’t going to say, ‘I oughta get this (Who’s Who).”‘
Hayward responded to Szueber’s concerns of rumors that Eric Vilchis, a member of the Student Affairs Committee, was, figuratively, “grabbed off the street” because the committee needed a member the day before it convened.
Hayward answered, “There were four applications for 12 committees … there were no applications for the two off-campus representatives, so we called up the people who had been on the committee last year, and that was how they were chosen.”
Lewis added, “The problem is student apathy, and the people aren’t interested in the Student Affairs Committee until it’s after the fact.” Lewis continued, “It’s really disheartening when no one signs up for Who’s Who (subcommittee on the Student Affairs Committee), and we put it in the Spots to Watch, the Weekly Bulletin, and there is a delay of deadlines.”
The Student Affairs Committee includes the Dean of Student Services Sharon Wright, Director of Student Services Leonard Harper, and dorm council presidents from Stu-Han, Brandt and Woods apartments; Steve Gregory, campus minister; one faculty representative, four off campus representatives and Mary Ann Johnson, director of housing.
Most faculty members are excluded from the voting process, although they are able to recommend students from their departments for the honor.
According to Szueber, some faculty members did not receive their Who’s Who nomination papers as they had last year. Harper recalled that all faculty members had been sent notification of the nomination but through clerical mishaps, many were never received.
In other news, the possible appearance of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, a probable candidate for governor of California, was greeted with alarm by the Forum, the mayor had requested a stipend of $5,000.
ASF member George Rich asked, “Why should we pay for a campaign speech?”
Lewis said he would report further on this possibility at the next Forum meeting, Jan. 4.
