University of Virginia Library

Student Funds

The Student Council rallied itself Tuesday
night for another assault on the Student
Activities Fund, the object of several unsuccessful
sorties in the past. A slightly
different-and we think more responsible-approach
was made, however, with Council
President Ed Ford charged to investigate
the legality of placing control of student
funds in student hands.

On the surface, there are persuasive
arguments in favouring of turning over this
money given the generally accepted notion
that students should play a large role in
running their own affairs. The money is
paid by students along with their tuition
and is used to subsidize student organizations,
including The Cavalier Daily. The
Student Activities Committee (SAC) usually
approves the Council's recommendations on
allocation of these funds. Furthermore, a
survey of SAC members last year revealed
that a considerable number were in favor
of turning over their responsibilities to the
Council.

The issue is not quite that clear cut,
however. Students are represented already
on the SAC. There is the opinion that it
is desirable to have certain members of
the faculty and administration serving on
the SAC from year to year, thereby assuring
a certain continuity and experience when it
comes to deciding how the SAC fiscal pie
is to be sliced up among so many deserving
groups. There is also the view pointed
out last spring by Mr. Shannon, that a group
like the present SAC is far more able to
stand up to outside pressure than a student
organization would be should another Gus
Hall-George Lincoln Rockwell controversy
arise at the University.

We do hope that the Council's request
for control of funds will be given serious
consideration by an open-minded administration
and Board of Visitors and that
all the aspects of the issue will be discussed
in the light of objectivity. We are
not in favor of any alteration of the present
system at the moment, but we shall
look with interest at the "concrete case
for change" the Council says it will make.