University of Virginia Library

Persuasive Communication

Two days of balloting begin tomorrow
which will determine the role of the Student
Council during the coming year. While it
would be pleasant to be able to editorialize in
grandiose terms, to speak of one candidate or
another who seems certain to "carry on in the
fine tradition of his predecessors," we cannot.
There is no such candidate, no such tradition.

Anyone remotely familiar with the
operations of Council in recent months
doubtless has become aware of certain facts.
First, that small correlation exists between
the bureaucratic processing of paper and
actual accomplishment. Next, that the
fractured, loose-ended committee system has
become unworkable.

There is, finally, the aspect of power and
its distribution at the University. We have
been told that a "New Constitution" - a
radical alteration of constituencies and
methods of representation - contains the
answer to the problem of the Council's
powerlessness. We think not. Like any
bureaucracy, this University tends to pass
power down from above. Students, in general,
have approximately as much say in the affairs
of the institution as they are permitted by the
administration. To alter form without due
attention to function, obviously, ignores
those contingencies of power which
ultimately matter.

At the same time, we find ourselves
confronted with two very able candidates for
president of Student Council: Alan Botsford
and Tom Collier. Both have served as Council
representatives. Both show records which
qualify them - each in his own way - for the
office at stake. Since their positions on issues
are similar, it is useful to distinguish between
the two by means of isolating their separate
concerns. Both Mr. Collier and Mr. Botsford
were asked yesterday to identify their main
goals if elected.

Mr. Botsford was a chief organizer of last
weekend's Student-Legislator Forum held in
Richmond. He cites expansion and growth as
the major issues facing the University and,
therefore. Council in the next year. Mr.
Botsford wants to continue the
newly-established dialogue with Richmond
and to increase the effectiveness of Council
by expanding student participation within it.

Tom Collier's angle of approach is
different. While he recognizes the need to
provide a clearinghouse for student ideas on
the subject of growth, and has noted the
necessity for planning - in any area of
expansion - Mr. Collier sees a more pressing
concern in prospect for Council. That is the
reestablishment of credibility. He has
proposed that the Council's many committees
be reduced to five: Equality,
Communications. Academic Reform, Growth,
and Organizations and Publications. This, Mr.
Collier feels, will reduce red tape, paperwork,
and needless bureaucratic detail which have
come to symbolize Student Council this year.

As both candidates have admitted, the
differences between them are slight. The
major challenge facing the new President will
be to revitalize Council. Mr. Collier plans to
reverse the bureaucratization of Council while
Mr. Botsford appears willing to accept it.

If Council ever intends to regain any
degree of effectiveness, it must redirect its
energies towards students' major concerns,
disregarding the minor issues which presently
occupy its attention. While both candidates
have similar goals for the University, only Mr.
Collier is prepared to take the steps necessary
to change Council if that body is to play any
role in attaining these goals.