Maroon

              loyola MAROON LOYOLA UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS APRIL 29,1977 VOI.. LI 11 NOE4 SBA allocation intact Aidoo threatened veto By Dwan Singleton A $595 allocation to the Student Bar Association for a national convention, threatened by SGA presidential veto, was kept intact after an SBA representative said the purpose of the convention was not to lobby for minority programs. The $595 allocation, pared from an original allocation of $850, was approved at the SGA's meeting last Thursdav, April 21. SGA president Joe Aidoo was prepared to veto the allocation unless the SBA agree to send a woman or a minority student to the convention. Aidoo said he and other delegates thought the purpose of the convention was to lobby for programs on women-in-law and migrant workers, and therefore felt a woman or a minority student should make the trip. However Phil deVerges, Student Bar Association president, and Paul Pastorek, president of the law school delegation to the SGA, told Aidoo the conference, an annual affair, was not specifically to lobby for minority purposes. The veto would have been Aidoo's first of his administration. Aidoo also threatened to veto a $528 allocation to the Rugby Club for uniforms and equipment unless the club state in a letter that the SGA would not be asked (o fund such expenses in the future. At an emergency meeting Tuesday, the SGA voted $200 to join the National Student Association. The previous SGA administration under Anne Bienfang did not pay the national dues. "Some of the major things they do." Aidoo said of the association, "are (that) they have a travel bureau that can give discounts especially to out of town students who want to travel. Besides that they have a list of programs and other things that you can establish on campus. They are there for the interests of higher education in the country." The SGA also decided to allocate $400 for registration fees to the National Student Association's annual conference in Houston this summer. The money will also pay for renting a car to make the trip. Aidoo said he didn't know who was going to go to the convention, but he hoped the delegation presidents would be able to go. Debate on the allocation centered on whether the SGA should be spending the money for the conference. Former SGA president Sean O'Keefe felt the money should not be spent. "Observing the SGA for the very brief time it's been in office," O'Keefe said, "there are quite a few organizational difficulties which I think can be easily rectified over the summertime; but until which time this in-house organization is taken care of, its financial responsibilities rectified, its organizational structure ilarified, to go outside the organization .nay be an expense which has diminishing margins of utility." "I think the (National Student Association) is an extraordinarily beneficial organization... The only point I would like to caution is the SGA has currently spent almost $1,000 in the past two weeks. That's rather high." The SGA also reimbursed Tri Beta $150 after its car broke down on the way to a convention and they had to rent a car. The SGA also chartered the American Marketing Association. Warm weather and dear skies make it hard for students to concentrate on exams, but it is only two more weeks till the whole semester is over. So cheer up and keep studying! Ruth Largay will become the MAROON s new editor in the fall. Photo By Eddie Leckert. Will -. Reporters don't stand a chance What most people define as political bias in today's press coming out of Washington can be more accurately described as a tone of ignorance, according to George Will, syndicated columnist and Pulitizer Prize winner for news commentary. Will, who spoke here earlier this week, gave his opinions about the press and news coming out of the nation's capital. "What bothers people the most about journalism, newspaper journalism in particular, is that there is a tone of skeptism. Though it strikes people as a political bias and a tone of arrogance, it is really a tone of ignorance," Will said. Will explained that this problem arises because Washington's large concentration of Ph.D's and lawyers is becoming so complex. He added that the press corps in Washington has grown, but Washington has grown so much more. "The problem of Washington journalism is that the government sets the agenda of the news. The government in a very important sense defines the news," Will expressed. Will said the government has more time to gather information and investigate than the average journalist or editor can afford to give to one topic. He added that it is easier for newspapers to print the information the government releases, than to check the facts behind it. Besides the fact that government officials have more time to get information, Will felt the print journalist is discouraged by the amount of false information he receives. He cited the competition of television as another factor of the journalist's insecurity. "I have the gravest doubts about whether television ought to be in the news business at all," Will said. Will felt the American public may be over exposed to government and public affairs, and this makes it hard to get people interested. Will listed several reasons why he felt television was at a disadvantage in news reporting. First, he felt television was a slave to the camera, which he sees as a superficial news gathering instrument. He felt the brevity of a newscast made TV news into a headline service, and its visual aspect prevented it from reaching the real depth of a story. "Everthing in America has been shaped indelibly by this media. Television has shaped the type of people we are," Will aid. Will said that he felt journalism as a whole does not depict any philosophy. He feels that public claims of the press trying to influence public opinion are wrong. "The power of the press may be a myth of some sort. If by power we mean anything rigorous, it is very hard to demonstrate that the press has or wants to have power," Will said. Concerning whether the press tries to achieve entended effects, Will said, "The press is too busy to try to change public opinion." In closing, Will discussed his feelings that Americans have more available news information than any other country. He felt that in spite of all the weakenesses of American journalism, Americans can be exposed to events quickly and easily. In conclusion, Will said, "The average American is full of news. He is tired of it. He is generally more interested in Paul Newman. It is a sign of national health. They are happy: no riots, no particular reason to be unhappy." MAROON elects new editor Ruth Largay, newly elected editor of the MAROON for the fall semester, will strive to have the MAROON fulfill the needs of the campus community and have a more aesthetic appeal. "The MAROON is not giving students and faculty enough in depth coverage of news events and social topics," Largay said Largay was born in Mobile, Alabama and grew up in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. She presently works in the Public Relations office as a publications coordinator and has worked on design, layout, and writing news releases and features. She served as layout editor for the MAROON in the spring of 1976 and as a reporter in the fall of 1976. Largay also worked as a copy person on the Mobile Press Register in Mobile, Alabama. Largay plans to change the total design of the newspaper and go to a magazine format. She will place an advertisement in the first issue of the fall semester to solicit information from departments on campus "If that doesn't work, Til just pick up the phone and contact the key persons," Largay said. Largay wants to increase the "dedicated members" of the staff. She places emphasis on bringing more people not in journalism into the MAROON. "I want to get students who are not journalism majors working on the paper." Largay named Cheron Brylski, a journalism major from New Orleans, as managing editor.