Student Council debates gambling machines

Water fights and hiring practices also on the agenda

he Student Council held its latest regu- F lar meeting last Sunday, and voted to keep gambling machines in the Panther Lounge despite student complaints. The coun- cil also discussed a variety of other topics, including student union hiring practices, before concluding the session.

Kent Driscoll, Vice-President of Operations, proposed a campus-wide oreven city-wide game in which water guns would be used to soak people that have been targeted by an identifica- tion card. Only those who signed up would be at risk of suffering a soaking, and the library and classrooms would be out of bounds. Objections

were raised about the use of water guns in light

of recent events like the Montreal massacre. Various substitutes were suggested, including a simple subpoena method; however, questions about the loss of enjoyment that method would incur were raised. Finally, it was agreed that there should be a different instrument of soak- ing which would be decided upon in the next council meeting:

Driscoll reported that last week’s Business Society Pub was not successful, and that Com- edy Night at the barn was only a moderate success. This Thursday will be Country Rock night (due to the cancellation of Sass Jordan) and the following Friday will be Athletes’ night. Admission to the former will be three dollars (two if you’re wearing cowboy boots) and the latter will be two dollars for athletes and three dollars for everyone else; athletes will also receive a free beer upon request. In future, students can look forward to the Halloween Pub, Irish Descendants Pub and the Scared Weird Little Guys.

Driscoll also proposed the creation of a Facility Manager position, which would in- clude managing the Panther Lounge, the Cam- pus Police and all related duties. King requested that a committee of five be struck to deal with the proposal. It was agreed that as V.P.O., Driscoll will have the final say as to who is in the committee.

Ed Lank, reporting from the U.P.E.I. Senate, mentioned that the search committee that will be hiring a new President of U.P.E.I. will re- quire a student who can commit to the two years time the hiring process takes. Lank also voiced the Senate’s concern with a ruling in Alberta which allows all financial decisions made by a university to be vetoed by the provincial treas-

urer. The Senate wants to prevent such a move from happening on P.E.I. by educating the academic community about the importance of autonomy. :

The representative of the board of governors reported that the Task Force on Sexual Assault tabled its interim report and will be tabling a final report before Christmas to be read in

January.

C.F.S. representative Bruce Davison’s main concern was student support for the all-candi- dates forum in the Pit. He wants to get a com- mitment from the elected Hillsborough repre- sentative to meet regularly with student repre- sentatives. Davison also wants to drum up sup- port for C.F.S at Holland college, where there are pockets of active criticism of the organiza- tion. Davison’s response to this antipathy was, “If you don’t use something, obviously you’re going to look at it as useless.”’

The hiring board review committee sug- gested three amendmentsto current hiring board practices, two of which were passed. The third will be further discussed at the next meeting. The first two amendments concerned the pres- ervation of the anonymity of applicants during the preliminary review process and the en- hancement of the review committee’s knowl- edge of the job requirements. The third and most contentious amendment cut out discus- sion between board members during interviews so that evaluations can be made independently and the possibility of one board member using his/her powers of persuasion over the others would be eliminated. Various members of the council opposed this amendment because it would prevent the position’s supervisor, who is anon-voting member of all hiring boards, from giving his/her special knowledge to the rest of the board. Other members valued the increased objectivity of the newly proposed amendment. The hiring board review committee will meet again on October 27 at Spm in the Barn’s student council office. The student body is invited to give input.

Video gambling machines will remain in the Panther lounge. The motion was carried by a slim, one-vote margin. Arguments for keeping the machines came from V.P.O. Kent Driscoll, whose arguments also reflected those of bar manager Mark McLane. Driscoll stated that by removing the poker machines the Student coun- cil would be taking a ‘“‘holier than thou atti-

tude’’ against vice which is hypocritical be- cause alcohol is sold in the Barn even though alcoholism is a dangerous vice. He also called video gambling a social activity which provides enjoyment to its participants. Finally, he said that those addicted to video gambling will find a place to gamble whether the machines are there or not. Student Council President Todd King said that the issue should be looked at not as a money issue but in terms of whether the Students are being served. In that light, said King, there are no good reasons for keeping the machines because the students who are not addicted will not care less if the machines are gone, adding that it is only the addicts who will complain.

ED FOBES

October 21, 1993/X-Press/9