‘ngMEQERé ' the King Solomon explained that there is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak out." (Ecclesiastes 3:7) Wise is the man who knows which is which. Ch many occasions we battle with the tendency to remain silent when we should ac— tually speak out and pre- vent many a devastating accurance. Someone obser- ved, 'fSilence isn't always V golden — sometimes it's plain yellow!" I bet, this is exactly the case in U.P. E.I.S.U. It is high time someone spoke out about our affairs and its manage- ment by the Student Union Officials. In fact, fl1is is precisely what I have resolved to do. 'Ibachieve this purpose, I have taken up this column on our wide— ly r‘ead newspaper — The Sun. I want to hit “the nail on the head by writing im— mediately on the most cur—K rent issue and one that means very much to all the students of this institu- tion. This is the fast \ , our rights of decision-mak— * ing regarding the Student Unionto the persons we voted for. I therefore, feel very strongly that those we give such rights are the people we believe can handle it to our maxi— mum advantages. A Student Union that has an amual incate of about $73,000 needs to have the best stu- dents of the institution on its management. But has this been the case in UPEI for many years now? Think about it for just a wcond. There is no doubt that we have the know-how to make ours be one of the best element student Unions in the Mar— . itimes, and I dare say, right across Canada. let us come together and decide to give the right person the right position. This can only be achieved by our knowing those we vote into offices. We can know the prospective can— didates only by being in— volved in the Campaign. You may say that after all yours is just one vote and that it does not matter whether you vote or not. I bet you, if everybody de- cides to keep his one vote on that basis, nobody will vote at all. It is true that a tree cannot make a ‘ forest, but it ‘is even UPEI SUN,'I‘hursday,Feb.16,l978,page 9 "truer", if you can per- mit me' to invent that word, that a tree is a necessary condition for a forest. .,_ It is true, though, that if only 50 students decide to votein this forth-caning election that all the posi-_ tions are going to be fil- led, but is it: proper that only 50 students Should de— cide the faith of the entire 1,500 full—tim‘ students in this university? On many occasions, I have come ac— ross some students that grudge about the management of our student. Union. Now is the right time for us to express our grudges by pushing away the dead—woods, so to say, on the wheel, of our progress, with our ‘ votes. Past records show that last year's election had the greatest amount of votes. Thank goodness for that. But what was the fig- ure? Only 600. Consider that in relation to the num— ber of students on role. This is just about 55% of the entire students. How many of us go about throw- ing parties for making jsut that much on our exams? Probany very few or even none. Now pause for a sec— ond and ask yourself this question. Am I among the six hundred students that g-NORTON’S JEWELLERS LTD. OUR HOPE FOR A BETTER STUDENT UNION voted last year? Did I de- cide to keep quiet and let ‘ other people decide on my fate? _ If the answer is pos- itive, resolve now to make sure you use your vote, and of course give it to the right persons. Just a word before you commit blunders with your resolution. You are free to vote for one office and not vote for another. By doing this, you will stand a better chance of having better officers. For in- stance, if after voting for the Presidency position, you find out that there is nobody of your choice or someone you know that is suitable for the Vice Pres— idency position among all the candidates for that office, you should not vote for the office at all. This allows those that know those persons better to vote for the more qualified ‘ person. Our chronic di- sease is that we always do things just because our friends did them, and not based at all on our person- al convictions. Now remem— ber that a man without principles is like educa- tion without certificate. Consider your fate if af- ter working very hard for four years here, you leave without a degree. Iet‘s become ourselves and exist properly. I have this little mes— sage for the prospective officials. The positions that are open include those 117 Kc nt Street, Charlottetown Phone 894-3 9221 of the President, Vice Pres- ident, Comptroller, Commun— ications Officer, two Sen- ators and faculty Reps. You must have read from the ed— itorial of the last issue of the Sun flat the salaries for the executive officers approaching Student Union election. The long eXpected date for the election has been fixed at last. It is the 22 of February and the day is Wednesday. This is the day that will either JEWELLERY, WATCHES, increase or decrease our » hopes for better Pig 'n _ Whistles, very good pro— grams from CINN Campus Ra— dio, very good newspaper, a very good representation - on the various Boards that run U.P.E.I., to mention only a few. V " It- is very sad indeed that most students that ag— itate for improvement in ~’ the aformentioned services, smetime during the Sexes-e ter, are most nonchalant with the elections of those that make the entire deci— sions regarding how these services are rendered. «Come out now and choose the right person for'the right position. You may not know this, but the one vote you make matters very much. When we vote, we give all CHINA, GIFTS. CHARMS, REPAIRS, ENGRAVING Lo H ’OH F'os‘hioned Goodness'i' V .g'I'he pellar — "‘Hughe 5 Drug Building \ 43g. DISPENSQIR}, Regtaurant are $1,000, $600, $800, $701, $600 respectively. ’ Thanks to our hardworking editor, J. Iaurence Green, for-workingtooth and nail to provide these all-impor— tant statistics. I have gone inside—out the censti_ tution without finding that 7 information. I wonder who determines the positions that get paid and those that do not, and more im— portantly, the salary scale for each position. Well, whoever does that, the fact still retains that those who work should get paid. I am not grudging about these salaries. In fact, I appreciate the wise and noble step to increase. them as soon as possible. 0 But the big question is CONT‘D ON P. 12