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Council Will Vote Thursday

Silveira Motions That To Avoid Politicking, Council Vote Early

By Winthrop Knowlton

A surprise motion by Henry M. Silveira '51, president of the Student Council, to hold elections for now council officers tonight instead of Monday, as originally planned, met with only partial success last night when, after a brief but heated argument, the council compromised, and decided to hold elections on Thursday.

Silveira's move, designed, he claimed, to avoid politicking before the vote next week, was immediately followed by a motion by Gordon M. Morrison, Jr. '52 to hold elections immediately--that is, at last night's meeting--and thus avoid any campaigning whatsoever.

"If necessary," Morrison said, "candidates can campaign as effectively in 24 hours as in a week."

William L. Polk '51 countered with a suggestion that politicking is a "healthy" phenomenon which enables the voters--in this case the incoming council--to get to know the candidates better. "Besides," he continued, "some of the officers who are elected may be new, not returning, councilmen and the recently elected members should have at least a week to become acquainted with each other."

Last night's meeting was the first council gathering at which the new men were present; opinion was divided among them as to their ability to immediately choose officers intelligently and fairly.

Recalls Past Campaign

Silveira, in making his motion, recalled the intensive campaigning which took place two years ago and which, he said, caused a serious schism in the council for the entire year.

A factor which helped postpone elections until Thursday was the absence of two members of the new council, Robert F. Plaxco Jr. '54 and Charles C. Cabot '52.

The election move by Silveira followed a busy meeting in which the group approved an Administration Board plan on make-up exams, passed a resolution on football allotments, and decided to write a letter to the Federal Communications Commission.

Under the exam proposal, which will come before the Faculty soon, all seniors who miss their midyears or final tests--excused or unexcused--will, with the permission of the Dean, the instructor, and the chairman of the department, be allowed to take make-up exams; those with excuses would have to pay $10 and those without, $20.

Other undergraduates who do not have excuses would be allowed to enroll in the course again for $20 (instead of the full fee, as is now the case) and take exams the following year. This could be done only once during one's undergraduate career; courses completed in this manner would count for credit but not rating.

The council passed a proposal which would restrict individual students to purchases of ten tickets (two to each bursar's card) to each football game. This, the council hopes, will eliminate the sale of tickets in large blocks of hundreds of seats.

The council also decided to write a letter to the FCC urging that one or more television channels remain unallocated so that they could be used by educational groups.

Two motions by Richard M. Sandler '52, treasurer of the council, passed too: (1) to award "associate membership" certificates and "certificates of merit" for outstanding contributions to council committee work by non-council members; (2) to award the "Richard Glover and Henry Russell Ames Memorial Aids," after a lapse of two years, to "men who exhibit the sterling character and inspiring leadership that were qualities of Richard and Henry Ames," two former council members

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