The issue of student participation in departmental affairs may first come to the attention of the faculty on the day a front-page story appears in the student newspaper:

“Eighty-five concerned political science majors and minors held a meeting Wednesday to decide whether or not they wanted to have a voice in the affairs of the political science department.

There was not much debate but there was a lot of discussion in trying to decide the answers to such questions as: Do we want merely a voice on the different faculty committees? Do we want a vote on the different committees? Do we feel we should participate on all committees, including the hiring, firing and tenure committee?

It was nearly unanimously decided that the bargaining committee should strive for no less than one-half the vote on ALL committees, including the hiring, firing and tenure committee.”

Or the opening shot in the battle for “participatory democracy” may be fired by way of a mimeographed hand-out:

“The emergence of an undergraduate organization in the political science department is indicative of student recognition of and concern for problems in both the content of courses and in the processes whereby decisions in this department are made …. We do not feel that accepting advisory roles on existing committees is a satisfactory method for implementing such change. We must be the spokesmen for our own interests, and that means being our own representatives.