Just Trying To Be Heard

THE 500 LAW STUDENTS who demonstrated two weeks ago against the new rules on graded class participation have come under attack for the triviality of their cause. It's typical of law students to get hot and bothered about grades, the argument goes.

But grading policy was not the cause but the catalyst for the student protests. The real issue was student power: at the Law School even more than at the rest of the University--students have virtually no direct say in how the school is run.

The specific resolutions that sparked the Law School demonstrations were simply one instance of the lack of student participation in Law School decision-making: rallies and sit-ins were the only available means, in this case, for the students to make their opinions known to the faculty.

At the Law School, as elsewhere, the faculty makes all the important decisions. Only 10 students are allowed to sit in on the faculty's twice-monthly meetings. They may speak, but they cannot vote. Many advisory committees have student representatives, but the students are always a minority, and the most important committee Appointments has no student members.

Two weeks ago, though, even the normal doors for student input were slammed shut. The three student members of the 10 man committee which submitted the controversial proposals for faculty, consideration were told that the resolutions which they opposed would not be considered at the faculty meeting and so they did not attend.

And the most controversial of the resolutions--to count class participation in grading in second and third year classes was not a product of any student consideration. Submitted by one professor, it was one recommendation among many made by the Michelman Committee last spring after three years of deliberation. But even Professor of Law Frank J. Michelman himself, who chaired the committee, has said he opposes the single proposal taken out of context.

This year the Law School has witnesser number of student protests. While the merits of each issue are debatable, the fact that students most resort to extra-systemic measures to make themselves heard is a telling indication of their lack of institutionalized power.

The law students who demonstrated two weeks ago should be commended for their activism. It's about time students demanded institutionalized power. Forget the issue of graded classroom participation: the protesters were an example to all students who are tired of having important decisions made for them, not by them.