A Bad Proposal
A bill, introduced into the Legislature
this session, would prohibit the State Sys
tem of Higher Education from increasing
college tuition or other fees without legis
lative permission. We hope that this bill
will fail, as did a similar measure intro
duced during the last session.
The proposal asks that legislative control
over dormitory and other fees, plus tuition,
be granted on the grounds that such fees
are an indirect taxation on the parents of
students within the State System and there
fore should be reviewed by the Legislature.
A great amount of legislative control of ed
ucation is possible under the existing pro
cedure; further control could hamper edu
cation greatly. The State Board of Higher
Education's budget is submitted to the Leg
islature each session for approval. At this
time, reductions are frequently made and
the entire tax program is evaluated by el
ected representatives.
Over a year ago. a referendum election
defeated the legislature’s proposed tax pro
gram. forcing the state to cut many budgets,
including higher education’s. Following the
tax defeat, enrollment increases and pro
gramming already begun by the state sys
tem forced the State Board to consider rais
ing tuition to cover the year's expenses. At
the time the Legislature adjourned, it ap
peared that tuition would have to be raised
for this fall term. Although the increase
was later rejected, the legislature was no
longer in session by the time this decision
was made.
Placing the power to lower or raise fees
in the hands of the legislature would reduce
the State System’s ability to deal with such
emergencies, and others such as sudden in
creases in demands upon facilities or facul
ty. In an extreme year, with public opinion
running high against education, and we
hope this situation never arises, legislators
could conceivably cut budget requests ana
deny the State System the right to raise tui
tion to meet existing costs. Such action
could only result in curtailing the activities
of state institutions.
The new proposal would not only give
legislators power to determine how much
could be spent for higher education, but
also how it should be raised. Many factors
affect the level of tuition, compulsory fees
and dormitory fees each year. The dormi
tories must be operated on a self-liquidating
basis, making their prices dependent upon
current prices, the percent of occupancy
and other factors. One of the factors affect
ing tuition annually is total enrollment.
Budgets are established after estimating the
number of students who will be enrolled in
the state system and therefore will be pay
ing for education in a given year. Although
enrollment projections generally give a
close picture of future enrollments, a sud
den drop or rise could make a difference in
Higher Education’s financial picture for a
given year.
The State Board of Higher Education is
the body legally constituted to operate the
state’s colleges and universities. This group
is extra-political with members appointed
by the governor.
This procedure places the men and wo
men responsible for operating the state’s
“smokeless industry,” education, before the
public but does not subject them to the
constituent pressures which would be pres
ent if they were popularity elected. At the
present time, the legislature reviews edu
cation and weighs its budget in terms of
the state’s total taxation structure foi* a
given year.
The proposed bill is not a necessary
change and could conceivably be a harm
ful one. We urge that this bill not be passed.
The Unjust McCarran Act
The Oregon Journal, January 18, 1965
The seeming injustice of the Internal
Security Act of 1950, also known as the
McCarran Act, is likely to be brought to
local attention again this week.
On Tuesday the Subversive Activities
Control Board is scheduled to open a hear
ing in Portland to determine whether Ralph
Nelson, formerly of North Bend and now of
Portland, is a Communist and should be re
quired to register as such.
The injustice involved is that if Mr. Nel
son is a Communist and did register, he
might lay himself open to prosecution un
der various other anti-subversive laws such
as the Smith Act. To force him to register,
therefore, might violate his rights against
self-incrimination under the Fifth Amend
ment of the Constitution.
That this is a real danger was recognized
in December, 1963, by the U.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington, D.C. Chief Judge
David L. Bazelon wrote then that a series
of Supreme Court decisions had confirmed
that “mere association” with the Commu
nist party amounted to criminal conspiracy.
In that decision, the appeals court ruled
that in view of the Fifth Amendment, the
Communist party itself could not be con
victed of failing to register under the Mc
Carran Act unless the government could
show that some representative of the party
was willing voluntarily to sign the registra
tion statement. Last June the .Supreme
Court let that decision stand It has not yet
decided whether individual Communists
can be punished for refusing to register, as
several have refused.
It may seem galling to insist on the civil
rights of Communists who would not hesi
tate to deny them to their opponents if they
had a chance. But the Bill of Rights was
written precisely to protect people with un
popular ideas from harassment. When they
turn from ideas to action against the gove
ernment they should be prosecuted for that.
But a federal hearing aimed at forcing a
man to confess himself a Communist is too
reminiscent of the show trials back of the
Iron Curtain.
The registration provision of the McCar
ran Act should be repealed if the Supreme
Court doesn’t declare it unconstitutional
first.
Machine-Age Artists
From the Daily Iowan
The many talents of computers are just
now becoming apparent. SUI is planning
to hold a computer dance, where partners
_ will be matched by an electronic Ann Lan
ders, and a Fortune magazine release says
that computers can write poetry.
“Auto-beatnik” verses are being written
by R. M. Worthy’s computer at General
Precision, Inc., in Glendale, Calif. One of
the samples from the pushbutton bard is
Lament for a Mongrel
To belch yet not to boast, that is the hug,
The high lullaby’s bay discreetly crushes
the bug.
Your science was so minute and hilly,
Yes, I am not jade organ’s leather pro
grammer’s recipe.
As she is squealing above the cheroot,
these obscure toilets shall squat,
Moreover, on account of hunger, the
room was hot.
Judging from this verse (?), it will be a
long time before a computer is accepted in
the Writer’s Workshop. This is one area
where automation won’t take over.
■4—ie'SZ lS.l fC.
' —-TH# P“<T*
“I Guess I’m A Natural-Born Devlationist”
arnmnn LdtCVS tO tl()C EctltOV muiaiuumw»ai
Viet Nam
Emerald Editor:
What a coindence! The 18 Jan
uary edition of the Register
Guard prints an editorial en
titled "Treacherous Friends."
concerning the "lunatic fringe.”
Among other comments was
a quotation from an Eisen
hower administration official"
. . . He (the extremist) re
serves his sharpest shafts for
the man relatively close to him
in the political spectrum
The next day the Emerald car
ries a letter from Barry Barlow,
in which Mr. Harlow Hips a neat
barb into the Johnson adminis
tration with the comment that”
. . . even Dean Rusk, in an unu
sual moment of candor, admit
ted. . .” From the context of the
letter I assume Mr. Harlow to be
at least a liberal As 1 recall the
recent election the Johnson
Humphrey ticket enjoyed the
support of everyone to the left
of moderate Republicans, includ
ing socialists and communists.
Funny thing, they get their team
elected and even before they arc
inaugarated, we find that the
top team members have been
lying to us all along.
Mr. Harlow further states
that". . . these realities (of the
Viet Nam war) do not coincide
very well with what one reads
in most newspapers. . 1 re
cently completed 28 mos. of mil
itary duty on Okinawa, which
is one of the major staging-out
areas for operations "down
South,” i.e., SE Asia. I was ex
posed to intensive news cover
age of the situation, in addition
to having the opportunity to
discuss it with personnel inti
mately involved, such as Special
Forces men, fellow medics re
turned from temporary duty
down there, various Intelligence
personnel, and Viet Namcse
trainees on Okinawa. I also had
plenty of time for outside re
search on the situation. I
thought that I had a fair idea
of what was happening and I
rarely find any points of agree
ment with Mr. Barlow’s inter
pretation. As one with an earn
est desire to know the "truth”
I wonder if Mr. Barlow could
supply me with a list of publica
tions which do report the situa
tion accurately?
I had to chuckle, albeit grim
ly, when I read the line. . .
"While led by Communists, the
National Liberation Front of
South Vietnam includes indivi
duals of any different political
beliefs. . So did Castro’s
movement. Mr. Barlow fails to
mention what happens to those
adherents of different political
beliefs after the Reds take over.
I suggest that he spend an eve
ning or two visiting Cubans who
got out after Castro got in.
Mr. Barlow makes one state
ment from which 1 could make
no sense. Following what sounds
like a rehash of the socialist’s
solution to the problem, he says
. . . “If either side rejects a
cease-fire, the United States
should end its illegal military
involvement Which, as I in
terpret it. means that regardless
of what happens we should pull
out. If so, why bother with
cease-fires, (Jenevea Conventions
and all that diplomatic fanfare?
Yours truly
Walter I.enington
Graduate, Anthropology
Behavior Theory
Ivmearld editor:
In Mr Powell's second mud
died letter, he says that ‘‘simu
lated conflict situations car
solve a learning process, even
beyond their cathartic effect ’
In fact, there is evidence thal
“effective catharsis occurs only
when an angered person per
ceives that his frustrator has
been agressively injured’’ (I,
HerkowiU, “The Effects of Ob
serving Violence,” “Scientific
American,” Feb 19fl4i. It fol
lows that simulated conflict situ
ations may stimulate real vio
lence. Furthermore, I hope thaf
in his reply Mr. Powell will des
cribe how simulated conflict sit
uations "solve” learning pro
cesses.
Mr Powell attacks my conten
tion that interpersonal conflicts
between growing children can
be healthy. Rather, he "always
thought that the accepted thesis
was [ that 1 the frustration led
to agression." In the first place
his “accepted thesis" and my
contention are not mutually in
compatible, as he implies. As to
my contention, it is supported
by Dr. A. T. Jersild, a well
known child psychologist, who
describes several situations in
which conflict between children
is healthy (Child Psychology,
Prentice-Hall, 5th edition, 1960;
pp. 183-191, 199-200). From such
conflict, a child learns what oth
er children will tolerate of him,
(Continued on page 3)
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Editorial Hoard: Pam Hladine, Clifford
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