Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1966)
Court Convicts 3 Students 3 OREGON DAILY EMERALD Free Speech Set Today Phrc 8 Vol. LXV1 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1966 No. 67 Mystery Foursome Tries Sorority Break-in Friday A quartet of mysterious- -and apparently drunk—young men at tempted to enter the Alpha Xi Delta sorority house at 13th and Alder Friday morning, without using the door. The attempt was made at 3:35 a m According to a co-ed in the house, one of the men threw an empty whiskey bottle through a small pantry window on the north side of the house and ran up the fire escape, apparently intending to enter an open window into one of the girls' rooms on the floor above. The girls were awakened by the shattering of glass When the men stood outside the window, and asked, "Are there any girls here?" the girls promptly shut the window The co<*d questioned told the Emerald that none of the girls in the house knew any of the four men. "They ran off after the girls shut the window of the room,": she said. Police were notified of the in cident by the sorority's house mother. None of the four were apprehended , Nothing was stolen during the incident Damage to the house was limited to the breaking of a small pantry window. “They were just drunk,” the j house member said. "They i must’ve figured on getting a few kicks, that's all.” She said that the four men ran off, down the fire escape, and in to the street. One of the group slipped and fell on some con struction equipment left on 13th St. and apparently hurt his leg. He was limping slightly as he ran off Theobald Offers Poverty Solution By ALLEN BAILEY Associate Editor 'A lack of money is the only proper definition of poverty,” said socio-economist Robert Theo bald Friday Theobald was the final speaker in the ASUO- sponsored poverty conference, which ended with a debate Friday afternoon. He re ceived most of his education in England, but has been studying the American socio-economy since 1957. The only way to eliminate pov erty, according to the social sci entist, is to provide everyone with a sufficient income to live in a reasonably comfortable man ner. "To give people enough money to eliminate poverty" is the only way to do it, he said, because the increase in cybernation will put more and more people out of jobs in the future. Cybernation is the use of com puter-operated machines to do work previously done by man A "negative income tax,” as some have called it, is Theobald’s proposal for guaranteeing every one an income whether he works or not: • A minimum level of income would he set by the govcrnement. To insure that everyone received this amount, tax exemptions for adults would be increased to $1,000, while exemptions for chil dren would remain at $600 • Along with that, there would be a premium of 10 per cent for those who get any part of their income from wages or capital. If a person’s income still did not reach the set minimum after taxes, the government would give him the money to make up the difference. • The income level would rise about five per cent per year. • A Constitutional amendment would guarantee that everyone received this income. “We must also bring in an in come maintenance scheme for the middle class," he continued, so that middle class workers who arc displaced by computers and mach ines will not fall into poverty. Computer scientists have said that Americans will have a 20 hour work week in the not too distant future, because so much work will be done by computers and machines. (Continued oh page 8) ROBERT THEOBALD, right, British socio-economist, frowns in concentration as he listens to Saul Alinsky discuss his solutions to poverty at the debate which climaxed the ASUO conference. On Poverty Four Experts Debate Views By MAXINE ELLIOTT News Editor A guaranteed income, new careers for the poor, changes in job requirements—these were among the ideas ad vanced by poverty experts Saul Alinsky. Robert Lampman, Arthur Pearl and Robert Theobald in debate Friday. The four men debated during the concluding session of the ASUO Poverty Conference. The Student Union ball room had standing room only during most of the session. Pearl. University professor of education, sees the fields of health, education and welfare as offering the most op portunity in creating new' careers, his special interest. “I define poverty as a function of a lack of opportunity . . .” Pearl said. “. . . and there’s a great deal of opportunity in these fields.” Pearl pointed out that the poor are usually left out of these fields because of a lack of credentials. "We should change education so that you get the job first, then are trained for it,” he said. "It’s service from the poor, rather than service to the poor.” “PERSON’S RIGHT" "It’s the person’s right to make his own decision," Pearl said. "Man should be able to select his career without preparatory cri teria A lot of that is worthless, anyway. "It makes no sense to train people for non-existent jobs,” he continued. “Create the jobs, then train the people." Lampman. economics professor at University of Wisconsin, asked Pearl how his plans would relate to those not in the labor force due to age, disability, broken homes, etc. “There is. and always will be, a percentage of those who can’t use their abilities," Pearl said "But we’ve ruined many of these ourselves by calling them handicapped. We must work to give their children the opportunity," he said, adding that he thought this was one of the less significant problems. According to Theobald, British socio-economist from New York, his main disagreement with Pearl’s theories lies in which careers are opened first. "Why not the guaranteed income?" he asked. GUARANTEED INCOME Theobald’s guaranteed income would subsidize families with an annual income of less than S3.200 yearly, to that point. But Pearl said that society is already moving in the directions he had outlined. ’ Then why must all new careers be public?" Lampman asked. “It is obvious that it isn't merely a lack of jobs. Some unemployed people don't fall in the poverty class, just as some employed people do. Why public careers?" he pursued. “I’m not opposed to private careers," Pearl said “But credentials, or a lack of them, lock poor people out of them. But if the private sector has to compete with the public sector, then some of these standards will lower. Let's face it: the answer to poverty is good paying jobs.” Alinsky, well-known community action organizer from Chicago, agreed on this point "As the poor people see it," he said, "poverty is when you haven't got a job and you don't have any say about anything. It’s a lack of power, as well as a lack of property and jobs." FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM The fundamental problem, as Alinsky sees it. is that many people think that if a person doesn't have money, he can't be trusted. "This idea dates back to the Federalist Papers," he said. "And you don't get change without unpleasantness,” Alinsky added. Theobald commented, referring to Alinsky, that “basically power is necessary to achieve change. Basically you’re arguing that we can think ahead, and any such programs will lead to disaster.” "I'm not opposed to planning ahead," Alinsky retorted. "The fact is, when you're in a situation—when you’re unemployed—where (Continued oh page 2) Conference Called 'Great Success “Tho Poverty Conference ex ceeded all expectations,” said! ASUO President Steve Gold- ( schmidt, who organized the pro gram. "It fulfilled the major objec tive—that of providing for pro fessionals, laymen, and especial-, ly for students, a unique educa-' tional experience,” he told the Emerald. Sociology professor Kenneth Polk agreed with Goldschmidt i as he opened Friday’s debate among the four poverty experts who had been brought to the University for the two-day pro gram: "At a time when the faculty is wallowing in the mire of irrclevancies, it’s good to see students doing something like this.” However, the student body president told the Emerald that the conference was especially meaningful because ‘‘the interest displayed by the students should give student government a clear idea of its future direction. "The conference was important, for it showed that students, who made up the greatest proportion of the audiences, are interested in the major issues of the day,” said Goldschmidt. A p p a rently the conference averaged over 1,250 persons for each of the five sessions, which is almost capacity attendance in the Student Union Ballroom. Goldschmidt said the confer ence “was run with maximum effi ciency,” and added: "Much of the credit must go to Di Bowring, Margie McBride, Bill Camp, Bill Allen, and Dave Prince,” all stu dents who worked long hours on (Continued on page 7) THE DEBATE continued after the ASUO Poverty Conference had officially ended Friday after noon. ASCO President Steve Goldschmidt, who conceived of and arranged the conference, looks on as Robert Lampnian, left, and Arthur Pearl, right, discuss the issues.
