The University is not an island
Trouble in EMU:
more than ever before
The EMU has been the site of much more trouble this year than
ever before.
This is the verdict of EMU Manager Dick Reynolds and security
director William Sanford when they were asked last week whether
reports of trouble were being exaggerated.
So far this year, Sanford said, one window and two glass doors
have been broken in fights, there has been one stabbing, innumerable
fights and every exhibit in the second floor gallery has had items
stolen from it.
In addition, he said, shoplifting from the main desk store has ap
parently increased and $200 was stolen from the till at the main
desk when a clerk’s back was turned.
And this is without mentioning the most publicized act of violence
at the Union—the shooting of Gerald Barlow while sitting in the
Fishbowl.
OUT-AND-OUT ALTERCATIONS
In the past, Sanford said, “there have been occasional Saturday
night fights when someone had a little too much to drink, but this
year there have been out-and-out altercations.
“This is the first time in six years I have been here that we have
lost a glass door because of deliberate action. One boy was badly
cut when he went through.”
The EMU, Reynolds said, is using long established procedures to
deal with the trouble.
“We look upon this kind of disturbance as something for which we
need the help of the Eugene Police Department.”
This does not, he said, preclude action through the student court,
but “the University is not structured to deal with violence.”
Most of the incidents, he said, “have not been inspired by groups, but
by individuals."
Reynolds said he had received many suggestions from various per
sons about solutions to the EMU problems, ranging from closing the
Union down during a period of study to a crackdown in drug traffic.
“Some people attribute our problems to drug abuse,” he said, “and
they allege that drugs are made freely available to people as a way
of belittling them.
"We have cooperated with the law enforcement agencies on this
matter, but this has had little effect.”
Others, he said, including students and faculty members, have
suggested that the union be closed, pending the establishment of
“adequate guidelines to facilitate an environment more appropriate
to the Union.”
NO POSITIVE EFFECT’
And some of these persons have suggested that the Union be
closed to everyone who is not in the University community, he said.
“Both of these 1 find difficult, if not impossible to go along with.
1 don’t think closing the union and denying its services, particularly
the food service, to large numbers of people will have any positive
Closing the Union to outsiders, he said, would require 40 to 50
full time employees to check identification, and, even if that were fi
nancially feasible, "I don’t think that is the way we should go.”
He added that many people “throw around some pretty simple so
lutions There are some general frustrations of people in our society
today, and the people who talk about law and order often don’t deal
with" the real crime—organized, institutional crime.”
However Reynolds added, he is open to suggestions about the speci
fic problems of the Union. "No one likes the environment of the
union, and we would give full consideration to any plan to relieve
"This building is a gathering place, the corner drugstore, the
place where people get together to discuss their ideas There was a
time when there was not so much hostility in the ideas and the dis
cussion.”
Nine-man-force
guards campus
day and night
By BILL BUCY
Of the Emerald
“To protect property, life, limb,
and everything else.”
This is how Director of Securi
ty Winfred Smith describes the
purpose of the campus security
force.
Smith said there are nine men
in the force. They are divided
into three shifts to give around
the clock service to the Univer
sity.
Traffic control main duty
Smith said the main duties of
a campus security officer are traf
fic control and the protection of
University property. He said traf
fic control is mainly issuing park
ing tickets for cars illegally
parked in University lots.
About 40-50 tickets are given a
day.
At night patrolmen check all
university buildings to make sure
they are locked and to check for
vandalism or other damage.
All officers are warranted by
the state as police officers and
have the power of arrest. Smith
said officers seldom use this pow
er.
Violence on campus can be re
ported to campus police although
Smith said “not all incidences are
investigated.”
Contract with Eugene police
He said most incidences con
cerning violence are handled by
Eugene police as the University
has a contract with them.
Smith said the campus police
may aid city police but “we don’t
have the facilities to provide good
police protection.”
Campus security officers do not
carry guns but civil service regu
lations require any officer above
the rank of Patrolman I to know
how to use firearms.
Smith said security officers
would definitely be involved in
any campus disturbance although
he didn’t know to what extent.
“This would come under the head
ing of protection of property,” he
said.
BILL BAILEY
JIM LANE
ROY ALEXANDER
Student
reaction
to violence
By WENDY McCAFFREY
Of the Emerald
‘ Violence is shocking because
of the fact that it’s not shocking
to a lot of people,” said Mike
Ellmaker, a law student, when
asked about his reaction to vio
lence on campus.
On political violence, Bill
Bailey, a junior political science
major felt that “it’s really under
standable considering what stu
dents are up against these days.
Because the University commu
nity doesn’t take immediate ac
tion, students feel frustrated.”
Jim Lane, a sophomore in liter
ature, said, “violent means em
ployed will bring about the same
kind of end. In the end there
will be chaos.”
The majority of students inter
viewed said the November shoot
ing which took place in the Fish
bowl was an isolated incident,
which, as Lani Edenholm, who
works on campus, stated “could
just as easily have happened at
Joe’s Bar and Grill”
Some students added that the
idea that the University is sep
arated from the community is in
reality false, and tint more per
sons should realize 'his.
Ellmaker, pointed to one area
of conflict, saying, “Many white
students don’t want to go to the
EMU now because tie Black stu
dents have made their presence
felt so predominately.” He said
the shooting will ‘keep White
students from fratenizing in the
EMU.”
All of the students interviewed
said the shooting was wrong but
as Scott Taylor, a social science
graduate student, sail, “with this
many people it’s bound to hap
pen. Shooting is becoming a part
of Amercian life.”
Several girls interviewed ex
pressed their fear of walking
home alone at night because of
recent rape attacks Kathy Ce
lorie, a junior in special educa
tion, said she was “considering
| carrying a tear gas can around.”
Roy Alexander, a freshman in
- liberal arts said, “I think vio
I lence is very silly There are
other ways to communicate than
shooting. We come here to learn,
not for violence, and if it con
tinues, I’ll leave.”
MIKE ELLMAKER
LANI EDENHOLM
SCOTT TAYLOR
Violence Commission
urges judicial power
against disruptive acts
WASHINGTON (AP)—The National Commis
sion on the Causes and Prevention of Violence
urged Wednesday that federal courts be given
power to block private groups from interferring
with “the fundamental right to free expression”
by others.
Injunctions against such actions by governments
can be obtained in federal courts, the commission
said, but “no present federal law affords remedy
for private abridgement of First Amendment
rights.”
Asserting that its proposal would apply both to
protesters and counter-protesters, the commission
said:
VIOLATION OF RIGHTS
“When a mob forces a university to suspend
classes, the rights of teachers to teach and students
to learn are abridged. When a speaker is shouted
down or forced from a platform, he is deprived of
freedom to speak, and the great majority of the
audience is deprived of freedom to listen.”
The commission proposed that President Nixon
ask Congress to give U.S. district courts power to
grant injunctions when requested by the attorney
general “or private persons, against the threatened
or actual interference by any person . . . with the
rights of individuals or groups to freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, peaceful assembly
and petition for redress of grievances.”
The attorney general or private persons could
initiate such suits involving state and federal action
as well as by private persons against denial of free
speech, seizing or denying access to buildings or
public areas. Suits for damages as well as injunc
tions would be authorized.
The commission said state remedies are not based
on First Amendment rights but on trespass or dis
orderly statutes. A federal law, it said, would make
handling of injunctions speedier and also provide
for greater uniformity.
Wednesday’s report began by stressing “that
group violence has no necessary relationship to
group protest, although there continue to be those
who decry the one as though it were the other.
PROTEST RIGHT INDISPENSABLE
“The right to protest is an indispensable element
of a free society,” it said. “The exercise of that
right is essential to the health of the body politic
and its ability to adapt itself to a changing en
vironment.”
Comparing the violence at the Democratic
National Convention in Chicago last year with the
limited disorders in Washington during the coun
ter inaugural and last month’s antiwar protests
here and in Chicago, the commission said:
“History illustrates that prompt, prudent deploy
ment of well trained law enforcement personnel
can extinguish a civil disorder in its incipiency.
But history also demonstrates that excessive force
is an unwise tactic for handling disorder.”
Two weeks of crime
This is a record of two weeks of crimes in the
University area reported by the Eugene Police.
Practically all are complaints phoned to a police
officer. Less than one per cent were filed as a result
of police observation.
October 16: Petty Larceny—Bean Hall
Stolen motorbike—Carson Hall
Burglary—Dunn Hall
Larceny—Villard Hall
Accident-UO parking lot
Stolen bicycle—Commonwealth
Stolen bicycle—Commonwealth
Larceny—PE locker
Larceny—Cloran Hall
October 17: False alarm—Science building
moon show
Hit and run—EMU turnaround
Rape—14th and Ferry
Noisy party—East 18th
Four minor in possession—13th
and University
October 18: Burglary—EMU
Stolen bike—EMU
Stolen bike—EMU
Petty larceny—McAllester Hall
Noisy parties—14th and Alder
(twice)—11th and Patterson
October 19: Burglary—McClure Hall
Noisy party—East 19th
Malfunction moon show alarm
Science building
October 20: Traffic light violations—13th and
Kincaid
Petty larceny—Spiller Hall
Petty larceny—Lawrence Hall
October 21:
October 22:
October 23:
October 24:
October 25:
False alarm—U.6. uanK campus
Branch
Traffic complaint—Science Annex
Larceny—Mac Court locker room
Men on fire escape—14th and Alder
Men running through sorority
house—15th and Kincaid
Towed vehicle
Target shooting—10th and
Patterson
Dog in garbage room—EMU
Hit and run acc.—15th and Alder
Abandoned motorcycle—13th and
Onyx
Noisy party—East 18th
Larceny—PE locker room
Entering motor vehicle—15th and
Agate .
Stolen bicycle—EMU
Four men jumping on cars—15th
and Onyx lot
Entering motor vehicle—13th and
Mill
Stolen bicycle—EMU
Stolen bicycle—EMU
Entering motor vehicle—EMU
Entering motor vehicle—EMU
Loud party—Frat house
Misplaced tombstone—18th and
Potter ,. , .
Found stolen auto—UO parking lot
Disorderly female—EMU
Arrest on assault and battery
charge—Franklin and Alder
Car parked on lawn—Bean Hall
October 26:
October 27:
October 28:
October 29:
October 30:
October 31
Stolen bicycle—EMU
Girl chased—11th Avenue
Knife fight—Bean Hall
Knife fight—EMU
Man attempted to enter girls’ dorm
Stolen bicycle—EMU
Assault and battery—15th and
University
Accident—11th and Kincaid
Unlicensed vehicles—Villard park
ing lot
Stolen bicycle—EMU
Larceny—EMU art gallery
Illegal distribution of handbills (on
cars)—13th and University
Hit and run—Kincaid lot
Stolen bicycle—Commonwealth
Contact student with emergency
message from home
Accident—11th and Franklin
Stolen bicycle—Science building
Noisy party—East 18th
Abandoned pop machine—Millrace
bridge
Stolen bicycle—Hamilton Hall
Stolen bicycle—1860 Alder
Larceny—Gerlinger Hall
Shoplift—Sport Haus, 13th and
Patterson
Arson—Straub Hall
Abandoned bicycle—Music School
: Dogs at large—Campbell Hall
Stolen bicycle—Carson
(Very little Halloween activity in
or near campus)
The dormitories
“You are bound
to have some problems"
By LES BLUMENTHAL and CHARLENE YOGI
Of the Emerald
“Whenever you get 3,000 people from varied backgrounds in a close
situation with little police authority, you are bound to have some
problems.”
So explained Dick Romm, assistant director of housing in charge of
dormitories, in regard to the increase of thefts and fights in the Uni
versity’s dormitory system.
There were 18 reported thefts in the dorm area in October, with the
total value of stolen goods somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000. Last
fall term the total number of reported thefts was 20, and two years
ago there was a total of six.
There have been two reported cases of girls who have been
awakened by someone going through their possession in the darkness.
Romm is reluctant to concede the point that the amount of actual
physical violence has increased and emphasized that “threats and
resulting fears have increased.”
“The racial ingredient in the violence formula has not increased.
We have the same number of Blacks as we did last year. A new in
gredient has been added—the frustration of the White college stu
dent,” Romm said.
Romm speculated the increase in petty thievery was a result of the
more liberal visiting hours, as students are more hesitant to challenge
strangers, fearing they may be insulting someone’s guest.
VIOLENCE OF PEOPLE, NOT FURNITURE
The rate of abuse of dorm furnishings is about the same, said
Romm, as he contended that violence is manifesting itself through
threats upon persons, not destruction of furnishings.
“The dorm community and its violence simply mirrors the society
that surrounds the dorm and its increased violence. Violence has in
creased in society and it has increased in the dorms. It’s must tougher
now to live in any group situation than it was two years ago, be it a
big city or a dormitory community.”
Romm cited to other traits of society that are evident in the dorm
community, that of an unwillingness to get involved and unwillingness
to cooperate with police officials or in the University’s case, the Stu
dent Conduct Committee.
This year, a total of 14 cases have so far been heard in Student
Court. Two years ago, there were 68 cases heard by the court in the
entire year.
Richard Rapp, assistant dean of students in charge of student
conduct, says only the major fights are reported to the conduct office.
“Students are less and less inclined to become involved in a sense of
reporting fights, thefts, etc., to the police or the student conduct
committee. It is much easier to stay uninvolved,” he said.
Rapp points out that the fights don’t have a pattern to them,
and most are not along any racial lines.
He noted that the most popular item among thieves this year is
stereo equipment. He adds that bike thefts are up this year as are
thefts in dormitory parking lots.
“If students would just lock their dorm rooms, the amount of
thefts would decrease,” Rapp said.
THEFT MAIN DORM PROBLEM
A survey of dorm counselors and head residents disclosed theft
as the main problem within the dorms.
There have been unconfirmed reports of assaults on campus. A non
student was beaten and robbed by another non-student in the dorm
area. .
John Bodney, Dunn counselor, reported three stereos and one
tape system stolen. The $500 tape recorder, he said, was taken after
its owner had left it in the lobby to watch a World Series game in
the dining hall. A $300 stereo was stolen after its owner went to a
football game and left his room windows opened, said Bodney.
McClure counselor Barb Dow reported instances of suspected arson
in McClure and Alpha Halls.
“Ke know they were set and there are detectives working on it.
As far as we know, they were not set by students,” said Mrs. Mae
Matoon, Earl-Straub head resident
Dorm officials say that there tends to be more fights and thefts in
freshman dorms than in upperclass and graduate dorms, such as Car
S°Mrs. Margaret McHugh, head resident of Carson, backed up this idea
saying that there has been no trouble in Carson. “We have a different
kind of student here. They are committed to academics and are in
volved in their studies,” she said.
It is written in the Student Conduct Code that guns are not allowed
on campus, but administrators admit some students in the dorm
have them. According to Rapp, “just as elements in society demand
the right to have guns, so do some students.”
“It is interesting to note that possession of a weapon on campus
is in the same punishment category as haying a pet in your dorm
room. The maximum punishment is disciplinary probation, he said.
The problem of violence is growing in the dorms and officials say
that it better be stopped now before it gets out of hand.
Yet as one bead resident said, “There is no real atmosphere of fear
yet in the dormitory community."