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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1972)
Vol. 73, No. 141 An Independent Student Newspaper University of Oregon, Eugene Thursday, April 13,1972 The faculty looks on at Wednesday’s meeting in 150 Science as an unidentified spectator protests the 224 to 141 vote to retain ROTC. Candidates Tavera and Garcia file for ASUO presidential race The last candidates to file for the offices of ASUO President and Vice-President, Margarita Tavera and Maggie Garcia, do not object to being elected as a token representation of minorities in the ASUO “because if we are chosen as tokens we will take advantage of it and get the job of being ASUO executives done correctly.” Ms. Tavera and Ms. Garcia, both juniors majoring in elementary education, told the Emerald they were concerned about the lack of student input in the ASUO and the ignorance of the ASUO senators and executives about programs which are funded through incidental fees. “First of all, students should be able to decide what kinds of programs are funded with their money,” Ms. Tavera said. Ms. Tavera and Ms. Garcia said that students could control how their money is spent by indicating what programs they wanted funded when they register. “This year’s fiscal budget meetings were greeted by apathy,” Ms. Garcia said, “because the ASUO senators and executives were ignorant about the programs that were requesting funds.” Margarita Tavera If the senators and executives decide how the money is spent, “they should at least be informed,” the candidate said “I think we need to clean up house a little.” Ms Tavera and Ms Garcia also said that student input is needed “in all department decisions,” especially those concerning the tenure of professors and the curriculum of the departments. Margarita Garcia “Now, publishing seems to be more important than whether a professor is a good teacher,” they said. Ms. Tavera and Ms. Garcia expressed concern about the lack of housing options available to single students and said, “It seems that if the Housing Department can provide low-cost housing for married students, it can provide low-cost housing for single students.” The candidates also want the ASUO Child Care and Development Center expanded and any residential requirements regarding mothers eligible to use the center abolished The candidates said they decided to run because “after reading some of the platforms of the other candidates we felt that if people can run to get a tavern in the Student Union, we can run on issues more important than that “There are more pressing needs,” Ms. Tavera and Ms. Garcia said. “How many students on campus are 21 and could utilize a tavern?” They said that the time has come “to open up communication between minorities and the rest of the community. The way of doing this is to have more minority students in the Senate and executive positions of the ASUO," Ms. Tavera and Ms. Garcia added, and voiced their support for Aurelia Marquez. Senate candidate for At-Large position no 2. ROTC, PE retained by Faculty decision By JOYCE ROI TSON Of the Emerald The ROTC program and the physical education and health requirements will be retained at the University—at least for the time being—the faculty voted Wednesday. By a vote of 224-141 the faculty voted to postpone indefinitely a motion asking for termination of ROTC and by a show of hands they voted against eliminating the PE and health requirements. In a third major action, the faculty also voted to reinstate funds cut from the State System of Higher Education during its financial emergency because the crisis has eased. The vote on ROTC was the fourth such taken by the faculty in as many years. The faculty voted in the spring of 1968 to retain academic credit for the program, in the spring of 1970 against abolishing the program by a vote of 199-185, and last spring to spend a year looking for alternatives to the present program. For the controversial decision, the 500-seat room of 150 Science was filled to capacity plus, with many students sitting in the gallery. For the most part there was little verbal confrontation between faculty and students, although a rally had been held earlier in the day to gather support for the motion to discontinue ROTC. Introducing the anti-ROTC motion was Bayard McConnaughey, associate professor of biology. He decried U.S. military activities as "an outrage against humanity" which have done “irreparable" and “wholly unnecessary damage to the world ecosystem.” ROTC advertising stepped up McConnaughey said he felt it necessary to present his motion, even though alternatives to ROTC were being worked on, because the committee studying ROTC will not address itself to the question of whether military training was appropriate. He added that ROTC advertising had been stepped up, their contract had been re negotiated and the military budget and Indochina war had escalated so that it was important to consider termination now. Currently, the ROTC Advisory Committee—charged by the faculty last spring with investigating alternatives to Army and Air Force officer training programs—is working on a set of recom mendations to present to the faculty in October, 1972. And the Hearing Panel on University Priorities (HPUP) has recommended that the ROTC contract with the University be re negotiated so the Department of Defense picks up all costs of the program. Currently the University pays for secretaries, office sup plies and building maintenance. McConnaughey cited several sources, including unofficial Pen tagon Papers, in presenting his case against militarism. "As we sit here,” he said, "bombs are raining down on Indochina, an area about the size of the Pacific Northwest. We’ve dropped more bombs there than in World Wars I and II combined.” He pointed out several atrocities being done to the Vietnamese people and stated, "The greater part of the damage is done to the people we are protecting.” During his testimony, McConnaughey was interrupted and asked to speak to the point of how ROTC affects such activities. One voice from the gallery replied, "ROTC trains pilots." A ruling by University President Robert Clark that he could continue was appealed, but sustained. Symbolic gesture urged McConnaughey later admitted that ‘‘cutting off ROTC on campus is too small a gesture to have any effect on the military,” but he urged the faculty to make a symbolic gesture now. Speaking against McConnaughey's motion was Albert Kitzhaber, chairman of the ROTC Advisory Committee. He said he favored in definite postponement recommended by the Faculty Senate,because his committee was nearing the end of its work and that even if the faculty voted to discontinue the program, it would be at least another year before it ceased to become operative. Andrew Thompson of the Counseling Center, who introduced a similar motion on ROTC last spring, said, “The ROTC committee is not concerned with the basic morality of the program . . Therefore postponement is tantamount to making a moral decision.” There was some disturbance from the audience after the vote was announced but it was contained to scattered verbal abuse. Comments included. “Who said Hitler was dead?” and “You just condoned genocide.” The motion on whether to continue the PE and Health requirements was also a controversial issue. The motion was introduced by Harry Alpert, vice president for academic affairs and provost, on behalf on the Hearing Panel on University Priorities (HPUP). He said it was introduced in the light of a financial emergency and that the intent of the motion was to not eliminate PE and health courses, but to make them optional. The debate on whether to continue the PE and Health requirements was varied and lengthy. Among the arguments in favor of retaining the six hours of courses, which must be taken in order to obtain a bachelor’s degree from the University, were: - The cost factor is the only criterion being considered; (Continued on Page 8)
