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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1974)
SAVE MONEY*1 USED TEXTS At Lower Prices Thousands of Paper Backs Smith Family Bookstore 1253 Alder 345-10D1 ASUO Survival Center POSITIONS BY CREDIT Be involved in local and state environmental problems through a responsibility position in the U of O's Environmental Action Center Positions Include ^Air & Water Quality ^Land-use Planning ^Population ^Publicity ^And More Contact: Gayle Landt Survival Center—EMU I 7:30 - 2:30 MWF x4356 I Send for your | Student I.D.Card 1 and enjoy I special rates at | Hilton Hotels . and Inns coast ■ to coast, (brad students ^-'■4 // and faculty, too.) Just mail this coupon to Hilton Hotels Fulfillment Dept.. Suite 200, 205 So. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Name ___ Address__ _ _ City ...State__Zip_ College . . _ Class of 19 XHIITOn H0TEL5 Lettuce controversy not a thing of the past The innocent-looking leaves of iceberg lettuce which adorn the salads and sandwiches at the EMU apparently will be the center of controversy again this year. Supporters of the lettuce boycott have announced plans for a picket on the EMU terrace at noon Monday. "The Monday picketing should help educate the students about the University policy of buying non UFW lettuce," said Suzanne DuFay, a steering committee member of the newly-organized Revolutionary Student Brigade (RSB) which has taken the lead in pro-UFW activities through the summer. "We want to stress the immediacy of the lettuce problem on campus, and the fact that there is an organized effort on campus to boycott the EMU food facilities until they change their lettuce policies." By RANDY SHUTS Of the Emerald "Most of all, " DuFay explained, "we want to focus on the role the University has taken in working against the attempts of farm workers to unionize and seek humane working conditions." At a Monday night meeting in the EMU, members of various community and campus organizations which support the boycott will map out strategy for the second year of efforts to change the EMU policy of buying non-UFW lettuce. DuFay said that representatives of the RSB, Friends of the Farm Workers, MEChA (the University Chicano Student Union), the LCC Chicano Student Union, and in terested individuals will be present at the 7:30 p.m. meeting. The Monday picketing will again raise an issue which held the center of controversy through much of last year. Protest activities and administration reactions to them last year led to many heated demonstrations, two "Lettuce Trials," a student referendum on the issue, and played a key role in May's ASUO presidential race. The University's non-involvement in the national boycott of non-UFW lettuce first erupted into a major campus issue last February when about 75 chanting demonstrators surged into a luncheon for the Oregon Newspaper Publishers' Organization in the EMU Ballroom. The event's featured speaker, Newsweek columnist Shana Alexander, said she was complimented by the picket, but administration officials took a dimmer view. Within two days, two of the protestors were cited with violating sections of the Student Conduct Code which prohibited disrupting university events. The two were later acquitted by the Student Court after a seven-hour hearing which became known as the "Lettuce Trial." The protesters took a new line of attack in April and set up their own food stand on the EMU terrace, suggesting that students buy food at their stand instead of the EMU food services. The administration countered the food sales, which reduced the daily EMU food service income by 25 to 40 per cent, by contacting the state Environmental Health Depart ment, who revoked the boycotter’s food license. The ASUO attorney looked into the matter and found that the state had no legal grounds for rescinding the license. The boycotters ignored the threat of prosecution and continued selling their food. No charges were made by the state. Meanwhile, Greg Leo, then ASUO President, froze the MEChA budget because of their sponsorship of the terrace vending. The issue soon became injected into the ASUO presidential campaign. The two major candidates, Darrell Murray and Robert Liberty, took opposing sides on the issue with Murray supporting Leo's budget freeze, and Liberty opposing it. Liberty was elected, and one of the first things he did after his election was to lift the budget freeze. A student referendum on the lettuce issue in the ASUO election showed that 71.4 per cent of the students agreed that no non-UFW produce should be sold on campus. EMU Director Rirector Richard Reynolds and University President Robert Clark, however, maintained their policy of "neutrality" in the boycott issue, insisting that the University should buy both UFW and non-UFW products and leave to the students the decision as to which to buy. A University policy to boycott non-UFW lettuce, Clark asserted, would not permit the students' freedom of choice. In a meeting with Liberty and representatives of the boycott organizations, the State Board of Higher Education similarly reaffirmed their policy of non-involvement with the lettuce boycott. In late May, the Student Conduct Office charged five students with "misuse of University property" for their participation in selling goods at the EMU tables. One student was also cited for a violation of the Student Conduct Code because he did not check an appropriate box on one of the forms used to check out an EMU table. This second lettuce trial also ended in acquittal on all charges by the three member Student Court Members of the court went on to condemn the administration for the charges, with one court member calling the trial "politically motivated." Following the acquittal, Reynolds filed trespassing complaints with the city against two students who were manning EMU terrace food tables. No legal action has yet been taken by the city. In spite of the broad airing of the lettuce issue last year, DuFay believes that more work can be done on campus. "The lettuce issue is not a dead issue," asserted DuFay. The farm workers are still suffering in squalid conditions, and the same problems exist now that existed a year ago. Just because the University hasn't given an inch does not mean that we are going to give up and go home. With the coordinated efforts of groups on campus and around the community, we should be able to educate most of the students," she concluded. Reynolds, however, said that the University lettuce policy has not changed In a statement released Thursday, Clark reiterated his stand on the lettuce question saying that the University would attempt to offer both UFW and non-UFW lettuce, or provide leaf and romain lettuce if UFW lettuce is not available "In this fashion the institution will not substitute its actions for the personal decisions that should be made by individuals acting autonomously, and the responsibility for maintaining the boycott will, as it should, continue to be on those who are its proponents," Clark said Clark did say, however, that the University is willing "to conduct a scientifically prepared opinion sampling poll to provide some guidance on the amount of lettuce that it purchases for its customers." Clark stressed that any such poll would be for guidance only, and not necessarily binding for the administration. Clark went on to say that the University "is at tempting to draft a policy to liberalize conditions under which students may engage in sales of products, including food." I I Too young for rights? (CPS-FPS) School principals in Davenport, Iowa became alarmed last year at an article in the magazine Scholastic Young Citizen because it told its fifth grade readers that they have consitutional rights. The article "Have You Got Rights" told students You can wear your hair as long as you wish and how you wish if it isn't a danger to your health and safety or the health and safety of others. Suppose because of your own religious or personal beliefs you do not believe in (flag) salutes. You do not need to take part. You may sit quietly or be allowed to leave the room during the pledge." It also described student's rights to freedom of press, assembly and petition, and told students that before they are punished they have a right to know what they've done wrong. Carl Dresselhaus, local director of elementary education, said that fifth grade students are not 'nature enough to receive such information, ex p aining You ve got to watch what is given these youngsters." I