Discrimination, pollution concern lobby
By LOIS LINDSAY
and WALLY BENSON
Of the Emerald
Concern over discrimination
and nuclear pollution
spearheaded action at an As
sociated Oregon Student Lobby
(AOSL) board of directors meet
ing in Corvallis Saturday.
The board heard a request from
ASUO Consultant Don Chalmers
urging the AOSL to endorse an
Oregon Women's Political
Caucus (OWPC) and ASUO
sponsored proposal to ask the
State Board of Higher Education
to adopt affirmative guidelines re
lating to House Bill 2131.
The bill, passed during the last
legislative session, directs that in
stitutions of higher education do
not discriminate according to
race, age, sex, handicaps, religion
or marital status.
"The OWPC and the ASUO
don't believe procedural rules are
adequate to meet the statutory re
quirements of the bill,” Chalmers
said. ‘This proposal would ask the
State Board to adopt guidelines so
that all persons involved in Uni
versity governance would know
their responsibility toward equal
treatment of all campus groups."
Chalmers told the directors that
of the approximately 100 buildings
on the University campus, only 34
are accessible entirely or in part to
persons in wheelchairs, seriously
hampering their access to educa
tional opportunities on campus.
He further stated that students are
the ultimate beneficiaries of the
proposal.
AOSL Chairer Kirby Garrett
spoke briefly to the issue, telling
the directors, “If we don't endorse
I
this proposal, we re not fulfilling
our duty of representing our con
stituencies.” The proposal re
ceived unanimous approval.
The board also gave its en
dorsement to a proposal from the
Oregonians for Nuclear
Safeguards (ONS) requesting
that three requirements be met
before more nuclear power plants
are constructed in Oregon. The
proposal was introduced by Betsy
Maclnnes, ONS press and media
coordinator.
Maclnnes said the conditions
include that emergency systems
within the plant be successfully
tested (such as the emergency
cooling system), that there be de
veloped a safe and long-term
proven method of storing waste
and that the plants should agree to
be fully liable for any property
damage incurred by the plant.
Mclnnes stressed that the
proposal is not a moratorium, as
the guidelines should be easy to
follow. She further stated that nuc
lear power is not necessary right
now in Oregon, even though the
Trojan plant has already been
built.
She said the proposal has the
support of the League of Women
Voters, Congressman Jim
Weaver, the Sierra Club, the
Oregon Environmental Council
and several state legislators.
The board later adopted a legis
lative platform and criteria for
issue selection. As set forth in the
platform, the AOSL will concern
itself exclusively with the interests
of the student in higher education.
The student interest includes, but
is not limited to, the cost of educa
tion, quality of instruction, institu
tional governance, health ser
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
vices, financial aids, housing ser
vices and other general student
services.”
"The various student bodies
need to start seeing themselves
as consumers with respect to
knowledge and other aspects of
higher education,” said Garrett,
explaining the decision to concen
trate solely on bills pertaining to
student interests.
Garrett said the platform must
be separate from AOSL en
dorsements of issues and organi
zations. "Endorsements are fine
as long as they are explicitly sepa
rated from planks in our platform.
The platform represents our posi
tion vis-a-vis educational and stu
dent consumer issues which our
lobbyists will actively be involved
with.”
An ASUO request for AOSL
backing of its new proposal con
cerning student input into the
promotion and tenure process re
ceived unanimous support from
the lobby.
Members of the body agreed to
spearhead the project as one of
the major projects of their interim
year after hearing defense from
ASUO Pres. Jim Bernau and
Administrative Assistant Mark
Cogan.
The proposal, scheduled to go
before the State Board of Higher
Education's Committee on In
struction in February, will ask for
revisions of 42.160 of the board s
administrative rules. The changes
would require the board to place
instruction at the head of the list of
criteria for determining matters of
faculty appointment, tenure, and
promotion.
They also ask that appropriate
student input (in Sec. 3 of 42.160)
be defined as including "at a
minimum" letters from students
and former students, validated fa
culty and course evaluations, ap
pointment of students to serve on
personnel committees, and a
measurement of the actual educa
tion of students due to instruction.
Bernau told the lobby that en
dorsement by the AOSL might be
the deciding factor in passage of
the proposal. He said the lack of
statewide student support for the
ASUO’s request for the right to
publicize information from faculty
records was probably the major
cause for that measure's failure
last fall.
Cogan agreed. ‘ The very con
tention when our last proposal
came down to the vote was the
question of whether or not it really
had the support of the students
around the state Since we had no
proof that it did, the board decided
to let the issue be decided on an
mstitutiQn-by-institution basis
Court: Campaign law
violates 1st Amendment
WASHINGTON (AP)—With
Justice John Paul Stevens taking
part for the first time, the Supreme
Court Monday struck down a New
York State law designed to
penalize unfair campaign prac
tices.
The court affirmed without
comment and without dissent a
decision by a three-judge federal
court that the law violates the con
stitutional guarantee of freedom of
speech
Undoubtedly, deliberate calcu
lated falsehoods when used by
political candidates can lead to
public cynicism and apathy to
ward the electoral process, the
lower court said
f— ->
Drug seizures jump
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Customs Service reported Sun
day that a 128 per cent jump in heroin seizures last year indicates
increased heroin use in the United States.
Customs said seizures last year amounted to 187 pounds with
an estimated street value of more than $66 million.
"These figures, although preliminary, bear out a trend that
narcotics officers have been reporting in recent years, that heroin
use is on the rise, said Vernon Acree. U S Commissioner of
Customs.
Customs also reported that hashish seizures were up 69 per
cent, cocaine seizures climbed 17 per cent and dangerous drug
seizures rose 135 per cent during the year.
flCU-l Student
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select representatives for competition
in the regional games, Feb. 12-14
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Open to all full time students (fall 75 and winter 76) .
For all the details check at the recreation desk in the EMU.
all events have national competitions
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