Vol. 77, No. 136
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Wednesday, April 21,197'
3
Barnhart turns down dorm alcohol request
By DARLENE GORE
Of the Emerald
Housing Director H.P. Barnhart has rejected a Dormitory Govern
ance Council (DGC) proposal to permit alcohol in dorms set aside for
residents over 21. The student committee has appealed his decision to
Gerald Bogen, vice-president for student affairs.
Barnhart told the DGC that the presence of alcohol in the dorms
would reduce livability and might drive away some students. He said
“excessive noise and lack of privacy would be compounded” if the
proposal were accepted Quiet, private surroundings are highly valued
by residents, according to a dorm survey and Barnhart believes they are
especially important to students over 21
The Housing Department has received no clear indication that
dorm students favor the proposal, according to Barnhart. The most
recent survey indicates that 46 per cent of the dorm residents think the
right to dnnk alcohol in their rooms would improve living conditions.
Barnhart is also concerned that limiting a few dorms to students
over 21 would reduce flexibility in his department. Currently, all but one
of the dorms house freshmen together with upper-class students
The DGC contends that Barnhart has skirted the proposal and
failed to address specific issues.
It seems that he was just over-confident, said Dave Hercher,
chairer of the DGC alcohol committee He thought he could just say
Shoo and we would go away. But this thing has to be decided on the
issues
Hercher says there is no reason to suppose that noise, lack of
privacy and other problems associated with alcohol use would be
compounded if drinking were legalized in the dorms The group has told
Bogen that “present enforcement of the (alcohol) policy is lax or non
existent. especially among the target group (those over 21) and the
mere technicality of the proposed change would increase neither con
sumption nor related problems.
Barnhart concedes that enforcement of the alcohol ban is some
times lax Nobody bothers them if they dnnk in their own rooms,” he
said. Rule enforcement occurs more often if a large party creates a
disturbance
“If people are drinking," said Barnhart, 'they're drinking on their
own responsibility I would prefer it on their own responsibility rather
than passing it on to you or me I would prefer that it be on individual
responsibility.”
Hercher contends that Barnhart's survey statistics measure the
opinions of the total dorm population rather than the target population of
students over 21 He believes older students would be more favorable
to the proposal and the Housing Department would have little trouble
filling an over-21 dorm The department has already reserved 213
spaces for seniors and graduate students and Hercher believes these
people could be placed in a special dorm.
The University fias no ban on alcohol for the Westmoreland and
Amazon married students' housing, according to John Thorpe, director
of family housing. The housing project is considered the same as any
community in the city "
Drawing by JoArw Fahfgren
Minority proposals go to Senate
The University Senate will dis
cuss three recommendations
from the Educational Oppor
tunities Committee today at their
3:30 p.m. meeting in 229 Law. The
motions from the committee grew
out of its six-month review of Pres.
Boyd's restructuring of the minor
ity services program in August.
The committee's report says
there are no established
guidelines for planning, imple
menting and evaluating minority
and disadvantaged student pro
grams. Nor is there a definitive pol
icy which speaks to the commit
ment of the University and the ex
pectations of both the institution
and students under the Academic
Opportunities Program.
Committee chairer Katherine
Eaton has three motions before
the Senate which would develop a
University policy.
The first directs the Senate to
investigate the alleged misuse of
delegated authority by the Office
of Admissions, Financial Aid, Em
ployment and Housing for Special
Students.
The second asks that the ad
ministration and faculty develop
and adopt a policy clearly defining
the commitment of the University
to cultural, racial or ethnic minority
students.
And the third asks that the fa
culty assist in the immediate for
mation of a committee to develop
a cultural/racial/ethnic compo
nent at the University which
speaks to the needs of minority
disadvantaged students. The
committee is to include represent
atives of affected cultural, racial
or ethnic groups, AOP staff and
interested faculty."
Davis wants ASUO to deliver ‘quality education’
Editor's Note: The following article is the
final story in a six-part series dealing indi
vidually with candidates for ASUO presi
dent. Thursday's Emerald will feature a
wrap-up article outlining issues and stands
of the campaign.
By LOIS LINDSAY
Of the Emerald
Student government has taken a new
academic and legislative direction” during
the past two years, says ASUO presidential
hopeful Jim Davis.
It's a trend he wants to see continued.
“The only concern of the ASUO should
be to help insure students a quality educa
tion,” the 22-year-otd graduate student ex
plains. "Students put a lot of money into this
institution. They have a right to be well rep
resented — a right to receive the best edu
cation and best services possible."
Running on a 17-plank platform, Davis
says the ASUO can deliver that quality edu
cation only by giving "equal attention to
academic issues, student consumer legis
lation and program administration and fi
nance." He says these three elements rep
resent the "overall educational experi
ence."
"A quality education cannot, and should
not, be restricted to the classroom," the
gerontology and administration student ex
plains. "We've got to explore cultural and
alternative facets as well."
Academic concerns Davis plans to ad
dress include completion and expansion of
the consumer's guide to classes by "con
tinuing the fight for access to faculty course
evaluation matenals.
"Instruction must become the number
one priority," Davis insists. "To insure this.
Jim Davis
faculty members need to be accountable to
the students "
In line with the accountability issues,
Davis says he will push for inclusion of stu
dents on promotion and tenure committees,
a goal partially achieved by this year s ex
ecutive. But he will also work for an in
crease in the number of times high-demand
classes are offered and for publication of a
career information booklet to aid University
students.
Student consumer legislation is another
major concern of Davis's. He says his ad
ministration will spend a great deal of time
before the Oregon Legislature lobbying for
such issues as lower tuition, increased fi
nancial aids, greater state support of child
care and foreign student expenses, protec
tion of tenants' and dorm residents' rights,
non-discrimination and an evaluation of
minority programs on campus.
Dealing with program administration and
finance, Davis says his major goal is to
"increase communication and working rela
tionships with the programs and the Inci
dental Fee Committee (IFC)’’ and to build
on the budget counter-budget process in
itiated this year.
The candidate, presently ASUO vice
president for programs and finance, says
communication has been “very good" this
year but "can always be improved." He
says he would like to establish more or
ganizations like the Programs Director's
Council so the programs could have more
direct input into administrative decisions.
A major issue Davis plans to explore next
year is the establishment of a student union
and the students' right to bargain collec
tively. He says House bill 3043 (which al
lows students to sit in on faculty negotia
tions) is “nice but certainly not enough."
Responding to accusations by another
candidate, Davis defends the present ad
ministration against the charge of "pushy
power politics. ’
“Sure it's been aggressive. But there's
nothing wrong with that. You have to be
aggressive a lot of times if you want to get
anything done.”
But Davis says he'll have a somewhat
different approach than Bemau. “Basically
I'm a people person. I've always been able
to communicate well with people by just
sitting down and listening and then present
ing my views."
Davis sees his “experience on all levels
of the ASUO’’ as the biggest asset of his
candidacy. Involved in the student associa
tion for the past four and a half years, Davis
has worked with six ASUO-funded pro
grams (serving as director of two), served
for three years on student-faculty commit
tees, worked with the EMU and student ad
visory boards, and served as ASUO vice
president.