/-editorial
End IFC overspending
ASUO politics come alive in the springtime, or at least
they are animated by energies that give them a lively appear
ance. Part of the excitement is caused by the fact that a lot of
money is changing hands, money that comes directly out of
students’ pockets — $1.3 million of it.
This money is divided among 44 ASUO organizations
and several student-subsidized operations such as the EMU
and the Athletic Department. There’s a springtime scramble
for funding: every group on campus wants a bigger slice of the
pie.
This year it looks as though the Incidental Fee Commit
tee (IFC), the ASUO agency with funding authority roughly
analogous to that of Congress, is handing out money so fast
that it is in violation of the ASUO Constitution.
So far in the IFC’s budget hearings, programs have been
allocated nine per cent more money than is expected to come
into the ASUO coffers next year. The ASUO Constitution
limits overbudgeting to seven per cent.
It’s not hard to find instances of overspending that could
have been avoided. The Interfratemity Council was given
$610 to allow members to attend a two-day conference in
Reno, and Panhellenic received $512 for the same purpose.
One wonders whether the Greeks would be interested in
attending the same conference if it were held in Medford.
Moreover, the IFC accepted what sounds like a lame
excuse for Panhellenic’sextravagant use of office supplies:
the sorority group said it needed to use nearly 18,000 sheets
of paper to preserve its good image with alumni. Combined,
the Interfratemity Council and Panhellenic received $3,100
more than last year’s budget.
Despite the fact that declining enrollment is expected to
force a five per cent reduction in the total ASUO budget,
nearly every program that has passed before the IFC to date
has received as much or more than it received last year.
There are a few notable excsptions: the Native American
Student Union, the Chinese Student Association, and a few
others have had their budgets cut.
The IFC is now wondering what to do about its profligate
overspending. The options currently being discussed are to
either reconsider the allocations already made, or to slog
through what remains of the allocation process and adjust
program budgets across the board by whatever percentage is
constitutionally and fiscally necessary.
The first option, to reconsider the allocations made so
far, seems the fairest. The !FC should start its budgeting
process with an idea of how much money it has to spend; it’s
not fair to the programs that come later for the IFC to suddenly
discover that it is short of cash. The IFC works hard for little
but heartache, and while students should appreciate the job
the IFC does, they should demand that the job be done well.
y
“Incidental Fee Committee agenda item number 1563:
George Lincoln Rockwell Brigade, U of O division of the
American Nazi Party, line item 52: Explosives, assorted
small arms and weaponry, $15,000. Any objections?”
Letters
Fiscal expediency
Statement adopted at a general
meeting of the Associated Library
Students April 7, 1977:
Pres. Boyd has recommended
dissolving the School of Librarian
ship as the latest major step in his
Page 4
massive budget reduction prog
ram. Recognizing the need for
continuing quality education for
librarianship in this region, we
cannot support such a closed
door decision based on fiscal ex
pediency. While the school can be
cut with minimal disruption to the
rest of the University, the effects
on the library profession and lib
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rary services in the state as a
whole will be major. At a time
when the University is asking for
state funding on the basis of the
programs it offers, it seems
hypocritical to cut the only accre
dited library school in the state
without significant prior public dis
cussion.
Lupine Youngman
Co-president—
Associated Library Students
Proud of uniform
I had doubts about writing this
letter in regards to Professor
McConnaughey’s letter in the
April 7th ODE. I do not want to
engage in verbal ping pong about
the merits of AFROTC.
I do, however, wish to make a
point about the wearing of the un
iform that seems to irritate the pro
fessor. First and foremost, I would
like to say I am proud of the un
iform and not because it is “pretty”
as Dr. McConnaughey said, but
because of what it stands for.
Having spent three years in the
U.S Navy before coming to
Oregon, uniform wearing is not
new to me. The uniform alone
means little. The relevance is in
the fact that it symbolizes the U.S.
Armed Forces, a necessary part of
our lives. Granted, the services
have their problems, and we’d be
fools not to admit it. However, the
presence of problems is no
reason to run and hide where no
one will see us. To think that peer
pressure will erase us from the
streets is laughable, to say the
least. True, there is a lot to be said
about the power of peer pressure,
but there is more to be said for
individuals who stand up to peer
pressure and follow their consci
ence. I do not feel obligated to
allow peer pressure to control the
decisions regarding my life. I will
enter the armed services with the
same attitude. No one will force
me to act against my conscience. I
do not loose my constitutional
rights upon entering the military
nor do I loose my integrity and
conscience.
In conclusion I reiterate: as an
American, it was my choice to
enter the military and I think others
should also have that choice. To
take this away from me or to think
you can do so by engaging in stare
tactics gives me little credit as a
human being.
Ronald D. Fuchs
Junior—Journalism
Fight the hike
On Friday, April 8, some in
terested persons gathered to
gether to discuss the threat of the
new tuition hikes and cutbacks in
University programs. A committee
was formed and a petition drawn
up to fight these new proposals.
We believe that these propos
als are not workable solutions to
problems of low enrollment and
lack of monies for higher educa
tion. In fact, if this tuition hike goes
into effect, enrollment will con
tinue to go down and next year
there will be yet another hike to
compensate for further de
creases.
It is time for everyone to come
together and fight these new in
creases. Whether you will be
forced out or able to remain as a
consumer of a ‘less than quality
education,’-you will still be af
fected. Help build the struggle and
beat the hikes. If they could do it in
Washington we can do it in
Oregon.
1— Sign the petition.
2— Talk to your friends.
3— Come to the meeting
Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at the EMU
(room to be posted).
Alberta Bunner
for the Committee
Against Tuition Hikes
and Cutbacks
-opinion
Protest IBM recruiters
N
The situation in South Africa has received considerable
coverage in the world press, including that of the U.S. The
analysis presented by the press in this country, however, is not
formulated to support true freedom for South African people.
Instead, it constantly distorts the situation in order to encourage a
type of reform that would still maintain South Africa as a haven for
foreign, especially U.S., investment.
The system of apartheid in South Africa is basically a means
for controlling the black population as a labor force to the advan
tage and profit not only of the white minority regime, but also of the
multi-national corporations. Black townships, such as Soweto,
serve as a labor pool which can be tapped when necessary.
Those who are not needed are often shunted off to “homelands.”
These barren areas are supposed to support 80 per cent of the
black population while they make up only 13 per cent of the land in
South Africa. In addition, blacks must carry passbooks at all
times, cannot own land, and must use separate and inferior
facilities of all kinds. The apartheid system is designed to keep
wages as low as possible and keep blacks in unskilled jobs.
There are over 350 U.S. firms with investments in South
Africa; their investments have risen spectacularly in the past
decade, especially in the past several years. During this time, a
police state was being developed. While U.S. investment was
sometimes growing as much as 20 per cent a year, 98 new
discriminatory laws were passed. The truth is that the extremely
low wages and sharp oppression of black people under apartheid
allow these corporations to make almost double the world aver
age rate of profit. This gives the lie to statements designed to
apologize for the role multinational corporations play in a system
which is being more exposed every day in its brutality and histori
cal backwardness.
IBM is one of those corporations profiting from apartheid. Its
customers include the Department of Defense; the Department of
the Interior, which administers all prisons; the Council for Scien
tific and Industrial Research, which deals with research in critical
military areas; and the Atomic Energy Board. Clearly, the use to
which these computers are put does not serve the interests of the
South African people, but instead is used against them to keep
them suppressed.
On Friday, April 15th, the University administration is wel
coming IBM recruiters on campus. The University shows its com
plicity in the racist apartheid by providing facilities for corporations
with investments in South Africa to recruit new employes. The
South African Support Committee calls on all students to join a
demonstration opposing IBM investment in South Africa and the
presence of these corporate recruiters on campus. It will begin at
1.30 p.m. on the EMU terrace and will move to Susan Campbell
Hall where the recruiters will be sharply questioned. This is a step
in supporting the true liberation of South African people, which,
they will gain only by ending the racist white minority regime and
expelling all foreign investment from South Africa.
Myra E. Delay
Southern African Support Committee
/