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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1981)
dailyemerald Vol. 82, No. 142 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Tuesday, April 28, 1981 Photo by Erich Boekelheide Americans can match the efficiency of Soviet government "owners" only by employing U.S. newspapers and people to monitor the governments defense actions, Soviet emigre and author Lev Navrozov told an audience on Monday. Emigre implores citizens to monitor U.S. defense By MARIAN GREEN Of the Emerald In order for Western democracies to survive, citizens — including those of the United States — must encourage newspapers to watchdog the government’s national defense actions. That’s the message Lev Navrozov, Soviet emigre and author, left with his full-capacity audience Monday afternoon. Navrozov, whose lecture was sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the University’s Russian and East European Studies department, said the bureaucracies of the Wes tern democracies, unlike those of the Soviet Union, aren’t motivated to perform. It’s up to the citizens to compel the govern ment to do ’’quality” work, he said. "There is a general belief that Soviet bur eaucracies are paid for world conquest and American bureaucracies are paid for defense,’’ Navrozov said. He said Soviet bureaucracies work because "the soviet bureaucracies are a natural, integral part of that society — in all autocratic societies." The “owners," as Navrozov calls the highest Soviet officials, demand performance from the bureaucracies. "If the bureaucracy fails to perform, off with their heads." In the United States, there is no "owner”, he said. Consequently, the bureaucracies don’t perform at all. Navrozov suggested two methods that do work in the 20th Century — free enterprise, because it is motivated by a sense of profit (not necessarily monetary profit) and totalitarian bur eaucracies, because they are motivated by fear In a totalitarian society, “If you don’t perform, you’ll find yourself in Siberia," he said. Navarov said if matters of defense, intel ligence and foreign policy continue to be relegat ed to the bureaucracies, "that will be the end of the Western world." For Western countries to survive, he said, the answer is a solution proposed and advocated by Thomas Jefferson — the people of the United States. “Who is the customer for defense in the United States? We know who is interested in Russia — the 'owners’, ’’ he said. “The answer is the people of the United States. They are the sovereign; they are the customer. “They must monitor the defense strategy, intelligence and foreign policy through new spapers checking the government.” Nevertheless, current newspaper coverage of government defense policy is inadequate. "The big papers — the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Chicago Sun-Times — are not interested in national defense," he said. "They want to pretend that the danger doesn’t exist.” An example of the U S. government bur eaucracy’s ineptness is its blind acceptance of Soviet propaganda, Navrozov said, noting the CIA’s reports to Congress during the detente years. He said CIA officials simply rewrote pamph lets printed by the Soviet Union and submitted them to Congress as hard fact. To correct this problem, Navrozov advocates dismantling the CIA and instituting several com peting corporations, including private organiza tions, to take over the national defense function. However, he cautions that "only the citizens can compel the government to be quality cons cious.” And with a "certain minimum level of educa tion" the citizens can, and should, make intel liqent decisions about national defense, he ad ded. Navrozov immigrated to the United States in 1972 shortly after the Soviet Union began allow ing immigration He is the author of a six-volume series about life in Russia. Of that series, only one volume has been published — "The Education of Lev Navrozov," which describes his childhood in Russia. Computer Ph.D. faces last hurdle By GABRIEL BOEHMER Of the Emerald Computer science prof. Steve Hedetniemi is getting writer's cramp. After the University's proposed doctoral program in computer and information science was rejected by the state's higher education board in March, CIS department head Hedetniemi drafted a letter to board members to make another pitch for the program. The board put the program "on-line" Friday, and now Hedetniemi is writing thank-you letters. But the doctoral program has to clear one more adminis trative hurdle — the State Educational Coordinating Commis sion. The commission will review the University computer and information science doctoral program in two or three months, says commission representative Elinore Rogers. The program — if approved — will begin a transmission of research grants and computer hardware to the department, according to Hedetniemi. "The opportunities for computer science will double in Oregon.” Hedetniemi says corporations often donate equipment or money for research and scholarships to computer science programs offering doctoral degrees. 'It’s vaguely like a birthday gift," Hedetniemi says. "Industry is coming to realize it needs to support educa tion. It’s a good time to write larger corporations for public endorsement and support." And the information bank for computer science students will grow, he adds Library materials, periodicals, computer equipment and guest lecturers could be shared with Oregon State University, which already offers a doctorate degree in computer science. And a Ph D. program also means the amount of research produced by the University will increase, he says. “In a field that moves as fast as computer science moves, it’s important to stay current in the forefront of thinking " The program will enroll only three students a year for its first three years, Hedetniemi says. The faculty's ability to handle doctoral students' theses determines the program’s size Hedetniemi says he expects the program will attract most of its students from the department's master’s program. In light of the state board's rejection of other higher education proposals, Hedetniemi says he is relieved by the approval of the doctorate program. Now Hedetniemi says his biggest concern is the commis sion’s review of the proposed doctorate degree program ‘In a field that moves as fast as computer science moves, it’s important to stay current in the forefront of thinking.' The commission doesn’t rubber stamp programs ap proved by the higher education board, Rogers says. For example, the commission sent the University's geron tology certificate program back to the board for reconsidera tion. Although the commission eventually accepted the pro gram, the review process was delayed The seven-member council has a broader-perspective than the higher education board, Rogers says. The commis sion keeps tabs on all public and private post-secondary schools in Oregon Concern that the University proposal duplicated OSU's program swayed the state higher education board to reject the prosposal in March. But Hedetniemi says the University program is unique. Even the chairer of the OSU program endorsed the proposal, calling it "friendly competition,” Hedetniemi adds. Each school has a unique approach to implementing its computer science programs, Hedetniemi says. The OSU program has advantages for students interested in engineer ing, and the University program would have more theoretical applications.
