opinion_
Olum’s ‘decision’ is
a fatal precedent
The Emerald editorial of two weeks ago (Sept 28)
implied University Pres Paul Olum was under inordinate
pressure from timber and other interests to move the Pacific
Northwest Resource Center off campus Olum reacted
sharply to the editorial accusing the Emerald of making it
appear the decision to move PNRC or not had already been
made Olum will in fact hand down a decision after a
student-faculty forum Wednesday
Olum s * decision’ is. in the view of most, a foregone
conclusion Information released by Rep Margie Hendnk
sen. D-Eugene. characterizes Olum s decision" as a facade
that masks a decision previously reached by the State Board
of Higher Education
Olum is going through the appropriate motions,
mimicking the formality of decision-making apparently to
assuage concerned faculty and students This mimickry is at
its most blatant in a memo dated March 30 from Curt Simic.
vice president of university public relations to Olum That
memo states
"It does not go as far as Paul Olum and I want it to. but
we are in discussion with Dean Bell to include at least, the
possibility of moving the operation (PNRC) off campus
Everyone is not convinced yet but we will persevere "
Olum is the flak-catcher in a situation he hasn't total
control over, but he is in a position to set a dangerous
precedent that could destroy the autonomy of the university
Political pressure was leveled against Olum because of
PNRC as early as May A memo that circulated in the House
Ways and Means Committee voiced the committee's
displeasure at PNRC on campus
Hendriksen termed the memo a “heavy-handed pres
sure device." Olum. at the committee hearings, acquiesced
agreeing PNRC appeared to compromise the neutrality of the
University in public policy matters
Olum might have agreed solely to ensure the financial
survival of the University The purpose of that May committee
was to discuss budget cuts not put political pressure on the
University president That PNRC was brought up during
budget hearings has been interpreted to imply the Universi
ty's budget was in jeopardy because of the center s presence
on campus
Business interests, as well as the political interests, to all
appearances were subtly attacking PNRC through the
Univeristy s budget Olum s decision is cosmetic The final
decision has been made
Ed Harms of the state board summed it up to Hendrik
sen
If Pres Olum doesn t move the clinic (PNRC) off
campus the board would see that a rule was established
system-wide so that it would occur
Have political and business interests applied pressure to
the state board as well7
There is extraordinary pressure on Olum as he goes
through the motions of making a decision regarding PNRC
What should be foremost in Olum s mind is to protect the
independence of the University in determining its curriculum
The PNRC decision should ideally be based on the principle
of whether the curriculum is successful or not Former
University Pres William Boyd commented that PNRC was an
experiment that in his eyes failed
If the business and poltical interests were not interfering
Boyd s reasoning may suffice as criteria to move PNRC
off-campus But any decision now to move PNRC due to the
unusual intervention sets a dangerous precedent for the
University
The Emerald urges Olum to stand tough in the face of
business and political coercion The autonomy of the
University in curriculum must be beyond the reach of
business and political interests To allow such prejudiced
review of PNRC may open the door for special interest
groups wholesale evaluation of University curriculum To
retain PNRC on campus now shows politicai and business
interests they cannot bully the University nor determine its
curriculum
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Page 4
yours
'ANOTHER Oh£ K* THE bJOGET MI«~ER PRESIDENT
ELC out
tt appears the Environmental
Law Clinic in its present form at
the University will be terminat
ed
In a meeting (Oct 5) with four
law students Pres Paul Oium
said he s decided to push the
clinic off campus The clinic has
been in jeopardy since its invol
vement in a legal appeal in Ida
ho Last spring timber interests
moved to get rid of the clinic
Pres Otum claims that his
decision to. in effect eliminate
the clinic was based on the
principle of maintaining the
appearance of university
neutrality The actual result of
Olum s decision will be to create
the appearance that a public
university president can be im
properly influenced in matters
of principle by elements of the
timber industry
The message is clear the
university is in financia' trouble
so now is the time for powerful
special interests to lobby for
changes in the univensty cur
riculum
In his public comments and in
reluctant meetings with
students and faculty Olum has
not demonstrated an un
derstanding of the clinic struc
ture or the special needs of a
legal education
Here is how the situation
appears to me The timber in
dustry creates a so-called pub
lic interest group FORE which
pressured state legislators to
eradicate the clinic Certain
members of the Ways and
Means Committee pass the
message along to receptive
ears on the State Board of
Higher Education Next Olum is
devising principled criteria of
institutional neutrality which for
some reason will only impact on
the environmental clinic and no
other clinics or courses
John W Penfield
No comment
I'm not sure if this is indicative
of the trend in education here at
the University But I feel this
situation is at least worth men
tioning
On Tuesday in the midst of
the shock and concern over the
murder of Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat I went to my In
ternational Relations class
feeling certain that the incident
would be discussed My profes
sor began the planned lecture
mentioning nothing about what
occurred that morning A hand
went up and a student asked
What do you think will happen
now that President Sadat is
dead7
The response777
My professor smiled laughed
nervously and stated I'm really
not up on the matter enough to
make a comment
In a calculus class, perhaps
but International Relations77
Maggie Lear
Senior, psychology
Academic
Censure
Fundamental to the success
of the University s educational
mission is preserving and en
couraging an atmosphere of in
tellectual freedom Without the
freedom to seek information
and knowledge in the library in
the classroom in the laboratory
in field studies in the words of
campus speakers the objec
tives of a University cannot be
achieved
University of Oregon 1981-82
General Catalog page 2
The proposed decision to
move the Pacific Northwest Re
sources Center legal clinic from
the University campus turns
these cherished ideals into
meaningless rhetoric
Academic freedom is a cher
ished cornerstone of the Amer
ican educational system as we
know it today Indeed America
was in part founded upon the
ideal of intellectual freedom and
valiant campaigns have been
fought both at home and abroad
to preserve the right of intellec
tual freedom for Americans It is
with this strong tradition of in
tellectual freedom in mind that
Pres Oium must defend any
attempted infringement upon
the academic freedom of
University students
The attempted censure of
academic freedom at issue in
the instant case would not only
thwart intellectual development
and growth of University law
students but would proceed to
place extreme self-doubt in
University law students as to the
value of learning the adversarial
system as it exists today
Indeed not only will students
experience self-doubt as to the
worth of the adversarial
process but law students will no
longer be able to receive clinical
experience or training in the
adversarial process itself there
by effectively killing two
educational opportunities with
the same stone
As a law student at the
University I urge Pres Olum to
stand up for the rights of both
the future graduates of the
University Law School and for
the intellectual and academic
freedom of the University itself
In this day and age of trick
le-down economics we must
guard against this trickle
down effect encroaching upon
our fundamental right to
academic freedom
I leave the future of the
University's mission in Pres
Olum s hands
Kevin Peck
Executive Board Member
National Lawyer's Guild
Get small
In regards to the front page
article appearing in Thursday s
Emerald concerning Pres
Olum s rejection of a let's get
small'' attitude I would just like
to state that if Pres Olum would
only get small ' once in a while,
the University financial situation
would not appear nearly so
bleak
In fact. I am sure he would find
it difficult not to smile about the
whole affair
Tony Hopkins
Senior
Tuesday, October 13, 1981