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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1981)
emerald Vol 83, No 29 Eugene. Oregon 97403 Wednesday, October 14, 1981 SEARCH slump concerns ASUO By OSCAR HALPERT 04 thm Enwrdd The University's only student-run alternative curriculum program is in jeopardy says its director At the root of the problem is money The incidental Fee Committee, which funds the program, has seen fit to give us less money this year says SEARCH director Maggie Riddle And no one is talking about restoring funds Last year iFC sliced SEARCH s bud get allocation from S7 914 in 1980-81 to £6,756 m 1981-82 Of this current bud get more than $3,500 goes for admin j istrative purposes, with less than $3 000 tor stipends according to SEARCH records Stipend money is now distributed to three or tour co-coordinators rather than director and director's assistants as before. Riddle says The IFC wants to see more courses offered before they'll increase SEARCH s budget allocation SEARCH just doesn't put on too many courses," says Alan Contreras. ASUO budget director If they don t offer more classes, then I would have to question giving them more money " Contreras says that a few years ago, SEARCH offered about 40" courses each term and this term the number has dwindled considerably At present, only 10 classes are offered through SEARCH ASUO Pres Rich Wilkins says he shares Contreras' sentiments "I'd say they're on shaky ground," he says From what I've seen and from the word around here. I’d say they're not doing their job People are never in the office Wilkens says adding that he thinks "their visibility has decreased Riddle points to several factors con tributing to the decrease in course offerings One factor is that we've had major transitions in staff she says Essentially, the people who hired me quit Riddle says fall term is always slow for SEARCH classes because people are arriving in Eugene and aren t aware of what SEARCH is or what it offers Once an instructor decides to teach a course it's nearly impossible to make sure they II stick around because they're not paid, Riddle says People will teach a course for a term and then take off. Riddle says On top of that cuts in SEARCH s budget hurt individual classes, she says We have a class this quarter that L averages $250 per quarter for films. Our allocation for audio-visual materials is the only support we have for that — $200 for the whole year Well, $200 could be wiped out in 10 minutes." Started in the late 1960s as an administrative compromise to demands from students for an unstructured, free university, SEARCH acts as an inter mediary between a sponsoring depart ment and the person who wants to teach a course Emerald Graphic Anyone with a skill or knowledge about a topic is eligible to teach a SEARCH class. The instructor then must get a faculty sponsor and signa ture Meanwhile, Contreras intends to wait until goal and budget hearings before deciding what to do with SEARCH’S budget "I have a lot of questions to ask Sometime before the hearings, I'll find some answers," Contreras says. Tomseth audio missing Jury sees RCYB videotape By MARIAN GREEN Of the Emerald Jury members intently watched a videotape of events when former Iranian hostage Victor Tomseth spoke at the University last February in a first-degree arson trial involving two members of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade The videotape was entered as evidence in Lane County Circuit Court Tuesday in the trial of John Kaiser and Nancy Whitley who are accused of the ‘ yellow ribbon burning incident at the Tomseth speech Kaiser and Whitley, both 29. face a possible 20-year prison sentence and a $2,500 fine Whitley was acquit ted Tuesday afternoon of an additional charge of resisting arrest also stemming from the incident Conspicuously missing from the KEZI videotape was an audio portion of Tomseth's response immedia tely following the burning incident, in which defendants r i Whitley was acquitted Tuesday of an additional charge Of resisting arrest Photo by Mark Pynes Kaiser and Whitley allegedly lit a "yellow ribbon" and tossed it before the EMU Ballroom stage where Tom seth was addressing an audience of 1,200 In the missing audio portion. Tomseth had said This sort of thing serves to remind me as much as anything could — this freedom of speech and assembly — that I am now in the United States of America, no longer in Iran " Circuit Court Judge George Woodrich ruled the comment inadmissable, calling it "opinion " Woodrich said the balance of the videotape provided enough to establish "the continuity, aura and atmosphere of the event. This was the aim of the defense attorneys However, both Whitley's attorney Michael Phillips and Kaiser s attorney Ralph Bradley argued that show ing the jury a complete videotape more fully establishes that no panic resulted from the ribbon-burning It's real clear that, in this case, the statement can't be used (as fact) because it's an expression of free speech, Phillips said during court recess "We think it’s important because the 1,000 or so people who heard him say it, applauded .” "It was not an audience beset with panic," Phillips said Prosecuting attorney Frank Papagni, a county deputy district attorney, said the audio was un necessary because it was "hearsay " He also said the prosecution was "not contending that there was panic; we re contending that there was a danger of panic " Phillips insisted the defense was "entitled to prove it (panic) didn't happen " At one point during the trial, four RCYB members entered the courtroom and placed a stuffed dummy of Tomseth in the front row The dummy bore a placard, reading "Convicted CIA Spy " Continued on Page 3 Actors snatch would-be thief A backpack thief chose the wrong scene for his crime Monday night A student garbed in blood apprehended the sack-snatcher in the basement of Villard hall, and a Nazi guard helped detain the thief until the police came The bandit had stumbled on a dress rehearsal of Bent, the story of a World War Two concentration camp currently being produced by the University Theatre Douglas Davis, 29, of Ontario, Canada was arraigned in Lane County District Court Tuesday afternoon and charged with first degree theft, according to police reports. Cast member Eric Johnson said he dis covered Davis taking the backpack when he entered a basement dressing room to change out of his costume Johnson said he knew the backpack belonged to John Mansfield, his roommate, and asked Davis to drop it. Johnson said he grabbed Davis by the coat and was pulling him down the hall when another crew member, Brian Marchington. dressed in a Nazi uniform, came and helped restrain Davis Crew members watched Davis until the police arrived Johnson said, adding that although Davis was not violent he seemed a little bit like he was not playing with a full deck.” After being photographed, the pack and its contents — valued at $200 — was returned to Mansfield, who had been onstage during the entire robbery Davis is being held at the Lane County jail. Bail is set at $25,000
