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