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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 19, 1983)
Ray’s coming to the Hult See page 7 Oregon daily emerald Thursday, May 19, 1983 Eugene, Oregon Volume 84, Number 157 ROTC protestors rally Ask Olum to debate issue By Frank Shaw CM Mm Emerald An anti-ROTC rally spon sored by Students for Equal Rights drew about 100 spec tators to a rally and march Wednesday. The rally's purpose was to get University Pres. Paul Olum and military science head Lt. Col. Steven Wolfgram to agree to debate the issue of discrimination in the ROTC department and to “inform more students” about the issues, said Tom Dierker, one of the rally organizers. The demonstration and march were to protest the University Assembly’s action two weeks ago postponing in definitely a motion requiring ROTC to comply with Universi ty affirmative action policies. A debate with Ryan, Olum, Wolfgram and GALA director Barbara Ryan is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. in Room 167 EMU, Dierker said. Olum and Wolfgram con firmed the discussion. "It (the issue) won't die just because they've agreed to a debate," Dierker said, adding that Olum has been very receptive about the idea of ad dressing the issue. The rally began with songs and speeches and concluded with the protestors marching to Johnson Hall, circling the building and slipping a letter under Olum’s door. AnthROTC demonstrators marched to Johnson Hall Wednesday in protest of a recent University Assembly vote Ryan’s aim is to “attempt to put pressure on the ad ministration to get them to clarify their position,” he said. The issue involves more than just faculty and administration — it involves students, Ryan said. Responding to accusations that his motion was merely an excuse to kick ROTC off cam pus, Ryan said “I could say all their arguments are an excuse to keep ROTC on campus. "The administration has not offered a single counter proposal,” Ryan said, which he says shows they’re not serious about the issue. Some scholarships awarded by the University specify that only men or only women are eligible to receive them. In these cases Ryan says the University agrees to fund the scholarship if someone is turned down because of sex. The same solution could apply to ROTC. Ryan said. Mary Hotchkiss, ASUO president-elect, was not in volved in the rally’s planning, but says she was asked to go to the rally. Hotchkiss stress ed the importance of students letting the administration know how they feel. “He’s (Olum) been listen ing," Hotchkiss said. Doug Marker, president of the campus chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that in the Univer sity’s desire to build a “healthy” image, they were “trying to sweep problems under the rug." The University is being held hostage by the lowest com mon denominator in the com munity, Marker said. “Princi Dle was sacrificed for safetv ” Computer sci adds new system, profs By Melissa Martin Of Mm Emerald The computer science department recently purchas ed two research and instruction computers for $250,000 and hired three new professors for next year, the depart ment head said Wednesday. Two mini computers, VAX 11/750s, will be used as lab equipment for faculty research and senior and graduate level instruction, Arthur Farley told an audience of 35 at a state of the Computer and information Science address. Computer students who use the new equipment may have to pay a $20 user fee to provide maintenance for the machines unless the state approves funds for a major pro gram improvement plan, Farley said. Although public contributions and re adjusted pro gram funds will pay for the new equipment, a federal grant will allow computer science Prof. Kent Stevens and psychology Prof. Jacob Beck to research color perception. With the research expansion, Farley anticipates the two-year-old Ph.D. program to grow from the five students now involved to the anticipated 12 next year. The University computer science department is rank ed among the top 40 programs in the nation largely because of the Ph D addition, Farley said. Along with the Ph D program, the department has added three instructors from prominent universities while many schools struggle to bring in any new faculty, Farley said. Eugene Luks, from Buckley University in Penn sylvania, will act as department head while Farley is on sabbatical in the Bay Area. Stanford graduate Sally Douglas, who just completed her Ph.D will bring her concerns for computer manage ment and learning “borrowing skills from one domain and transferring them to another,” Farley said. "She will be teaching a natural language process,” he said. John Conerey of the University of California at Irvine was also hired for next fall and will compliment the com puter architecture program with his “logic,” Farley said. “These new people will be definitely affecting the cur riculum,” Farley said. “The curriculum will be improved in our operating systems.” Present computer science Prof. Andrzej Proskurowski will take a sabbatical to Sweden next year. Levies may reappear on June ballot By Aleta Zak Of ttM Ftwrih) The morning after the $6.25 million property tax levy for Lane County failed by a 2-1 margin, county of ficials already were thinking of putting another special levy before the voters next month. “We’ll survive,” says Jerry Rust, president of the Lane County Board of Commissioners. “We’il have to. What alternative do we have?” Although he had been optimistic about the levy’s passage, Rust says he’s not surprised at the outcome. "I don’t blame the people,” he says. "We’re look ing at real property tax trouble in this county, and the state (Legislature) hasn't given us any help.” County voters Tuesday also defeated a $425,800 special property tax levy to continue funding the rural library bookmobile program. The library levy failed 24,774 to 16,724. The operating levy was defeated 27,180 to 14,516. More than three-fourths of that amount was earmark ed for the district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s department and the juvenile department. The commissioners and other budget committee members have until May 25 to propose another levy for the June 28 election. The budget committee was to meet Wednesday evening to decide whether to at tempt another levy. Rust sees two approaches for the new levy pro posal — cutting the original $6.25 million amount in half or listing individual services on the ballot in a “menu” style. The menu approach’s disadvantage is voters will have a lot of freedom to decide what cuts to make in specific departments, says Rust. “We may take the district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office, the library and the assessment office and put them all up on separate measures,” Rust says. “I mean, who’s going to vote for the tax collector?” If county administrators decide in favor of another levy, county jail funding won’t be among the items because state and federal laws already ensure jail operation, Rust says. The total county budget will be cut to allow the jail facility to continue operating within the laws. “The jail is an unbelievable money-eater," says Rust. In addition to preparing the second property tax ‘We’ll survive. We’ll have to. What alternative do we have?’ levy for next month, the 10-member budget commit tee must begin making the $6.25 million in cuts for next year’s operating budget. Employees in the departments scheduled for cuts will begin receiving layoff notices soon. Although the budget committee will juggle funds in different areas and try for a successful June levy, Rust says the county must assume those workers will be laid off beginning in June. The district attorney’s office will suffer some of the deepest cuts, says county Administrator Margaret Mahoney. Twenty-two attorneys, law clerks and other office staff could lose their jobs, causing a tremendous backlog in the criminal justice system, says Mahoney. After the layoffs, the remaining assistant district attorneys couldn’t handle the county’s cur rent criminal case load, she says. The number of sheriff’s detectives, rural patrol officers, dispatchers and other employees will be reduced by 75, says Bud Rainey, a senior county management analyst. More calls will be referred to the state police, putting a greater burden on that department. Paul Lenarduzzi, administrator for the county juvenile department, says the Skipworth detention center may have to close for part of the year if the fun ding isn’t increased. The juvenile department, which provides crisis intervention, counseling and other services for young people and their families, already is severely restricted by its four-day work week, says Lenar duzzi. Most county service offices also are closed on Friday. That schedule will continue for another year unless funds are approved in a June levy. - The assessment office also may shut down for part of the year if the budget doesn't include enough to keep the department operating for the entire year. That closure would cause more delays in collec ting the taxes and distributing the funds to agencies that depend on them. The county’s rural library program, which also was defeated in a separate levy Tuesday, will close after this summer if the June levy fails. “I wasn’t so much suprised (at Tuesday’s failure) as I was disappointed,” says county Librarian Beth De la Fuente.
