White Train
protesters
don’t give up
See Page 3
Tuesday, July 31, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 13
Board approves fund for American studies
By Mike Sims
Of the Emerald
The Oregon Department of
Higher Education will ask Gov.
Vic Atiyeh and the 1985
legislature for $641 million to
support state colleges and
universities during the 1985-87
biennium.
The State Board of Higher
Education unanimously ap
proved the request Friday at
Portland State University. The
governor will consider the re
quest before submitting his
budget to the Legislature in
January.
The budget request represents
a $200 million increase over the
1983-85 amount of state fun
ding for higher education.
The board also unanimously
approved creation of a Universi
ty undergraduate degree pro
gram in American Studies, ef
fective fall term in 1985. The in
terdisciplinary program will
consist of studies in American
history combined with
American literature, art, music
and social sciences.
The proposed budget in
cludes a provision for continua
tion of a tuition freeze at
Oregon's eight colleges and
universities through the
Kesey: Travel policy ‘overdue’
By Mike Sims
Of the Emerald
Ken Kesey had mixed feelings
about the State Board of Higher
Education’s unanimous ap
proval Friday of new regula
tions governing travel by
Oregon colleges and
universities.
“I’m glad — but it’s been
long overdue,” said the noted
author regarding the board’s
action.
Kesey spoke as a bereaved
parent; his son, Jed, and fellow
University wrestler Lorenzo
West of Portland were killed in
Ken Kesey
January when a wrestling team
van skidded off an icy highway
in southeastern Washington.
The senior Kesey began call
ing for more strict policies con
cerning school-related travel
immediately after the tragedy.
In April, he suggested to a
Senate advisory committee on
educational travel a number of
ways to improve safety on
school trips. Those suggestions
were included in the policy pro
posal the higher education
board adopted Friday.
The new policy states that the
board is “committed to taking
every practical step which will
result in institutions providing
safe vehicular transportation for
faculty, staff and students
traveling on institution
approved business.”
Under the new regulation, all
vehicles used for school-related
travel must be equipped with
seat belts for each passenger, a
first aid kit, an emergency
reflector kit, flares, an ice
scraper, a flashlight, service sta
tion credit cards, aceident
reporting blanks and instruc
tions for handling emergencies.
Institutions also must provide
for regular vehicle inspections;
maintenance; safety equipment;
pre-travel planning, including
equipment checks; and the fil
ing of trip itineraries.
Schools must keep tabs on the
training and performance of
drivers, as well as the physical
qualifications of drivers and the
review of each driver’s license.
In addition, the board
declared that no person who has
been convicted of a major traffic
offense during the past three
years will be permitted to drive
vehicles carrying passengers on
school-related business.
The board directed the
presidents of Oregon’s eight
state colleges and universities
to adopt institution rules as
soon as possible and no later
than Nov. 1
“It’s too bad people wait for
some disaster before making
regulations,” Kesey com
mented. “If we can act before it
happens, that’s better than
waiting.”
Kesey has written letters to
Sen. Mark Hatfield and other
leaders questioning the number
of dollars allocated for safety in
schools as opposed to the
amount of funds spent on na
tional defense. “To me, both
issues relate directly to our
children and their welfare,” he
said.
If Oregon’s higher-education
Continued on Page 5
1986-87 school year. The 1983
Legislature appropriated $20.6
million to freeze tuition rates at
1982- 83 levels through the
1983- 85 biennium.
The board’s 1983-87 Strategic
Plan calls for freezing Oregon
tuition rates until they are in
line with those at other Western
colleges and universities.
The board also requested
$54.8 million for faculty salary
increases, at an average of 11.5
percent per academic year. The
salary increase is geared toward
bringing Oregon college and
university faculty salaries in
line with those at similar
institutions.
Oregon’s economic growth,
particularly in the area of high
technology, also was con
sidered by higher education
staff and the board.
The proposed budget in
cludes a request for $17.6
million to bolster related pro
grams. The University’s share is
$4.6 million, for programs in
biotechnology, high energy
physics, polymer science and
geothermal research.
Approximately $385,200 was
approved for University studies
in international business.
The University honors col
lege, the Center for the
Humanities and the Labor
Education and Research Center
would benefit from a proposed
$460,266 allocation approved
by the board. The amount was
part of a $2.5 million allocation
for program improvement re
quests by individual
institutions.
The University’s new
American Studies program has
a proposed budget of $127,000
for the 1985-87 biennium. The
budget includes provisions for
one full-time and one part-time
faculty member and one part
time secretary.
University Pres. Paul Olum
asked the board to approve crea
tion of the degree program in
American Studies when he
presented University program
requests to the body at its June
meeting. Olum said Saturday
that he was “very excited”
about implementation of the
new program.
“It’s something we should
have had here before this,”
Olum said. “We have all the
right people to teach it — it’s a
natural for the University.”
Olum also said that board
response to the American
Studies proposal was “extreme
ly positive.”
Degree candidates would be
required to complete all Univer
sity requirements for a Bachelor
of Arts degree, as well as a
45-credit major in American
Studies with a 2.25 grade point
average.
Requirements of the major in
clude completion of a three
course, nine-hour sequence in
Introduction to American
Studies, and 30 hours (21
upper-division) of history,
literature, arts and letters and
social sciences. A three-hour
senior seminar and a senior
thesis also would be required.
Oregon State University cur
rently is the only public college
or university in the state to offer
an American Studies program.
The program, offered through
OSU’s College of Liberal Arts,
graduates four to eight students
a year. American Studies pro
grams also are offered at
Willamette University in Salem
and at Reed and Warner Pacific
colleges in Portland.
Alcohol ban continues at University athletic events
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
The temporary rule banning alcoholic
beverages from University athletic
events was made permanent last week.
The rule, which also bans glass con
tainers, cans, weapons arid fireworks,
was first established in August 1983.
Public hearings were held on the ruling
in November 1983.
The ban on glass and metal containers
was instituted as a safety measure, says
Steve McBride, events manager for the
athletic department.
“There have been bottles thrown onto
the field, barely missing the heads of
cheerleaders,” he says. Maintenance
people have been injured by broken
glass, he says.
The alcohol ban originated when the
University was still considering selling
beer and wine at games. The Oregon Li
quor Control Commission requires that
outside alcohol be banned where
alcoholic beverages are sold.
The University later decided not to
allow the sale of alcohol at the sports
events.
“Most people say (the alcohol ban) has
made a differnce in the general de
meanor of the crowd,” says Dan
Williams, vice president of administra
tion. “It's had a very positive effect on
the crowd.”
But a section of the rule, allowing
University employees to search people
as a condition for entering sports events,
has been challenged as unconstitutional
by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The University maintains that the sear
ches are voluntary and therefore are not
covered by constitutional guarantees
against warrantless searches. The ACLU
disagrees.
“Our view is that when consent is re
quested under those circumstances it’s
coerced and not true consent, and the
constitutional violation still stands,”
says David Fidanque, of the ACLU.
The University has made minor
changes in the rule, including a stipula
tion that no one will be required to wait
in line while University employees
search other fans. The changes were sub
mitted to the Oregon attorney general’s
office and have been approved
by that
Emerald file photo
Once again this year University football fans will have to consume their booze
outside of Autzen stadium.
office.
Fidanque says that ACLU lawyers will
study the changes in the rules before the
organization takes a stand on the issue.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do
about it,” he says. ”1 think our position
will be the same this time.”
Meanwhile, McBride says the athletic
department needs the revenue that could
be gained from selling alcohol and will
continue to work to get permission to
sell beer and wine.
“It probably won’t happen this year,”
he says.