Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
(oMUw trojan
Volume Cll, Number 14
University of Southern California
1912 — 1986
Friday, September 19, 1986
S. Africa motion may be invalidated, reintroduced as resolution
Dispute arises over senate procedure
By Aaron Curtiss
Staff Writer
In a surprising turnaround, the much-debated Student Senate motion that rejected the university's South African policy and called for complete divestment may be considered "null and void” because of a technicality in how it was presented.
Marcus Frishman, the senate's parliamentarian, said that the motion, which passed the senate Wednesday on a 16 to 10 vote, was not appropriate because it was not introduced as a formal resolution, and therefore cannot be considered an official senate opinion.
He recommended that the motion be invalidated and reintroduced as a formal resolution, which, he says requires a two-thirds vote to pass. The senate's constitution, however, says that a motion in the senate, which would be necessary for approval of the resolution, requires only a majority of the meeting's quorum.
In a memo to Mark Decker, senate vice president, Frishman explained that "such a motion should be introduced as a formal resolution to the Student Senate rather than an on-the-spot dictated motion.''
Frishman said the senate has "specific rules and bylaws for the adoption and implementation of resolutions" and that proper procedure was not followed Wednesday night.
The senate's standing rules dictate that a formal resolution be presented to the parliamentarian three days before the senate's meeting.
Operating on the assumption that a formal resolution requires a two-thirds vote for approval, Frishman said Wednesday's proposal would not have passed if it were presented as a resolution, and he advised Decker to declare the motion "null and void."
The vice president is charged by the constitution with ruling on all parliamentary questions.
Although Frishman said Bobkiewicz requested a motion instead
Committee to plan better handling of catastrophes
By Bryon Okada
Staff Writer
A Disaster Planning Committee has been formed in an effort to coordinate the way agencies on and off campus will react in the event of a major catastrophe, said Carl Levredge, director of university security and parking operations.
The committee has proposed a plan that calls for the intervention of both public and civil agencies in the event of "a worst case scenario," Levredge said.
He said the new plan is not "a matter of finding problems," but an improvement in the ability to deal with a disaster.
Levredge proposed the committee's formation last spring hoping to "put together an outline for a response plan" to a disaster. This outline was finished three months later on July 1.
In a July 25 letter to the committee members, Anthony Lazzaro, senior vice president of business affairs, stressed "the need for a new, up-to-date disaster and emergency preparedness plan."
"What has been established is a committee which has wide representation throughout the university community," Lazzaro said. "It addresses the matter in the broadest sense," and focuses on the extent to which the university is dependent on community services and vice versa.
Initially the committee concentrated on creating an emergency response plan by establishing procedures and initiating training programs. Now its emphasis has shifted to finding a "more efficient way to organize a response."
The maximizing of resources and increased communications among local agencies should improve the current disaster plan, Levredge said.
About two dozen students and faculty members are on the committee, which is divided into sub-groups of four or five members. It has met monthly since August and is chaired by William Weber, chairman of the chemistry department.
Ironically, Levredge's group met on the night of the fire at the Sigma Chi fraternity house.
The committee is developing plans to prepare for disasters on a city-wide scale, although it's also prepared to handle local problems such as the recent fires in university-owned housing, Levredge said.
Lazzaro said that a new safety program dealing with university housing will soon be implemented by his office to ensure that all the buildings are up to safety standards.
Lazzaro described current safety measures in student housing as being "very well-addressed." However, the new program will call for more stringent reviews.
Citations will be issued if any safety code violations are discovered. Lazzaro said these will state the problem and impose a deadline by which corrections must be made.
Although the program has not yet been fully developed, Lazzaro said that particiDants have been notified and a meeting will be held next week.
of a resolution, Decker said, "I think he intended it to be a resolution. I'm assuming he wanted a formal opinion of the senate. But, as a motion, it cannot stand."
Decker and Frishman agreed that "it was inappropriate passing it as a motion," and both said it should be considered as a formal resolution.
Bobkiewicz said, "Everyone thought what we were doing was proper and correct. I think we were all doing the proper thing."
He said that both Decker and Frishman "were giving me and the rest of the senate the impression that we were following correct procedure. The chair (Decker) even said, 'Motion is passed.' "
Bobkiewicz said Frishman is "introducing specific details of parliamentary procedure we have never followed. We never require a two-thirds vote, except in cases of amendments.
"I just don't see how one individual can change the vote of a meeting," he said, adding that a minor mistake in procedure should not nullify the motion.
Bobkiewicz said, "Everyone thought what we were doing was proper and correct. I think we were all doing the proper thing.”
. . .Decker and Frishman "were giving me and the rest of the senate the impression that we were following correct procedure. The chair (Decker) even said, 'Motion is passed.' "
Decker said his actions against the motion do not stem from his opposition to it. Though he voted "no" Wednesday night, he said the parliamentary challenge is "what needs to be done."
As chairman of senate meetings, Decker said, he "must mediate the meetings and be impartial in the process. I give my vote as a representative, but I am concerned with the correct voting process. How it turns out is not my concern."
Frishman said, "Everything is being done in the most forthright manner. I have made four or five advisements to (Decker) in the past few months and all of them have been carried out almost to the letter of my advisement."
Danielle Torres, a student community senator, said, "It was my impression that it was a motion.
"What happened was innocent and there was obviously a misunderstanding. If we run by parliamentary procedure, I think we need to redo what we did."
That is also Frishman's feeling: "If you have a law or rule that you don't follow, then what good is the law or rule?"
$635,000 budget okayed by senate; upped by $33,000
By Rhoda Fukushima
Staff Writer
The Student Senate approved its 1986-87 budget of almost $635,000 Wednesday night. The new budget exceeds last year's by nearly $33,000.
"Students are getting their money's worth," said Wally Bobkiewicz, senate president. "It's a lot different from last year. We hope they're happy. As far as we're concerned, we're spending money in the best way we know how."
Roughly 75 percent of the budget will go toward student programming, Bobkiewicz said. The remainder covers administrative costs, which include supplies, staff salaries, tuition remission for certain senate officers and a reserve account for outstanding senate debts.
The budget contains some changes in account names intended to clarify which funds are spent on programming and which will go toward administrative costs, Bobkiewicz said.
The budget acts as a calendar for spending money, said Bob Crissman, senate treasurer. "We don't want to run out of money before June, so we plan to stick to it very closely. It's a very useful budget," he said.
The budget is there as a guide, said Steve Berens, a graduate senator from the School of Business. "We need a way to monitor our spending. It also keeps us legitimate," he said.
Berens said the graduate senators will be discussing the apportionment of funds between the graduate and undergraduate assemblies this year.
"Granted, some undergraduate programs benefit both graduates and undergraduates."
Rabbi supports nonviolence
Calls for economic sanctions against South Africa
GUR1 DHALIWAL / DAILY TROJAN
Rabbi Ben Isaacson
By Jim Logan
Staff Writer
Rabbi Ben Isaacson, of the Har El Congregation in Johannesburg, South Africa, told an audience at Topping Student Center that nonviolent solutions to apartheid, such as economic sanctions against the South African government, must be imposed.
The rabbi said Thursday, "We are creating a situation in South Africa where out of pure frustration, (blacks) are going to have no alternative — you're giving them no alternative — but to throw petrol bombs in the morning when they wake up," he said.
"I'm. . .hopeful (for a peaceful solution), but I believe that in the immediate period that we face, we will go through a period of darkness or bloodshed."
Isaacson said that although sanctions are not a perfect solution, they are effective, despite critics' objections.
"Sanctions don't bring comfort (or) make it possible to live," he said. "But the ones who are crying about the effects of sanctions are . . .whites, and white businesses that have been liquidated."
Isaacson was critical of the Reagan administration and its policy of "constructive engagement," which calls for the abolition of apartheid through diplomacy.
"I don't believe that the government of this (Continued on page 3)