Daily w Trojan
vol. Ixv no. 41
University of Southern California
los angeles, California
thursday, november 16, 1972
Students pick program board over ASSC
By Loren Ledin
staff writer
A student programming board has been overwhelmingly selected by students to serve as an interim ASSC government.
The results of last month's ASSC mail vote were released Wednesday by Daniel Nowak, acting vice-president for student affairs, and the sparse but decisive returns showed a strong student rejection of the current ASSC structure.
The vote was almost four to one in favor of the programming board: 3.624 to 821. But only 4,445 out of 18,200 bothered to return their ballots.
The results are binding, said Nowak. Thus the university is now making preparations for the new board."
The immediate task will be the recruiting of the board members. The Student Programming Board will have nine voting members including three at-large undergraduate students, two at-large graduate members and the respective directors of the Community Action Coordinating Council, the academic
educational programs division, the social/cultural programs division, and the student services division.
There will also be three nonvoting members: the editor of the Daily Trojan, the ASSC business manager and the director of the Student Activities Office.
Applications for the at-large positions are available beginning today in the Student Activities Office.
Nowak said Wednesday that he expects selection process would be completed by the first week in December.
Nonpartisan agency The board is a nonpartisan agency with the sole responsibility of administering student fees for campus programming. It will function as a student voice, which has been lacking since spring’s ASSC controversies.
“I am damn supportive of it,” said Paul Moore, director of student activities. “As director of Student Activities I want the program to be successful. Even if it is only for an interim period I want it to work for that time.” Carl Emerich, assistant to the
Young Democrats try to reestablish chapter
“The time is right—it is not a lost cause to have the organization USC Young Democrats on campus” said Alan Stark, chief instigator in reorganizing the group.
It has been two years since the organization has existed. Now with the presidential campaign over, more time can be contributed to resurrecting the group, said Stark.
“In repetitioning to the university for the right to organize, we are attempting to show old line Democrats that we are a viable source of strength and that by exhibiting our participation we shouldn’t get pushed out,” Stark said.
The new USC Young Democrats especially don’t want to see the McGovern reforms discon-
tinued and the party revert to the ways of the 1930s.
It is vital that the state caucuses are not removed just because old line Democrats don’t like them, said Stark. The people don’t go along with the big bosses anymore and they don’t necessarily vote according to their labor leaders either, he said. “Why Mayor Daley can’t even deliver Cook County,” Stark said.
A second reason is that the group will act as a liaison between all Democrats on campus. “We must prove to the party that we are strong,” said Stark.
The first steps toward reorganization will start at a meeting on Nov. 28 at noon in the Student Activities Center.
Senate considers plans to alter semester length
The University Senate considered Wednesday possibilities of changing the university calendar, which would affect the length of the school semester.
No action was taken, however.
Three plans were presented, varying in form from early starting and ending dates of both fall and spring semesters, allowing for a third quarter, to the addition of one month at the end of both semesters.
By shortening the semesters and making possible interim one-month periods that would allow students to take four-week intensive classes, university facilities would be more fully utilized.
Students would also be able to graduate in three years instead of four, said James
Hanshumaker, chairman of the committee considering the revision.
A formal committee recommendation was not made.
Another problem under consideration concerned tuition remission, the university’s program for children and spouses of faculty members, as well as spouses of staff members, for tuition for four years.
After intensive debate over the proposal to continue the policy of no tuition remission for graduate school, the senate approved a motion that says if a faculty member dies or is disabled. one child will get one year of financial assistance for every year the faculty member has taught.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT ISSUE
Groups probe official’s status
By Carla Mortensen
Representatives from the Commission on Minority Affairs, the defunct Women’s Commission, the Women's Alliance and the university at large met Wednesday at noon to discuss the current status of Barbara Shell, affirmative action officer.
The groups met to try to unite their efforts and ideas regarding Shell’s performance in eliminating university discrimination.
Speaking for the minority commission, Evan-gelina Galvan, secretary, said, “She thinks she's doing good things for us, but she isn't.”
Bill Gay, an assistant professor in the English Communication Program for foreign students, defended Shell in her absence. He said she had been instrumental in retaining an English class for Mexican-American university employees. The class was cancelled supposedly for lack of funds.
He also mentioned that Shell was working as a liaison between the Service Employment Redevelopment program for Spanish speakers and the English Department.
Galvan labeled Shell’s attitude “racist and paternalistic.” She also made a distinction between native-born Mexican-Americans and the Mexican nationals who are in many cases receiving the benefits from the programs Gay mentioned.
“But when it comes to helping Mexican-American citizens in terms of upward mobility and the like. Barbara Shell has not faced up to her responsibility." Galvan said. “She feels threatened by the (minority) commission, which seems to be something exotic and charitable to her.”
Gay then suggested that perhaps what was needed was a redefinition of Shell s role in terms of what she can relate to. The idea of dividing up
the responsibility of the affirmative action officer was discussed, with favorable opinions resulting.
The rest of the meeting pertained to the controversy surrounding Shell’s alleged inability to release the affirmative action reports as of this time.
The information from the report made to HEW has not been released to the parties who are required to implement the changes necessary to achieve the goals of affirmative action.
A new point of clarification is that the report must be published two weeks after the administrative deans have approved it. As of this time, it is sitting in relative limbo, awaiting this confirmation.
The commissions see Shell’s position to date as that of pacifying the federal government as to the progress the university had made in the area of affirmative action.
As a result of this and other matters pertaining to Shell’s apparent lack of cooperation and action, the Commission on Minority Affairs has written a letter to President John Hubbard requesting Shell’s resignation.
HEW, however, has made no requirements for the office, and so the university administration has no official grounds on which to base a request for resignation. Shell is employed by and responsible to the administration.
Although one faculty member saw the request for Shell’s resignation as “quizotic and shortsighted,” members of the Commission on Minority Affairs labeled her as “insensitive, uncooperative and racist."
“She looks on her office as public relations, and that's not helping us now,” they said.
vice-president for student affairs, said, “The board will serve as student representation until the university settles on the governance. This gives students an opportunity to continue what they have led up to.”
Moore called the board pivotal for student involvement in student government.
“In the past we’ve seen a tug of war between the politicians,” he said. “Now the officers will
be appointed by members ofthe board. And the president will serve the discourse of the board. It’s not an independent type of position.”
Moore was also pleased that the editor ofthe Daily Trojan will serve on the board.
“I want anything to be reported,” he said. “If anything is happening the students should know about it whether it is good, bad or indifferent.”
The board will operate until May of 1973. At that point, the board will dissolve in favor of a permanent form of student government.
President John Hubbard is expected to make a statement on the possible permanent form of student government within a few weeks.
Nowak said he was satisfied with the ballot-by-mail method of selecting government.
■
ALU KIN l
CAMPUS
Man turns into stone
Now here’s a rock with a head on his shoulders.
It may seem that a band of surrealist pixies have been cavorting in Alumni Park transforming rocks into students, but that’s not true—even though some pro-
fessors may think so.
Michael Sedano, Daily Trojan photographer, saw this student using the memorial marker in the park as a backrest, and captured the human-headed rock with his camera.