Daily
ojan
vol. Ixv no. 27
University of Southern California
los angeles, California
friday, october 27, 1972
Mock election awaits review
By Kari Granville
The results of Thursday’s campus mock presidential election will not be released until the conduct of the election can be reviewed by the entire organization of Knights, the group which sponsored the election.
Clif Smith, chairman ofthe Knights Mock Election Committee, said that the committee “felt it cannot, in good faith, release the results immediately” because of confusion and criticism that plagued the planning and publicity for the election.
On one side, the students for McGovern said the election was unfair because they knew little or nothing ofthe voting. But the Young Voters for the President said the election was completely fair.
The idea for the mock election originated with the Young Voters for the President but they felt it would be best to have a nonpartisan group handle all the details. As a result, the Knights, a men’s service organization, was asked to run the election.
Controversy arises
But there is still some question as to who really ran it. A member of the Knights told a Daily Trojan reporter that the Young Voters for the President were in charge of the entire election and that they were handling the publicity.
A Knight later said that they were requested to sponsor the election and that they wished to withhold the name ofthe campus organization that had asked them to do it.
One of the cochairmen of the Students for McGovern, Kit Spalding, knew nothing of the mock election. Allan Stark, the other cochairman, knew of the elction but did not know any of the specifics, such as date and time.
However, the Young Voters for the President planned for the election by telephoning supporters of the President, urging them to vote and by distributing flyers on campus.
Their tactics were criticized by students who were asked if they were supporters of the President. If the answer was no, they were ignored; if yes, they were given a flyer saying, “Cast your support for Nixon.” They were then directed to the ballot box to vote.
McGovern people absent
Jon Marshall, chairman of Young Voters for the President admitted there were no McGovern people present when he assumed the Knights would get in touch with them.
Smith said that when Marshall came to the Knights with the election idea, they had no idea that he was from an organized partisan group.
The Knights discovered this after they voted to run the election. They never discussed who was to contact the McGovern supporters.
Yet Marshall said that the McGovern people “had just as much opportunity to work and win the election as we did.”
Bart Gilbert, a Nixon supporter, expressed his disgust with the situation when he said, “The only thing the mock election will show is the number of Nixon supporters they were able to contact on campus. It will in no way show the relative support of the two candidates on campus.”
GETTING OUT THE VOTE—Handbills urged stu-	released until the Knights, sponsor of the election,
dents' support of President Nixon in Thursday's	review the conduct of the project. DT photo by
mock election. The results of the election won't be	Eric Wallace.
Iumebsihl qecision MAKING
Senate will discuss proposals
By Peter Wong
associate editor
Four major proposals on university decision-making will be considered by the 140 faculty members of the University Senate at a special all-day meeting Saturday.
They will meet from 9 a.m. to noon in several small groups to discuss the proposals, which have been developed since 1968. After lunch, they will meet from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in general session, and are expected to decide then which proposal they favor.
The senate will meet Saturday because faculty members want to fully consider the proposals for university governance, rather than spend only about 20 minutes at a 90-minute regular meeting in debate.
Also, they want to consider the proposals without the presence
of the 52 ex-officio members, among them top administrators.
A critical point
The senate will be meeting at a critical point in the long history of university governance.
The proposal developed by a commission appointed by President John Hubbard in September, 1971, and headed by Henry Reining, Jr., dean of Von KleinSmid Center for International and Public Affairs, will be the central topic of discussion by the faculty.
A large all-university assembly would be the key decisionmaking body under the commission’s proposal.
If the plan is adopted, it would mean the formal abolition of the Council of Deans, the University Senate and the ASSC Executive Council as governing agencies.
The stand of the faculty mem-
MECHA pursues success through education
By A1 Flores
stajf writer
Many studies have reported that there is a direct relation between education and success.
The better educated you are the more likely you are to succeed, it is said. A definite believer in thisclaim is a Chicano student organization that not only exists on this c-ampus but on most college campuses throughout the Southwest. That organization is known as MECHA.
Identifying itself as primarily a service organization, MECHA. which stands for the Spanish words Movimiento Estudiante Chicano de Aztlan. was formed “for the purpose of advancing Chicanos in education.” said Victor Vazquez, a former MECHA president at Cypress College and presently an active member of USC’s chapter.
"We do this.” he said, "by
keeping unity within each other and promoting the idea of education among Chicano students. We firmly believe that education is a necessity to advance ourselves in this society.
“By enlightening Chicanos on education, and helping them plan their careers through educational and political awareness, we feel that we are providing a service for the community.”
Among the services that MECHA provides for USC’s Chicanos are a campus orientation program, a tutorial program, a counseling program and a book bank where members can borrow textbooks from other members instead of buying them from the bookstore.
Arturo Abarca. an advisor to MECHA. says that many more programs will be initiated as soon as MECHA can open the Chicano Center recently granted by the university._______________________
Considered by MECHA as the greatest development for Chicanos here, the center will serve several purposes.
First, it will act as a center for student life where Chicano students may meet to study, relax and work together on extracurricular activities in order to foster a sense of community and belonging to the university.
Secondly, it will act as a cultural center, as Vazquez said, “where the culture of the Mexican within the U.S. is not only retained and respected but also actively promoted.”
Finally, it will act as a community center. where specific programs will be developed especially for the benefit of the Chicano community.
The Chicano Center will be funded by a Mellon Foundation grant, which also funds the original Community Center. Activities will
include a youth leadership-training program and
counseling for those with welfare, immigration, drug or consumer-affairs problems.
MECHA, as it is now, started in Texas in 1968. Before that time it was known as UMAS (the United Mexican-AmericanStudents).
Why the change?
-'‘When, in 1968,” said Vazquez, “the American government failed, like so many times in the past, to come up with constructive solutions to the problems of Chicanos, Mexican-Americans could not very well continue to hold the name of America used in their previous name while at the same time being given only token recognition.
“Thus the name Chicano came out of the woodwork. It instills awareness ofthe Mexican culture that exists here in the U.S.. a culture distinct from the culture in Mexico. And hence UMAS was changed to MECHA for the same reason.”
bers is crucial because they will, in effect, have the final say in whether the commission’s proposal is adopted.
The Council of Deans has already voted to approve the commission’s proposal.
No student voice
Students will apparently have no voice in the proposal’s adoption. The ASSC Executive Council, which would normally represent student opinion, has no members because of the suspension of the ASSC elections in April.
No other mechanism has been provided for obtaining student opinions on the question of university decision-making.
If faculty members approve the Reining commission’s proposal, it will be automatically adopted, but if they reject it, they must decide which proposal they want.
4-year debate
The senate discussion Saturday will bring to a climax a 4-year debate over various proposals for university decisionmaking.
In December, 1968, the University Senate proposed that a senate with solely faculty membership be established in place of the present senate, which can have up to 40°/c of its total in exofficio members.
At the same time, the senate’s proposal would have established a 17-member university council—6 administrators, 7 faculty members. 4 students— that would have responsibility for recommending university policies to the president.
(Continued on page 2)
Ambassador to speak Monday
Henry Amunao, the U.S. ambassador to Ghana will be on campus Monday at 3 p.m. to speakto Ghana students and students interested in International Education.
The ambassador will be in the officeofDr. Wulk, director ofthe office of International Students and Scholars.