University of Southern California
DAILY # TROJAN
VOL. LXIV NO. 70	LOS	ANGELES,	CALIFORNIA	WEDNESDAY,	FEBRUARY	16,	1972
MADALYN MURRAY O'HAIR
Noted atheist to speak today
Students voice opinions on Putnam show
By RICHARD SIMON Staff Writer
USC students participated in a new approach to television news broadcasting Monday night on KTLA’s George Putnam News.
Approximately 30 students, mostly majoring in telecommunications, appeared on the opening telecast of “The Viewer Talks Back.”
In an effort to serve the people of the Los Angeles area, the Gol-den West Broadcasting Co. (KTLA, Channel 5) instituted a new type of news program in which members of the viewing audience offered feedback to the news commentators regarding current events.
The first portion of the George Putnam News was devoted to the actual presentation of the daily news. During the last 20 minutes of the telecast, members of the audience commented on several local, national and international problems previously discussed in the program.
The idea for the new program sprung up in a cafeteria across the street from the KTLA studios. Jeff Wald, a junior tele-communications major and associate director of the George Putnam News, organized the activity and recruited students for the opening telecast.
George Putnam, the anchorman, welcomed students to the KTLA news studio and attempted to create an informal atmosphere. “If I don’t do too well, they’ll fire me and hire you,” he said.
Putnam stressed that this was the first time a live audience was featured on a news program. He built up “The Viewer Talks Back” by mentioning it more than 10 times during the first half of the news.
Following the news, sports and weather report, students addressed questions to Putnam and his colleagues, Larry McCormick and Hal Fishman.
Questions were concentrated on Putnam’s views about President Nixon’s trip to Red China, the Vietnam war, and Ireland.
Ken Levine, a telecommunications major and cohost of KUSC’s rapline, asked Putnam his opinion on the Unites States and the Soviet Union.
“The United States, unfortunately, is going to become a second-rate nation,” Putnam said. He said that most students today don’t think that being second rate or surrendering is bad. Putnam added that athletic teams perform with the goal to win, and this should be the United States’ attitude towards competition with Russia.
Steve Mason, a senior in business, asked the newsmen who they would support for President.
Putnam declined to name any particular candidate, but said he would support “a man who would stand up and tell the nation the truth.” Putnam said that it is imperative to “protect the survival of a freedom loving world.”
With 38 years of news broadcasting experience, Putnam said that “The Viewer Talks Back” program answers the longing of a vast segment of the audience. He praised the students for the “organized, well-versed responses insofar as nothing was prepared in advance.”
One opinion was expressed by a member of the audience. Following a news report on Sen. Henry M. Jackson’s (D-Wash.) proposal for a constitutional amendment giving parents the right to decide whether to bus their children, the student dis-
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By BERNARD BECK Focus Editor
Madalyn Murray O’Hair used to be called the most hated woman in America. That was after June 17, 1963, when the Supreme Court upheld her contention that prayer and Bible study should not be allowed in U.S. public schools.
But intervening years have seen American become hardened to dissent far more violent and more shocking than O’Hair’s atheism and her campaign for the separation of church and state.
O’Hair will tell of her campaign for freedom from religion at noon today in Bovard Auditorium. Her appearance is sponsored by the Great Issues Forum.
Because of her outspoken atheism and her fight against religion, O’Hair became the target of harassment, beatings and arrests. She was driven from her home in Maryland (as a fugitive charged with the assault of 28 Baltimore policemen).
She staved off extradition attempts, while continuing her fight for the acceptance of atheism and the end of legal privileges for churches.
She finally settled in Austin, Texas, where she has established an atheist center. Using the organizational name Society of Separationists, O’Hair continues her lawsuits, has organized an atheist publishing house, is forming a library and
By PETER WONG News Editor
(This is the eighth in a series on university governance—the Editor.)
The opposition to student participation in the governance of American universities had diminished during the past decade, especially since the university’s role in society has been reevaluated in the wake of campus turmoil.
Nevertheless, the arguments of the opposition to such participation should be noted, for they point out genuine problems that must be solved by students, faculty, administrators and trustees before student participation in university decisionmaking can succeed.
The five basic arguments against student participation are as follows:
•	Because they are the largest group on any campus, students will inevitably dominate the academic community ifthey participate in decision-making, for they will demand a “one man, one vote” relationship, even though this is not practical on a campus.
•	Students are too immature to handle responsibilities of university governance, as indicated by the history of student government.
•	Students are only at the university for four or five years, and they may be participating in
archives of atheist works and is directing a campaign for broadcast of atheist programs on radio and television. A quarterly magazine and a monthly newsletter are published.
Today O’Hair is in her early 50s. Her hair is nearly all white. She is rather plump. At first impression, one would think her to be matronly.
But the first time she opens
	
ro(	,us J
her mouth, one knows that there is something powerful, something basic about this woman. Her conversation is sparked with strong images and an occasional profanity.
She is opinionated and not afraid to offend. But her opinions are grounded in years of study and education. O’Hair is an attorney and a psychologist.
The primary activity of O'Hair’s atheist organization is what she termed “litiguous education,” based on court suits aimed at the separation of church and state. “With the court as it’s constituted now, we know we’re going to lose,” she said. The suits would be used to get media exposure to educate the people for the need of separation of church and state.
“We chose separation of
decisions for the university that may not take full effect until long after they leave.
•	Professional values will be ignored in favor of majority rule if students are allowed to participate in decision-making.
•	Students in university decision-making will cause problems because their participation will interfere with both study and employment.
In support of the first point, John McDonough, professor of law at Stanford University, wrote in the Stanford Daily on April 21, 1966, “Much student thinking about this matter appears to be based on the assumption that university decision-making ought to be regarded as an essentially democratic process in which the students are entitled to be represented simply because they are there - a kind of application to academia of the principle: ‘one man, one vote.’
“To them, what is wrong with present university decisionmaking is that it is government without representation, insofar as the students are concerned. Is this assumption about the nature of a university well-founded?” McDonough concluded “no.”
W. Max Wise, a professor at Columbia University, wrote in his book, “The Politics of the Private College” that students
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church and state as a primary function of our organization because without separation of church and state, atheists cannot exist,” O’Hair said.
“We, of course, are trying to keep the crack open of separation of church and state so that we can exist in that crack, and possibly break down the wall ourselves later.”
O’Hair said that the atheist community has failed to receive the support of other dissent groups. “The atheist is not accepted in the Left community, despite any admonitions to the contrary, believe me. We’re antiauthoritarian. This means we cannot accept the authority of Karl Marx, either. We challenge constantly. And because we do, we shatter all gods. We’re completely icononclastic.” “O’Hair termed religion “insanity” and said that it is based on faith, which she termed “the antithesis of reason.”
She cites as an affect of the
church and state the tax burden. “You yourself are privately contributing $200 a year to religion just because real estate taxes for each single individual in the United States are $200 a year more because religion is tax free.”
O’Hair’s efforts are aimed at getting assessment at real value of church properties and then to have them taxed. She doesn’t believe that the Supreme Court will approve any of her contentions, but continues the cases to educate the public.
She claims that there are 40 million atheists in the United States, but that despite their large numbers, they have not achieved many of their goals. “We’re not going to be respectable until all atheists stand up. All atheists are not going to stand up until I, or the people in the spotlight of atheism, win a couple more victories. And I can never win more victories because I don’t have enough money. So it’s a vicious circle.”
Balloon buddies
PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE—Eric Christianson, a TA in the History Department, and his two-year-old son Scott share smiles after obtaining a balbon from yesterday's "Sidewalk Festival." The festival, sponsored by the Community Action Coordinating Council, will continue today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Activities Center patio. DT Photo by Will Hertzberg.
Experts criticize role of students