Controversy over Middle East Center continues
Director asks school Jewish newspaper says Hubbard to terminate courses should resign after ‘compromise’
Volume LXXV, Number 27	University of Southern California Thursday, October 26,1978
OT photo by JuMe V*Nch
DISCOVERY — Gary Wood, a graduate student in Social Work, leafs through the dusty pages of an old book in the stacks of Doheny Library.
Councilman examines process of LA selection for 1984 Olympics
By Mary Bird
Staff Writer
Bob Ronka, a Los Angeles city councilman, spoke to university students Tuesday about the process by which the citv of Los Angeles was awarded the contract for the 1984 Olympics.
Ronka spoke to a history class taught by Andrew Strenk.
Ronka said cities get into trouble hosting the Olympics when two things occur. The first, “Olympic fever," happens when a city becomes excited and hopeful about hosting the Olympics.
The second occurs when the International Olympic Committee, “blackmails a city" into hosting the games on its terms, he said.
Ronka said his concern over hosting the Olympics involved the budgeting aspects of the games, which he said are expected to break even.
He said Montreal citizens lost money when they hosted the Olympics in 1976. This occurred
when the actual costs of the games were much higher than anticipated. Estimated costs were $300 million, which eventually rose to $1.2 billion before the Olympic games were over — a debt paid by Montreal citizens.
Another problem deals with the security required for the Olympics, recalling the tragedy of the Israeli participants who were killed by terrorists when the games were held in Munich, Germany. Montreal's security costs, which were originally estimated to run from $1 to $2 million eventually cost $123 million. Ronka wanted to make sure that the estimated security costs would be accurate so Los Angeles wouldn't experience any cost overruns as in Montreal.
“Currently, estimates for security costs have already risen from $1 to $2 million to $22 million," he said.
Once negotiations began, the Olympic committee insisted that
Los Angeles accept full financial liability for the games. Proponents of the Olympics suggested the city obtain an insurance policy that would insure Los Angeles against any loss it might incur.
Ronka said he investigated the types of insurance available and discovered the only losses an insurance policy would cover were those due to accidents, like earthquakes and fires, and wouldn't cover mistakes made due to low budgeting.
After he informed the members of the city council committee, they rejected the Olympic committee proposal. After the Olympic committee made host offers to other cities and was turned down, it agreed to the terms set by Los Angeles.
Last spring a committee was formed through the President's Advisory Council, called the environmental and external affairs committee, to develop both general and specific policies re-(continued on page 2)
By Robin Oto
Assistant Citv Editor
A recommendation to drop courses on the Middle East from the School of International Relations, has been made by James Rosenau, director of the school.
In a facultv memo sent yesterday, Rosenau said the front-page Los Angeles Times article on the proposed Middle East Center in the university (Oct. 22), had linked the reputation and integrity of the school to the new center.
Rosenau also said steps to establish the independence of the school from the center, such as dropping the Middle East courses, is necessary since the school has no control over the influence the center's activities may have.
The school now offers an Arabic language class and one undergraduate and one graduate Middle East course.
If the recommendation is accepted, the courses will be dropped in the fall of 1979.
Rosenau, who could not be reached for comment, also recommended the courses be dropped until the relationship between the center and school is clarified and supervision by the school of the contents and teaching of Middle East courses affirmed by the university administration.
“The position he (Rosenau) has taken is predicated on misunderstanding. I'm puzzled, amazed, dumbfounded. I don't really understand it," said Willard Beling, professor in the school and head of the Middle East Center.
Beling teaches both the undergraduate and graduate Middle East courses in the school.
Beling said the center has no connection with the school and that Rosenau is mistaken in thinking the center will adversely reflect upon it.
"It's (the center) as clean as a whistle, pure academic thinking. It's part of the university," he said.
Beling said the center will teach Middle Eastern language but no international relations courses.
The school’s faculty will meet today to decide when to discuss Rosenau's recommendation.
By Marsha Johnston
Assistant City Editor
An editorial in the Oct.27 issue of The Heritage, a Jewish newspaper, called for President John R. Hubbard's resignation stating "he has compromised himself" in finalizing the agreement for the proposed Middle East Center.
The article states, "The serious questions raised by the storm over a massive effort by the University of Southern California to play coy with the Saudi Arabians (by means of a Middle East Foundation funded by multinational corporations which stand to make petrodollar killings in Saudi Arabia) — can lead to no other conclusion but that Dr. John R. Hubbard has compromised himself and ought to resign as president of the university."
Herb Brin, editor, said the Board of Trustees has diminished the power of the president by establishing the Middle East Center Foundation.
"No university president would stick his neck out and veto his own directors on his board (at the Middle East Center). If you think he would veto a $1 million-giver to Century II you're out of your mind," Brin said.
“I'm rather amazed at the furor over something that hasn't happened," Hubbard said. "I haven't sold the school."
The editorial also criticized Hubbard's proposal (in the Los Angeles Times) to establish a “King Solomon Chair" in the center and ties between the center and the Hebrew Union College.
"(It)..is a degrading enough afterthought — and hardly worthy of a college president... We've come
to academia over too many years of sorrows and achievements to grab a carrot from a John Hubbard whose dealings with the Saudis and the Fluor Corporation are quite transparent enough..."
The editorial goes on to suggest that the Faculty Senate launched an extensive probe into "the rationale of an intellectually bigoted proposal for a Middle East Center which would give...convoluted control to the Arabist Center in the matter of faculty hiring standards."
Brin said Willard Beling, professor of international relations, should not have been preappointed as director of the center, but should have been appointed by the faculty and president as is done in other departments.
“They (the Saudis) are telling you who to appoint. The reason was because Beling is the fairhaired boy of the Saudi government and they want their people in," Brin said.
Brin referred to a letter (March 26, 1976) to President Hubbard from the office of Riyadh and Mohammed Abalkhail, minister of finance and the national economy in Saudi Arabia, which asked that Beling be appointed to the King Faisal chair.
In other action on the proposed Middle East Center, the Faculty Senate executive board prepared a position statement relative to a resolution that will be negotiated by the executive committee of the President's Advisory Council on Friday.
The Faculty Senate, Council of Deans, Student Senate and Staff Caucus will then prepare a joint resolution on the matter.
trojan
Proposition 5 debate, another familiar routine, attracts small audience
By Brad Avery
Staff Writer
With an audience of less than 30 people looking on, the pros and cons of Proposition 5 were debated in Bovard Auditorium Wednesday by two adversaries who seemed to be going through a familiar routine.
Prosition 5 declares smoking in enclosed areas harmful to nonsmokers. With some exceptions, the initiative makes smoking unlawful in enclosed public places, places of employment and educational and health facilities.
Steve Horvitz, a volunteer spokesman for Californians for Common Sense, and Eddie Tobash, one of the seven coauthors of the antsmoking initiative, asked and answered questions for 30 minutes under the control of a moderator from the sponsors of the event, the University Speakers Committee.
Tobash and Horvitz both stuck to familiar ground with neither one raising new charges or bringing out information that hasn't been available before.
In his opening five-minute statement, Tobash said there was only one reason for Proposition 5, that people should be protected from second-hand smoke,which contains high concentrations of dangerous substances.
"We believe it is more fair for the smoker to postpone smoking rather than have a nonsmoker exposed to the dangers of second-hand smoke," Tobash said.
Referring to the tobacco industry, Tobash said it was interested "in only one thing — their pockets.
“The initiative is a rational and well-balanced measure." Tobash said it would give nonsmokers the ability to go to school or work without the inconvenience and danger of inhaling tobacco smoke.
(continued on page 2)