trojan
Volume LXXV, Number 33_University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California	Tuesday, November 7, 1978
News bureau director may i ‘Times’ editorial questions have been forced to leave Middle East Center issues
By Carole Long
Staff Writer
Charles Weisenberg, director of the university news bureau, officially resigned from his post Oct. 27.
V’ance Peterson, director of academic relations, has since taken over as acting director of the university news service and media relations.
A number of sources within the university' said Weisenberg did not resign but was fired.
"We re sorry to see a professional like Weisenberg leave the university," said Kenneth Smith, associate director of the School of Journalism. "When they fired Weisenberg, thev fired the last professional on the news bureau staff." Weisenberg was not available for comment.
As director of the university new’s bureau, Weisenberg and his staff handled media relations on a day-to-day basis.
"The school enjoved a fine reputation with the media under the direction of Weisenberg. The media got the information thev needed, promptly and accurately," Smith said.
A number of university sources said Weisenberg is known as being one of the most respected public relations men in this area.
"The university will sorelv miss his presence, whether the administration realizes it or not," said a long-time friend of Weisenberg, who asked to remain unidentified.
Sources also said media problems surrounding the Middle East Center and other issues could have been avoided if the administration had followed the advice of public relations officials.
"Weisenberg left the university because no one in the administration would listen to his sound public relations advice. It became an untenable situation," said Joe Saltzman, chairman of undergraduate studies in the School of Journalism
POISON PEN — Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times editorial cartoonist, drew this illustration venting his feelings on the Middle East
By Marsha Johnston
Assistant City Editor
Los Angeles Times editors, in an unsigned editorial Monday, said the university has not sufficiently answered the suspicions surrounding the handling of the $22-million Middle East Center project.
The editorial acknowledged that the executive committee of the Board of the Trustees has approved a "memorandum of understanding" that clarifies the ambiguous wording of
the original contract for the center.
. .A memorandum is not the same thing as a contract. Given the questions about the contract's susceptibility to different interpretations, the question naturally occurs as to why Hubbard and the trustees simply did not move to have the contract rewritten, to make it unmistakably clear that customary academic standards would prevail," the editorial said.
President John R. Hubbard was not available for comment.
"What bothers me about theL/4 Times is that they knew the memorandum is legally binding, so why all this business about rewriting the contract?" said Zohrab Kaprielian, executive vice-president.
"Let's face it, whatever we did, if we had an impeccable document, all of this (controversy) would probably have happened anyway."
Anthony Day, editor of the editorial pages for the Times, said the editorial board felt the issue was of enough widespread importance to warrant an unsigned editorial.
The editorial also raised questions about the propriety of the appointment of Willard Beling, director of the Middle East Center, to the King Faisal Chair in Arab and Islamic Studies.
The editorial was referring to a March,
1976	letter from the Saudi minister of finance and national economy that stipulated that Beling be the first incumbent to the $1 million chair.
Beling was quoted as saving, "1 got the (continued on page 2)
Center and the university’s role in world affairs. The cartoon appeared Wednesday.
Reprinted by permission from the Los Angeles Times
Faculty reorganization proposed for international relations school
DT photo by Larry Drurii
THE GREAT ESCAPE — Over 28.000 Trojan fans traveled to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge this past weekend in the annual escape from Los Angeles. More photos on page 7.
By Teresa Watanabe
The School of International Relations proposed a reorganization of its major faculty at a meeting Thursday in an attempt to solve conflicts in the school.
The shift has removed figures of the conflict, James Rosenau, director of the school, and William Van Cleave, a professor of international relations.
Rosenau has agreed to take a leave of absence and Van Cleave has consented to join the Annenberg School of American Experience at the university.
Ross Berkes, a professor and former director of the school for 29 years, is acting as interim director.
The duration of the realignment is unclear. Berkes said if a "satisfactory arrangement" is not achieved, Rosenau will resume the directorship.
In a "memorandum of understanding" issued at the meeting, however, it was stated that if a satisfactory arrangement cannot be achieved, Rosenau will submit his resignation and Berkes will continue as interim director until a permanent director can be found.
"I have enjoyed my one day of leave and relish it," Rosenau said at the meeting. "You need not fear me as a constant hammer over someone's head — that Rosenau is going to come back.
"I don't see myself as acting precipitously," Rosenau added.
The proposal for the reorganization of the School of International Relations calls for splitting the school into two programs.
The core program will treat international relations in a more general way, focusing on basic theoretical and methodological questions.
The core program reflects the interests of the traditional research-oriented professors in the school, said a graduate student in international relations.
The special program, stressing a more particular approach, would focus on defense and area studies, such as Soviet foreign policy and international relations of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The dispute between the advocates of the respective approaches is a major element of the current conflict.
"It doesn't mean we accept any provisions," said John Schutz, dean of Social Sciences and Communications of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "We look upon it as one way to bring about peace in the school."
"It w'as a passive meeting — a waste of time," said Thomas Johnson, a graduate student in international relations and evening college instructor.
"It (the proposal and faculty realignment) may provide a temporary solution but I don't think it will resolve the problems in a long-term sense," he said.
"It is just physically removing the professors from the school," Johnson added. "No one knows what the long-term implications will be because no one is sure what the future relationship of the professors will be."
Johnson believed the controversy stems in part from the difference in the way each side views international relations.
But he added that there was real personality' conflicts and political problems involved as well.
Another graduate student, who wished to remain anonymous, believed that separating Rosenau and Van Cleave will "cool down the crisis."