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Page I Tin- Hi'd and Black Thursday March >a lan
THE OPINIONS OF THE RED AND BLACK
Write
SCOTT McLARTY
Telling it like it is
Editor's note: This is (he first
of a two-part coin mu. The concluding
section will appear tomorrow.
It looks as though the
wholesale cuts in social pro
grams by the Nixon administra
tion are beginning to spread on
over to the field of higher
education. According to Univer
sity Financial Aid Director Ken
Phillips, two existing federal
scholarship programs are in
danger of having their funding
cut off completely. The result
could be a loss of financial aid
for as many as 3,000 University
students.
Phillips had said in an earlier
interview that, although the
President’s budget cut out these
two programs, the Congress
probably would reinstate funding
for them. But as time goes by
and the Congressional budget
report, expected March I, still
has not appeared, the situation
begins to look more grim.
Phillips urges that students
write their Congressmen in
protest of the proposed cuts. We
share in his advice. It’s difficult
enough for many people to get
through school financially even
with all the aids now available —
a program cutback that would,
according to Phillips, result in
low-income people especially
getting less money than they
have been would be deplorable.
Nothing can guarantee that
your Congressman will choose to
pay attention to your personal
feelings if you send him a letter,
but you may be very sure that he
will not if vou don’t.
1973 is not the year for student
government In 1970. Student Govern
ment President Randall Seabolt com
mented: "Right now we have no powers
except the judiciary and Student Activity
Fee allocations." In
1971. President Bob
Hurley and Vice
President Mike Wil
loughby pushed for
the abolition of SGA.
1972 saw no progress
as Pat Swindall.
then Bubba Fowler,
led a steady erosion
of student input In
1972. the University administration took
away the last powers of SGA; allocation
of student funds.
This column is more than opinion, it is
a plea for action Not action by student
politicos, but action on the pari of those
who are affected by student politicos: the
20.000 students who pay activity fees and
follow the rules and regulations of this
University. The time has come to assess
the facts and make some rational
judgments before rushing into an election
that students can not win.
Few observers will deny that the
University of Georgia is facing a crisis.
The resignations, forced and voluntary,
of vital faculty members exposes the
crucial nature of this crisis Growing
dissatisfaction has created a potentially
disastrous atmosphere The role of
students during this crucial period is
vital
What can SGA do" It has no power,
outside of the power of recommendation.
Its recommendations are dependent upon
the whim of the administration. So why
do campus parties spend thousands of
dollars to elect students to office" The
answers to these questions are complex.
An article in The Red and Black this year
offers some insight In a study of where
SGA officers go from here, a profile
appears that may explain the thousands
invested to win election. With a few small
exceptions. SGA officers end up in
government jobs, often with the aid of
UGA Law School. From D. A to
legislator, these individuals have played
the game and moved on up the ladder
By not rocking the boat, they have
secured their future. But w hat benefits do
students get from SGA" What benefit
does one get from supporting a campus
political party"
Perhaps Hurley and Willoughby had
the right-idea. Since SGA has no power,
all its investigations and recommenda
lions are done as a favor to the
administration SGA divides students,
rather than uniting them. While this
appears to be a conservative-liberal split,
it is more accurately a division over
popularity. In this year's election, the
issues named by P S A. and Coalition are
strikingly similar. Yet the greatest issue
is ignored: why have a student
government that can do nothing"
Because of SGA. the administration has
been able to "blame the victim.'' By
blaming the student division in SGA.
Dean of Student Affairs I). Suthern Sims
revoked Student Allocations power from
SGA and gave it to a committee shrouded
in secrecy. So, by blaming the victims
ilhe students) the administration ration
alized taking over the power of
allocation
At the hearing about the closed door
policy of Sims' allocation committee,
Sims freely admitted that the committee
was created to “protect" him from
controversy He further admitted that he
formed the committee with the advice
and consent (?) of Provost S. W
Pelletier. The court ruled that the
committee was not affected by the
sunshine law because it had no power.
Testimony by Fred Davison and Sims
stressed that the power of allocation was
vested in the Board of Regents and Fred
Davison. Following the hearing, the
author of the Sunshine law, former
Representative Larry Thompson quip
ped: "It appears that this committee is
for PR purposes only. It appears to be a
committee designed to delude students
into believeing they have input." At this
same hearing. Dean Kozoll revealed that
no votes are taken by the committee and
that all decisions are unanimous The
SGA members of that committee have
been influential in deceiving students
So SGA now has two functions
concerning allocations One. to do the
hours and hours of research and hearings
to prepare a budget that must meet the
approval of the administration. Second,
this past year has shown the need for
SGA leaders to help deceive the student
population.
It is obvious the SGA has not worked to
the benefit of students Is this the fault of
the leadership? Partially, but not
entirely. O. Suthern Sims has stated that
any SGA officer would be co-opted by the
administration, at least to a certain
extent So. an SGA officer must serve two
masters: the students and the adminis
tration. Hurley and Willoughby felt this
was partially due to the nature of SGA.
Dependent upon the administration for its
credibility and ability to accomplish
goals. SGA must be co-opted. This may
explain Bubba Fowler's refusal to resign
from the Activities Review Committee,
and may explain Hurley and Willough
by's attempt to abolish SGA.
The facts speak for abolition of SGA. It
has no power, it is easily co-opted, it is
easily used by student politicos to further
their personal gains, and is used to divert
student attention from more vital issues:
exorbitant prices in the Bookstore,
faculty unrest, student unity or any
concrete student action. In addition, SGA
is an excellent medium for corruption.
Ken Willis' expose of the Rymer affair is
an example, but not even half the story.
The desire of administrators and alumni
to control SGA (or keep things quiet, I'd
bet) does not affect jiist one party Every
past SGA President was elected with the
support of alumni, either by influence
through fraternities financially, or
otherwise. Ask a past president he'll tell
you it is fact.
IIlTHE HKI) AND BLACK
A Pacemaker newspaper
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Jim Thompson Jimmy Johnson
Business manager Executive editor
Mitchell Shields and Arnold Punaro. news editors; Leslie Thornton and Susan
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Susan Parker, state affairs editor; Ray Boss, sports editor; Mike Blum, associate
sports editor; Frazier Moore, consulting editor; David Hartin. copy editor;
Stephen Jackson, photography editor; Stacy McDaniel, production manager;
Brad McColl, art director.
Thr Brd and Black, student newspaper of thr
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(Mil RlfoORMORTl
^ETS IN.
Inequities and iniquities' of
promotions
TO TIIE EDITOR:
Lust Monday the University, through
its leaflet called "Columns." published a
paean to its promotion system, written by
the review and appeals committee of that
system Typically, the University has
organs lor disseminating the opinions of
the administration lincluding the admin
istration's committees), but it has no
medium for any reply from the faculty
Since there are many essential aspects of
the promotion system not even hinted at
in the committee's statement. I am
sending you two recent letters of mine
which, though dealing with a specific
case, point out the essential inequities —
and iniquities — of the whole system
Because of the table of reorganization,
these letters are addressed to Dean
Mamaley; but I wish to make it plain
that they are not an attack on him and
that he is in no way responsible for the
system.
Dear Dean Mamaley:
I have just received your letter
informing me that the promotion of Dr
to the rank of professor has
been refused Dr. is an
excellent and very hard-working scholar
who easily and obviously meets all the
requirements for this promotion He is
highly recommended for it by outstand
ing scholars in his field, both in this
University and outside it. But he
apparently does not meet the approval of
the anonymous persons not conversant
with his field, who. in this institution, are
the final judges Since it is impossible to
find out who these persons are. or to
discuss the matter with them, or to
explain to them the matters which they
obviously do not understand. I am
notifying you. by this letter, of my
resignation as Head of the Comparative
Literature Department Please release
me from the purely clerical duties of this
frustrating office as soon as possible In
no case will I serve in it beyond the end
of the current fiscal year
I am most appreciative of your efforts
to secure a fair hearing for Dr
, in which the opinions of the
people competent to judge his work
would be taken seriously The promotion
system, however, with its authoritarian
and built-in irresponsibility (in spite of a
great deal of hypocritical talk about
quality and accountability!, was simply
too strong
It is with the deepest regret that I take
this step It represents the collapse of the
thing to which I have devoted a vast
amount of work and energy in my
thirty-five years at the University But
since the administration has chosen, for
the second time, to destroy the possibili
ties of comparative literature at the
University of Georgia. I have no desire to
continue the farce of trying to build and
develop a department while the
administration is sabotaging it Goethe
once remarked that anyone who accepts
responsibility without authority is either
a tool or a scoundrel. and I do not wish to
be either.
Promotions are at the very heart of a
department's existence and progress.
They should be the means by which a
department head can reward hard and
excellent work, or spur on the lazy, or
eliminate the unfit When a department
head has no effective voice in the matter
of promotions, he cannot encourage, or
even keep, his best people, nor can he
maintain any enthusiasm in the work of
his department, or even keep the respect
of his (acuity The Provost has
deliberately tried to destroy any respect
that the members of a department may
have lor the head by his public threats to
fire department heads who guess wrong
on (he whims of his anonymous
committees, and by his repeated
statements that if a man who deserves
promotion is not promoted, it is probably
the fault of the department head, who
evidently did not take the trouble to
prepare his dossier properly This is a
deliberate and dishonest attempt to shift
the blame for the bungling of his own
irresponsible promotions sy stem onto the
people who have tried the hardest to
modify the sy stem into some semblance
of harness and responsibility
The University of Georgia has a good
comparative literature department, and
has been building towards a really
distinguished one But it cannot hope to
survive the policies of the present
administration, and I have no intention of
spending my last years here supporting a
false front
I shall continue with my teaching and
research However. I wish to make it
clear beyond any possible misunderstand
ing that I am not resigning the headship
simply in order to devote more time to
these activities I am resigning because it
is impossible to work with the present
administration of the University, and the
time gained by my resignation will be
devoted to work which I hope I shall be
permitted to do without administration
meddling
My regret at this resignation is at least
alleviated by the awareness that, by-
resigning a departmental headship
because of the impossibility of working
with the administration. I will join the
large and distinguished group of the
faculty who within the past two years
have resigned from similar positions for
the same reason.
Dear Dean Maniatcy:
Thank you for your recent letter on the
subject of my resignation from the
headship of the Department of Compara
tive Literature, and for your concern
over this resignation.
I assure you that my resignation more
regrettable to me than to anyone else,
but under the circumstances it cannot be
considered unwise. Certainly the depart
ment needs strong leadership, and I
would be both able and eager to give it
such leadership and to develop a
distinguished Department of Compara
tive Literature here But there is no use
living in a dream-world, and the simple
fact is that the administration of this
University will not permit me to do so
It has only contempt for any
qualified opinion on any subject, since it
adopts as a primary principle of its
promotion procedures that the judgments
of men who have devoted their lives to
the study of a subject count for nothing
against the offhand notions and snap
judgments of people who have never
given the subject a serious thought This
attitude is. of course, a denial ol the very
idea of a genuine univeristy or of any
responsible commitment to the intellect
It is also destructive ol any attempt to
build a department The "critique" on
Dr. s work indicated clearly
that he would not be seriously considered
tor promotion in less than tour or five
years, if ever A man ol his attainments
will not and should not sit around
endlessly, hoping vaguely someday to
appear belore committees which, if not
competent to judge his work, will at least
admit the fact and use the judgments of
those who are competent to do so
This morning I received a communica
tion from a journal of scholarship in
comparative literature (in no way-
connected with Dr 's casei.
which noted that "During the last
comparative literature meetings it has
become apparent that translation and
interdisciplinary studies have become
increasingly important. " Dr. -is
a devoted, gifted, and outstanding worker
in the difficult field of literary
translation Five years Irom now when
the University might possibly consider
promoting him. he will be a highly
regarded professor at some prestigious
institution — and the University of
Georgia, having at last realized that
literary translation is admired in the
very best circles, will be looking from
some subservient nonentity in the field,
in order to show that we are still
belatedly imitating the places where
scholarship and ideas are taken
seriously
Under these circumstances, it is
obviously nonsense to talk about my
exerting strong leadership, or any sort of
leadership whatsoever And I refuse to
serve merely as a public-relations
ornament to help give the impression
that this University is something that it is
not. and refuses to be
It is unfortunate that the much
vaunted "pursuit of excellence" has been
interpreted on this campus as a
seareh-and destroy mission, but I have to
recognize the realities of the situation
CALVIN S. BROWN
Academic power
for students, too
TO THE EDITOR:
I am sending you the following as a
statement of the position of Coalition
party and its candidates on academic
affairs at the University.
The University 's primary function is to
provide education as reflected in its
motto. "Both to teach and to inquire into
the nature of things " Since students and
faculty are the primary agents in the
educational process, they should share
the balance of institutional power in
academic matters Administrators, who
are after all not educators, should limit
themselves to response to and implemen
tation of proposals decided upon by
facultv and students
Students and faculty must work
together to promote the development of
their mutual interests in academic
affairs. Coalition will actively seek closer
student-faculty relations through the
operations of the college council and
through liaison with the A A U P
Ultimate goals include joint hiring-firing,
course assignment, promotion, and
tenure committees to make binding
recommendations to the Administration
Coalition will strive to end present
promotional guidelines which place an
exaggerated emphasis upon publication
and research. "Publish or perish” is
anathema to a truly outstanding
university. A more balanced appraisal
must be established, incorporating
student evaluation of teaching ability and
service to the University (i.e., working
with student organizations, the Free
University, etc.).
All students should have the option of
taking any course on a pass-fail basis If
a course is taken more than once the
final grade should be the only grade
calculated in the cumulative average
Students should be included in the
Valedictorian Selection Committee. The
grade appeal system needs further
development to make it available to all
students There must be an on-going
assessment of grading practices by a
joint committee of students and faculty to
explore innovative policies in effect at
other major universities
All students in all departments,
graduate and undergraduate, should have
the opportunity to pursue at least 15
hours of independent study for credit
Efforts will be made to further extend
opportunities to challenge courses.
Coalition will work for student participa
lion in approving and initiating new
course offerings, and course deletions
through the appropriate school councils,
ultimately to be extended to a
departmental level Further, the school
councils should play a major role in
determining the core curriculum for
their respective school or college
Coalition strongly endorses the Free
University of Georgia as an alternative to
and supplement for the regular course
offerings Coalition supports the concept
of a Free University as an example of
education furthered by faculty and
students with minimal interference from
administrators
A thorough re-examination must be
made of the current advisement
program, including student evaluation of
advisers All available alternatives must
be explored, ultimately to create a
program offering greater value to the
students' education Immediate action
must be taken to permit black students to
choose black advisers and women to
choose women advisers.
The library makes an increasingly
valuable contribution to the academic
resources available to University stu
dents. Coalition will work for the
adoption of library policies more
responsive to student interests. For
example, library hours need to be
extended, possibly to 24 hours. A more
streamlined check-out system must
become a top priority. Library facilities
should include a lounge area, smoking
rooms and more graduate carrels
The present University admission
policy results in discrimination against
women Therefore, a single admissions
standard must be adopted and applied to
both men and women on equal basis.
To promote the individual’s free inquiry
into the nature of ideas, a great
university will offer the widest range of
courses in its curricula To this end,
women's studies must be expanded to
include more than just a few scattered
programs The Black Studies Program
must be expanded, courses offered more
frequently, and the quality of instruction
improved Implementation, of course,
will require an increase in the number of
women and black faculty at all levels. A
great university will also seek to promote
the free exchange of ideas inside as well
as outside the classroom. Coalition
endorses the concept of the Mell-Lips-
comb Living-Learning Community and
calls for the creation of an International
House Coalition will actively work with
'he BSU to establish a Black Culture
Center and a women's center in the
community.we regard all of these as
beneficial to educational life of the entire
University community.
BUCK PENNINGTON
Chairman
Letters policy
letters should:
• Be typed, double spaced,
on a 60-space line.
• Be brief, to the point.
• Include name address
and phone number of contri
butor.