University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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dent Government Association election were declared invalid. Two election of- ficials destroyed the ballots which re- sulted in a second Third World Election. The two individuals involved were pros- ecuted and found guilty by the Univer- sity Court. A spokesperson for the Third World community said the whole election was typical of racist attitudes at the University. The Third World ballots for the Stu- ln August, 1974, three men entered and robbed McDonald's restaurant in Hadley of approximately SS1,100. Rob- ert Earl Brown and Craemen Gethers, two UMass students, were accused of the robbery and convicted in 1975. After the robbery, the police recov- ered the vehicle matching the descrip- tion of the getaway car, and inside they found a shotgun, a brown turtleneck, and a long green coat, but found no fingerprints on the car or any of the other items. The two white witnesses who said they could offer positive iden- tification of the three black men were brought to UMass l.D. center by police and identified a photo with the name Robert Brown on the back as being the picture of one of the assailants. Police entered Earl Brown's dorm room and confiscated a green coat and brown turtleneck, matching the description of pieces of clothing worn by the robbers. A short time later, Earl Brown, Cabove, leftj, football player, Student Organiz- ing Project staff member, and Black Caucus member, was arrested. Two weeks after the robbery, Crae- man Gethers Qrightj was seen by the state's only witnesses, Cathy Clark and Deborah Cook, at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on Route nine in Hadley. He was identified as one of the robbers, and was arrested. The first trial, held March 17-21, 1975, was a joint trial which resulted in a hung jury and mistrial for both Brown and Gethers. The case was then split, with both men being convicted by all white juries in 1975 - Gethers re- Edward Cohen C25 ceived an 8-12 year sentence and Brown received a 3-5 year sentence. During the course of the trial, the court discovered that the photo used to identify Robert Earl Brown was the image of another person named Rob- ert Brown who had graduated and moved to the Boston area several years before. This fact and the duplica- tion of clothing were ignored in the conviction. The witnesses stated that the man described as Gethers walked with no limp during the robbery, yet Gethers was confined to crutches un- der doctor's orders due to an injury received before the date of the rob- bery, He was also seen playing cards in his UMass dorm at the time of the rob- bery. When Gethers was seen at the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant he was identified, according to the wit- nesses' courtroom testimony, because they recognized his hairstyle and facial features, despite the fact that he wore a hat and large sunglasses. During Brown's second trial, the two wit- nesses stated that the man later identi- fied as Earl Brown was clean shaven, yet people who had seen Brown before and after the robbery said that he bore a moustache. In court, a picture was shown to the witnesses and identified by them as being a picture of Gethers. The fact that this was not a photo of Craemen Gethers at all but the image of a Springfield reverend was of no con- sequence. The supporters of Brown and Gethers argue that these and other contradictions were overlooked be- cause of poor efforts made by former defense lawyers, and court racism. One of Earl Brown's former lawyers ad- mitted in a Valley Advocate article of November 26, 1975, that he had done a poor job defending his client. To support his innocense, Gethers volunteered to take two lie detector tests. Both tests gave evidence that Gethers did not take part in the rob- bery. A front page article in the Am- herst Record of Wednesday, April 28, 1976, quoted the polygraph adminis- trator as saying, lt is my opinion that he CGethersD was not involved. Brown was granted the opportunity to take part in a release program en- abling him to leave Hampshire County Jail during the day to attend classes at UMass and to work after his present lawyer argued for a stay of execution of sentence pending appeal during a Feb- ruary 1976 hearing. Gethers has al- ready spent a year in prison, and like Brown, awaits a new trial and future acquittal. During the year, the UMass commu- nity turned out to support the two stu- dents. Rallies and demonstrations were held protesting the continued im- prisonment and courtroom racism. The freedom of Gethers and Brown was incorporated into a series of de- mands supporting students' rights, which were presented to President Robert Wood and the Board of Trust- ees at the end of the Spring 1976 se- mester. - Edward Cohen National Gay Task Force 0 Justice Douglas retires - 1 Sonny wfo Cher 0 18 million hamburgers 1 solar energy News ofthe YL r

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University Health Services announced that there would be a 50 cent co-payment on each prescription medication dis- pensed from the pharmacy formulary. Over the last seven years, the cost of pharmacy supplies has increased 356 percent and the use of medications has been high. -2-iv 135:51 ..A 1 i' .. l ' 1 I X' E' - V .- ' ' ' Q i-zlmii' fffi' ii. . U iii 'V , ' 3 1,3 -ai. : gg: i- 5:.ii,i5in i il, 51 - A Q-I ' A -' inf '-:iz-3.. 5' PQxi,it:eifta.i1tmmawicfvn- 1. gijngwg fl, ' f'QF 'v+ 52 A QD eg omirnirwntumistnmm 1535234 f 5.5 - 'E if r1EHELJ'iQ?FERllUl.ld.'i-.ff EEQQ.. A -nvn A ,,,. ii' ,ll ' , 5-' if ' 'P 1 'irc I - .. I -' A ff - i' v::l:'-'- . 'z' Q 535:22-ri-r-s ' ' I 51 - ig. - , fiffiiiff v ., . W . ., 7 E525 - T' ' 55f ff'i - A' ' ' E I T ' - 5225552-3 -19' ff: ' 'k '3'f 7' ' .. ,ir-5:51:55-5 5:2555 1:5-xg.. ':-33-.2-1-j:j. ' .5 1,-'-arg. :I :1 -' 5 ' N' nl l . ,.. . M frjifi- 'C l if 'fp--1g ':-:' M' . if i 1 'Egg ,:5Q?215i5-,.,ff-:ffzzfg 511- . - ' ' L ' - ' -I ' 7 . . i' ' 1321.15-I-'E H 1 - '25 iii S82 'xi ii A' '--.fffglggg 5: ' -ff aff-If-si:-j'j:3 1 ' A -A ' -,sg 51.3 , zu, I - V - .4 E I - f V V11295225mr.:-:.:.:.-f.-. -1 -4 - ' 1. Y i W: . .,,,, .... . M Bob Gamache Jay Saret Chris Bourne The Red Sox's American Pennant victo- ry and three World Series game wins prompted shouting, firecrackers, blowing of car horns, and an increase in beer sales. This excitement was severely di- minished when the Cincinnati Reds de- feated the Sox in the seventh and final game. More than 2000 students viewed the Series on the Blue Wall's large screen, while others watched from their dorm lounges, apartments, or houses. bis xx A5 -, i'-WST io 3 , kkeMOPincs: 1 moving! Members of the Veteran's Coalition for Community Affairs QVCCAJ protested the presence of U.S. Marine recruiters on campus with a list of three demands, a march, and an overnight sit-in in Memori- al Hall. The VCCA demands were: removal of all military presence from the Universi- ty: publicly stated opposition by the ad- ministration of military overflights and ad- ministration initiatives to the state legisla- ture to cease military overflightsg and public release of federal grants, con- tracts, and sub-contracts information. After negotiations, the following agree- ments were made: the VCCA would be given one week's advance notice when a branch of the U.S. armed forces would be on campus to recruit, and would be given space adjacent to recruitment rooms for their useg and the Vice-Chancellor's office would reveal all contract information which is required to be public knowledge under the Freedom of information Act. With all demands not fully met, about 50 students, many of them members of VCCA, chose to peacefully vacate Memo- rial Hall after Gage asked for and received a court injunction for the removal of the demonstrators. Jimmy Connors Q UN equates zionism and racism 0 Consumer Price Index 'v Jimmy Carter v fSLA -, Spirit of 76 28 News of the Year

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After two years as Campus Cen- ter Director, John Corker was re- lieved of his duties by Vice-Chan- cellor Robert Gage for the reason Gage explained as continuing un- resolved problems. Campus Center Board of Governors Chair- person, Mark Bennet, elaborated on the situation saying, Corker hasn't been complying with Board of Governors' actions. Corker was reassigned to University Food Services as a staff adminis- trator, a position that had been available for a year. Even though the new position wouldn't com- mand the same salary, Corker would continue to receive 525,000 per year until his con- tract expired in September 1976. Daniel Smith Stuart E . . i ijt Film iqgsos llilii Political slogans, many in Spanish, were found spray-painted in red on the walls of the Fine Arts Center, and nine other buildings. The slogans included demands to free political prisoners. Ahora, an hispanic organization on campus, disclaimed responsibility for the slogans. breaker one nine Lynette Fromme price controls ' Patty Hearst trial Foolish Pleasure Third World 30 News of the Year