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

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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

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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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does the Governor Michael S. Dukakis signed a S100 million budget for the Univer- sity for this year, S3 million less than President Robert Wood's bottom line figure of S103 million. The effects of the S3 million difference would not be known until Wood consulted with the chancellors of the three UMass campuses. Wood received full funding of his office for the first time, meaning he could no longer reassess the cam- puses in order to increase his office funding. The legislature granted Wood a budget of 51.1 million which repre- sented a cut of S500,000 from last year. Wood would have to reduce his present staff of 47. Daniel Smith C23 Nflllf nf x lt rig Crtfg Qivgi 'Blfgai NX HHV4l1f Iljf f mix Ill . 1 Q, .mx H ,l u ' A'-gs if X X di ' Student nurses protested 'the pro- nouncement that the nursing program must cut its student body in half by next semester and not admit sopho- mores already accepted into the pro- gram for a year. They marched from campus into Amherst, staged a 24 hour vigil, and gathered support among the University community for their cause. Student nurses demanded a guaranteed contract from the Uni- versity which they received after nego- tiations with the administration. See page 58 for an in-depth look at the nursing situation. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 0 Joann Little 0 Equal Rights Amendment 0 Tall 'Ships ' Jerry Brown 0 News of the Year 31