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

Page 28 text:

,NEWS nm - Vue 140 h3jurie5 c'awev'b3 olsjecfs fhrowa fiom lifylz-riff dorm! forms, bars are fo be ffacea' an af! windows 172 'O I ' nt 0 l-if lvl' fi --J ' X-.1 I I I -' fits H, QU tit .Z -Q. X f f f af X- , '- X fl J ,I l I i if ff url- A Saufbwes I if pl Xl Zi I T.: X I 1 'J :I t XL X atter of pinion Amidst the stories of courtroom battles, shoplifting, shooting, looting and glass-breaking, there are two pages in every segment of -60- devot- ed to taking an in-depth look at some of the year's controversial stories, sprinkled with the authors' personal opinion of the situation, and a reflec- tive, calculating review of some of the things that happened here and around the nation during the 1976-77 academic year. Why editorialize in a yearbook? Who cares? This isn't a newspaper, it will last for a long time. Is it fair to choose certain issues for a yearbook- newspaper section for editorial treat- ment? Why did we choose the issues we did? Well, it was all a matter of opin- ion. We chose issues we felt were rel- atively controversial in a year which was otherwise relatively calm. It wasn't a question of being fair, or covering all the issues, just as our news coverage could not possibly cov- er all events. But we tried to balance with what we felt was important and of the most interest. We chose to edi- torialize these issues for the purposes of giving them more complete treat- ment and discussion. If one looks back in ten years, the editorial issues will help us to remember what was important in the news at this time in our lives, the questions that were raised, the opinions voiced. Overall, this was not a controver- sial year of fate-twisting, rip-roaring events. Even the protests were quiet in comparison to those never-to-be- heard from again sixties. Everything looks quiet in comparison to those years. It's likely that the seventies will be remembered more as rational, low-key intellectual years. Perhaps the calm before another storm of riot- ous years, more times of violent frus- tration. Then again, it may be a sign for many years to come, when people re- alize that violence usually resolves little and serves primarily to attract attention. Perhaps people have reverted into Freud's quiet desperation trying to keep their individual lives glued to- gether. So we will remember some of the issues here. And we review some of the news, and some of the good times. Although most ofthe stories read like something from a police blotter, a campaign manager's itinerary, or an attorney's courtroom calendar, it rea- ly was a peaceful year. Thankfully, a reasonable and thinking time. An Open Letter Grin and bear it? He's a real nowhere bear Living in his nowhere lair . . . It is bare nowg no longer is there a guardian at the front of the Student Union. For 20 years he stood guard, but he has been captured . . . I am writing in reference to the bear, a gift which the University of Japan gave to UMass 20 years ago. He stood on the platform above the doors to the Student Union, until some students went on safari and kid- napped the bear. Many people seem to feel that property on campus can be abused without facing repercussions. Chairs are thrown out of windows, toilet pa- per is used to make decorative streamersg windows are shatteredp beer' is spilled on floors with no thought given to cleaning it up. Surely people don't act like this at nome - only where they are transients and don't feel responsible for the damages. Can it be exciting to steal silver- ware. dishes, salt and pepper. or food from the dining commons - the et- .50. University of Massachusetts at Amherst Published by thc l977 INDEX A bi-monthly review and summary ol' campus, local. and national cvcnls. EDITOR: Thomas Crowley ASSOCIATES PJ. Prokop, Jim Oduto. Llsn Mclilli DATELINED STORIES AD.-XPTED FROM UPI AND AP WIRE COPY, WITH PERMISSION fects aren't really felt until the bills for board are raised. But confiscating the bear is another matterg it is the QQ Og. f 1 ' .- equivalent of stealing a museum piece. The bear was a symbol of friendship between a foreign universi- ty and UMass. But some inconsider- ate students took the bear and haven't had the decency to return it. l'm angry at whoever did it. and would like the bear to be returned. So, on behalf of all the students at UMass, I ask whoever took the bear to return it. Please. - Rebecca Greenberg Shad H1395 - U Mass students returned to school before Labor Day, as the fall semester was lengthened from I3 to I4 weeks, in order to equalize the fall and spring semesters and give stu- dents the necessary amount of time for classwork. Officials said the I3- week semester was insufficient time for courses and could only be made up by adding the extra week. - Former Dean ofthe School of Education, Dwight W. Allen, re- sumed teaching duties at UMass after a two-year sabbatical in Africa. Allen had resigned in January of 1975 in the wake of a controversy concerning missing federal funds in the School of Ed. - The Collegian moved from its former office on the balcony of the Student Union to room II3 in the basement of the Campus Center, which is known as the Watts Com- plex. - UMass opened the only Men's Center in the state, located in Kenne- dy Tower lobby. - Annette Guttenberg, Speaker of the Undergraduate Student Sen- ate, resigned claiming SGA Co-Presi- dents Jay Martus and Paul Cronin had sold out to the university. At the same Sept. S meeting, Henry Doyle also submitted his resignation as Student Senate Treasurer because he was kicked out of school. Thom- as Kerrins was appointed acting trea- surer, and Adam Auster was acting speaker. In elections held two weeks later, Kerrins was ofticially elected treasurer, while Brian DeLima won the speaker's position. - A study made by the Women's Caucus of the Massachusetts Society of Professors QMSPJ was released on Sept. 21 and showed that female fac- ulty members were paid less than male faculty members at both UMass and across the nation. Based on the study, MSP filed a series of com- plaints on Oct. I9 that university ad- ministrators were unlawfully denying female faculty equal pay. - The university suspended sophomore David McDonough for al- legedly throwing a cinder block out of his ninth-floor Washington Tower dormitory lounge. ,- The UMass football team played a regionally televised game against Harvard. The Crimson dumped the Minutemen 24-I3 on Sept. 26. - Holly Near performed a bene- fit concert for the Native American Solidarity Committee at the Fine Arts Center on Sept. 30. - Paul L. Puryear assumed du- ties as Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost on Oct. I2. - Professor David R. Clark an- nounced his resignation, effective Nov. 1, from his position as Chair- man of the English Department. Clark taught at UMass for 25 years and was head of the department for I4 months prior to his resignation.

Page 27 text:

Swine F la Vaccine Proves Controversial In an effort to circumvent a possi- ble outbreak of swine flu which was predicted for the winter of 1976, The Center for Disease Control QCDCJ, a branch of the U.S. Public Health Service, ran a program aimed at innoculating over 200 million Americans against the disease. All did not run smoothly, howev- er, as a number of deaths reported in October were linked with the vaccine. The victims died shortly after being innoculated. Dr. J. Donald Millar of the CDC in Washington said, There is no evi- dence that these deaths were caused by the vaccine. Most of the victims nationwide died of heart attacks, which field studies in Pittsburgh indicated may have been caused by stress. President Ford expressed confi- dence in the program by being inno- culated. He said, I believe that it is necessary for every one of 215 million Americans. The Ford Administration com- mitted itself early in 1976 to spending S135 million to avoid a flu epidemic like the one in 1918-1920 in which, approximately 20 million people died worldwide. Many states suspended their inno- culation programs after learning of the deaths. At UMass, Health Officials were being educated on the upcoming in- noculation clinic for the swine and victoria flu vaccine, as news reports indicated the death toll for recently injected persons had risen to 38. According to Arthur Hyman, head administrative assistant at the intirmary, UMass would go ahead with the scheduled clinic but would innoculate only those in the UMass community who are 18 or over, those who have chronic illnesses, and any- one over 65 who requested it. When asked what his feelings were on the death reports he said, no comment. Approximately 25 health services employees worked at the Oct. 25 clin- ic. Before receiving an innoculation, participants were required to read an information sheet and sign a consent form. The information sheet gave a brief history of the disease, the symp- toms of it, the vaccine which was to be used, the possible side effects, and several precautions. Q0 l A .1 '2- .fl Y 3 , A UMass student receives swine flu innoculation in a vaccination program held at UMass. JFK Memorial Funds Discovered Lnused In mid-September it was discov- ered thatbwhile the JFK Memorial Reading Room in the UMass library contained only 85 books, there was over 516,000 in an interest-bearing account at the New Bedford Institu- tion for Savings in the name of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fund. This was found by Acting Student Senate Treasurer Thomas Kerrins when he found the file on the fund and proceeded to investigate. According to Kerrins, the fund was started when the Student Senate adopted the idea of money to be set aside for the purchase of books for the JFK Memorial Reading Room. The establishment of the fund wasjust one result of the formation of the Committee for a John F. Kenne- assassination of the late President. The committee engineered a Fine Arts Festival dedicated to Kennedy and considered plans for having a sculpture done and holding a concert in Curry Hicks Cage, among other things. It is unclear from the file, however, if anything other than the festival ever took place. Kerrins said the senate had been allocating 81,000 annually for the fund until 1971. In May of 1970, the money was transferred from an ac- count in the Recognized Student Or- ganization office to an interest-bear- ing account. Kerrins said it seemed that the fund was simply forgotten, and added he intended to initiate a committee to deal with purchasing books for the reading room in order to utilize the dy Memorial Service by the Faculty money in the memorial fund. Senate late in 1963, shortly after the U. M: NEW ZIP cone 01003 UMass was put in a class by itseUwilh a new zip code to simplify mail delivery Mao Tse-Tung Dies in Pekingg China ourn HONG KONG - Chinese Com- munist Party Chairman Mao Tse- Tung died in Peking on Sept. 9, at age 82, initiating a power struggle for leadership of his people. After reports of the arrest of Mao's widow, Chiang Ching, for plotting to seize power, China ap- pointed Hua Kuo-feng. former Pre- mier, as new chairman. Chiang and three other high offi- cials, allegedly from the radical, ul- traleftist branch of the Communist Party known as the Shanghai-Mm fia were reportedly arrested during Hua's surge to power. There was speculation that Hua's accession to power and the radical purge against Chiang could lead to a shift in China's policies. U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, however, expressed hope that the United States and China would continue on a parallel course of cautious friendship. ln the wake of Mao's death, au- thorities organized an unprecedented mass memorial service on Sept. 18 in the capitals huge Tien An Men Gate of Heavenly Peace Square, where Mao had celebrated his greatest tri- umphs. Rising from a simple peasant to leader of the world's greatest mass revolution, Mao was the only ruler known to the Peop1e's Republic of China since it came into being on Oct. 1, 1949, after Mao's forces drove Chiang Kai-shek from the mainland. World leaders hailed Mao as the last giant of the century and a world immortal. President Ford called his death tragic and credited Mao's vision and imagination which led to im- proved Sino-U.S. relations. Mao's body lay in state for a week in the Greta Hall of the People. The national day of mourning drew the nation's millions to stand in silence for three minutes of medita- tion, and sirens, whistles, and bells sounded throughout the country's factories and trains. Great throngs of young people, many of them in tears, entered the square and stood in front of the im- mense portrait of Mao and raised their clenched fists, chanting oaths: Beloved Mao, we commit ourselves to continue the struggle, always ac- cording to your teachings. Mao assumed leadership of the Chinese Communists in the l930's, beginning a long period of political turmoil. ln the l960's, hc used thc Red Guards to destroy the party and state structure and then turned the army to solidify his position. He called these victories his Cultural Revolutions.

Page 29 text:

Gregg WM, The Pornography Issue It was a year when Mike Wallace and his 60 Minutes news team report- ed that kiddie porn was invading the smut markets of major U.S. cities. A year when Cleveland Mayor Ralph Perk dispensed his city's gar- bage collectors to distribute 280,000 copies of a pornographic survey to city residents in an attempt to solicit community opinions on the issue. And at Umass it was a year when Charlotte Allen and Albert Sparks, our own king and queen of the por- nography question, debated the con- stitutional and moral implications of showing X-rated films on campus. The pornography issue first arose in April of 1976 when a group of women protested Butterfield Dormi- tory's showing of the film Truck Stop Women in Mahar Auditorium. The demonstrators maintained the film was offensive to women and also per- petuated and reinforced innaccurate sexual stereotypes. Later that month the Southwest Assembly denied per- mission to Albert Sparks and his Rec- ognized Student Organization, Ba- roque Enterprises, to show the film Deep Throat in the Hampden Stu- dent Center in Southwest. But the X-rated issue did not reach a pinnacle until September when Sparks began proceedings in the Student Judiciary to overturn the Southwest injunction. Pornogra- phy, Sparks said, is as American as free speech. Sparks was opposed in his efforts by former Collegian Women's Coor- dinator, Charlotte Allenggfjheisaid, pornography has 'no lege campus. Wefre ways, to leave each other better. The debate the pages of the Colleggfiiiiiflikrifiiii air- waves of radio In October, during weekly appearances, show ogihe Hook, traded jabs and other and callers. The shol,, iQi'ifr.easiiQQ'the largesth-liptener response ion s is ory. Throughout the maintained there was about the movies, and no negative effect on the In fact, Sparks a way to release our sexuawftigijsies. The usual fUmassJ is geared towards the eliQEfV,fQIi1e're shooting for the student 'C' average or below. gfzxs 'VT He found support amggficallers who defended their right tliliwee ex- pression. They followed free smut peddlers and their lawyers rtiiiii Boston's Combat Zone to the streets of San Francisco. As Allen put it, it's the typical liberal, wishy-washy position. The issue reached a climax during the final radio show and seemed to tucker pttffpljortly thereafter. A SQuthwest,,iAfsSerpbly refrendum on the porrjographyfban drew a dismal 243 vofersiiwtitli the majority voting againsd-theilgarf, far shy of the neces- sary 2,00Qgiheeigled to make the vote binding. matter finally ap- peared three-judge Stu- dent judges and advo- cates for four hours be- fore bill was unconsti- tutionalgliiiifiiilation of Article IV, Section Student Government Associatigljfsggonstitution. It states, .-no be denied the fight to receiyig ideas opinions and factgefe Rosemary McCar- thy saidggliiiiiliiijjiately it is the right of the entiigegjgfprhmunity to govern its own skit-3.53 tisi something anticlimatic about this story ends. Later in the was denied permis- sion by William Field, to show anotherixgfated film in the Public Health igjtgjlding. It was found that Sparks not an enrolled UMass studeritgfjhis causing Baroque to lose Speech argument which 5ggs dTitfiQtasastudentorganization. iz! Still, the pornography issue is far from limp. The large turnouts which heralded the arrival of Marilyn Chambers in Behind the Green Door, and Harry Reems and Linda Love- lace in Deep Throat suggests that the absence of Sparks and Baroque other student groups will attempt to cash in on porn to raise money. As Baroque Financial Director, Douglas Mitch- ell, said, I really do think it's a bad thing but l guess l'm just a capitalist PIB-U The familiar rules of the obscen- tty issue have undergone a subtle but significant change. No longer is it a matter of standing in support of liter- ary works such as Ulysses. American liberals are now faced with the impli- cations of defending the First Amendment as a naked principle, rather than having it comfortably clothed as a work of art. The unbridled- growth of the sex industry in recent years whiclrhas so vividly left its mark on the Times Squares and the Combat Zones of this country, has also apparently left its mark on the minds of us all. The result is a moral dilemma. Do we al- low those who peddle pornography to continue uncensored, under the guise of free speech, or has the First Amendment and the desire for free expression run smack into the en- lightened social attitudes of our time? As the saying goes, we vote at the box office. Bill 0 childs rl One of the more quixotic prom- ises of the Carter campaign was the pledge that the United States would accept the role of guardian for human rights throughout the world. After the inauguration, the issue of human rights was to become the central symbol of Carter's integrity, sincerity and, well - naivete. In an effort to strengthen a foreign policy aweakened by Vietnam and Chile, Carter sounded the trumpet to the United Nations and the world an- nouncing that the United States would once again model and export its own democratic philosophy with dogmatic pride. The tune, however, was reminiscent of the Cold War. Human rights has, since World War Il been the emotional issue dividing east and west. It has been the trump, the propaganda and the focus in teaching Eurocommunism. Carter reached deep into the de- mocracy bag fetching the ideals upon which this republic was founded, Jef- ferson's preamble, and the writings of John Locke - the pursuit of life, liber- ty and happiness as fundamental hu- man rights. Carter told the members ofthe United Nations: The search for peace and justice means also respect for human dignity no member of the United Na- tions can claim the mistreatment of its citizens is primarily its own busi- ness. Equally, no member can avoid its responsibilities to review and speak everywhere torture is unwar- ranted. Human Rights There was a surprise for the new President though, his calling for a re- turn tothe apple pie principles of gov- ernment brought sharp criticism not only from the Soviet Union but also from leaders of Western European countries. Even though Carter never pledged anything beyond moral sup- port, misgivings arose out of the hy- pocrisy of the U.S. delivering such an order. Carter is attempting to export a philosophy which the U.S. is far from achieving. There was the feeling dur- ing the United Nations address that the high school headmaster was deli- vering the old morality speech. But the class members knew that the headmaster had a mistress in the closet and bourbon on his breath. lt is clear that in the U.S., the pursuit of happiness doesn't extend very far. Carter, whether he likes it or not, leads a country where l2 per cent of the population labelled black and other minority groups comprises 31 per cent of the poverty pool, where the median income for whites is Sl4,000. and for blacks, S8,000. No one knows better than the members of the U.N. that U.S. corporations provide the economic backbone for racist regimes in South Africa. The other issue Carter faced was the effect of his holier-than-thou atti- tude on detente. Ever since John Ken- nedy pledged to base east-west rela- tions on the common grounds of the world powers rather than on philo- sophical differences, the Cold War mentality which focused on the Ber- lin Wall and the threat of the Cu- ban revolution, has faded. By renew- ing the battle for human rights Carter has irritated a political hemor- rhoid which has lately been afflicting the Soviets. The publicity brought about by recent literary and intellec- tual dissidents has caused the Krem- lin a certain amount of embarrass- ment. ln Poland, dissenters have tak- en advantage of that country's initia- tives in 1971-72 to create a more open forum for public discourse. Last year groups of Catholic authorities, intellectuals and some workers chal- lenged the Polish government on re- pression and subservience tothe Sovi- et Union. The Soviet response to future dis- senters is unlikely to be softened by outside influence. Following Carter's letter to Andrei Sakharov, dissenters Alexander Ginzburg and Uri Ouler were almost immediately arrested as a symbol of Soviet strength. The question for Carter then concerns the use of soft diplomacy as the most ap- propriate measure to defend human rights. During the Kissinger dctcntc, over 350,000 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union but now that rate has decreased significantly. lt is unlikely that Carter can embarrass the Soviet Union into a more human- istic political course. For Carter, the human rights is- sue is an important symbol of our committment and concern for the people of the world. But if such at committment is to have a genuine ef- fect Carter needs to make a few other committments. First, he needs to prove once and for all that his quest for human rights is strongest here at home. That will be no easy task. Carter has inherited a system which seems to depend on inequality for its existence. Carter owes his election to the poor and, in turn, he must provide real opportunity and a feeling of pride to those people who have been neglected throughout our history. Secondly, Carter needs to soften his stand on human rights to the point where other nations of the world do not feel they are being preached to. He must demonstrate by action rath- er than rhetoric that the United States will not continue to be two- faced in its world diplomacy. The most important way for the United States to change the senseless repres- sion around the world is to show by its own example that equality is in- deed possible and that a democratic form of government is viable, effec- tive, and most importantly, fair. Until then, there are at few other things for Carter to consider. lf he does visit thc Soviet Union. he should stay away from the port of Kluypcda. lt has been reported that forbidden books are of such demand in Klay- peda, Russian prostitutes prefer to bc paid in forbidden literature rather than money. A copy of Norm from the Undvrgroulul or .-lnimul Farm might bc at stronger test of Carters lustfulness than hc can handle.