Faculty Memo Kills Vote
i Cowrie*
Vol. 30, No. 6
Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California
Oct. 23, 1968
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DUAL VOTING
—
took place last week as voting
for frosh president and a constitutional amend¬
ment took place. Ernie Posey won the frosh
presidency while the referendum vote was ruled
— Courier Photo by Dan Hueftle
invalid by the election commission. The election
appeared to be the most successful in recent
years as more than 2000 students took part
in the voting.
Campus Support and Opposition
to ASB Constitution Grows at Polls
Recent weeks have brought
much controversy on the propos¬
ed new constitution. Many pleas
have been made to the students
by both the people supporting the
new constitution and by those op¬
posing its passage. Last week
brought out more opinions.
Pros
Wayne Taylor, first vice-presi¬
dent of the Senate, sought a yes
vote on the new constitution for
the following reasons:
1. It will no longer be manda¬
tory to carry 12 units at PCC
while heading any club or organi¬
zation.
2. All commissions will work
with one another and not against
each other through the civil serv¬
ice coordinator.
3. The executive body of the
Senate will be enlarged.
4. The president will have a
lesser amount of power.
5. It will provide a manner in
which a political organization can
establish itself as political.
6. The Constitutional Review¬
ing Committee will establish pro¬
cedures and rules governing only
politically oriented campus organ¬
izations.
7. The new constitution reveals
expressly who the civil service
coordinator is responsible to in
submitting budget requests.
A special plea was directed to
athletes in an attempt to quell
the rumor that the athletic budg¬
et will be cut should the proposed
constitution be passed.
The letter stated, “The new con¬
stitution does not make any stipu¬
lation for budgets that is not al¬
ready in force under the old con¬
stitution. As a matter of fact, the
new constitution will insure a
larger athletic budget for future
years. The reasoning behind this
statement is that the new con¬
stitution provides for the elimin¬
ation of some of the activities
which are now receiving upwards
of $5000 trom the ASB budget.
This will mean a greater amount
of money for athletics than ever
before.”
The Student Action Committee
has made claims that the stress
on the importance of athletics is
far too great at PCC; further¬
more, this group favors the pas¬
sage of the new constitution. It
is vitally important that the ath¬
letes know just exactly what
their position will be should this
constitution pass.
Cons
Bob White, president of the
PCC Young Republican Club,
urges a no vote on the proposed
constitution for the following rea¬
sons;
1. Preamble, point 2, the pur¬
pose is to circumvent state law
regarding admittance of political
organizations on this campus.
2. It will give the Senate, com¬
posed of 17 people, a new power
to freeze the ASB budget.
3. The Senate will have the
power with 12 of its members, to
demand the immediate removal of
any appointive officer on campus.
The officer will have no chance
to present his case.
4. The Senate will control every
facet of student government.
5. It will usurp the power of the
Inter-Club Council as to the con¬
trol of incoming clubs; as an ex¬
ample, political clubs.
A. It will have the power to
pass rules regarding the actions
of any political club.
B. It will be able to control the
life and death of these clubs.
6. Seventeen senators will con¬
trol those activities which it
deems necessary to campus life.
This will mean further control
of students by a minority.
The Senate will control the for¬
mation of the Student Council,
the judiciary branch.
Don Johnson, commissioner of
assemblies, urges a no vote until
students are absolutely sure of
what their positions as students
will be if the proposed constitu¬
tion passes. He quoted the Cour¬
ier as saying, “This board (Civil
Service Board) will replace some
30 commissioner offices, thus
eliminating a lot of red tape in¬
volved in organizing student ac¬
tivities.”
This letter was directed to com¬
missioners with the question, “Is
there any written provision for
the commissioners by name, or
are you taking the word of some¬
one that you will still hold your
job?”
Referendum Void;
Interference Cited
A memo from a faculty member to the members of her depart¬
ment concerning the proposed constitution, was grounds for invali¬
dation of the constitutional referendum, according to a release by the
Election Commission, Friday.
The memo, written as a private communication to members of
the women’s P.E. Department, according to Miss Suzanne MacCauley,
department chairman and author of the memo, was brought to the
attention of ASB officials late Thursday.
The memo was then brought before the Election Commission at
a special meeting Friday. The commission decided that the memo
was grounds for invalidation.
The memo read:
“For your information — As far as I can ascertain, the student
government board is trying to ‘railroad’ a new, seemingly hastily
put together Constitution by springing an election today and tomor¬
row in connection with election of Freshman Class officers. This
referendum has had little publicity except for a big splash in its
favor that appeared in yesterday’s Courier. (See editorial page
articles.)
“Outside of the fact that the new Constitution would make it
possible to deflect funds from athletics and other major recipients of
student government funds, the Constitution is too nebulous. Example:
Page 7, Clause 4, Civil Service Board, does not delineate officers and
their functions. Convenient way to conceal intent to wipe out or
decrease importance of varsity athletics. This would hit us too.
Music, drama, forensics, etc., would be upset. If you care to encourage
students to vote no, go ahead. We may need a Constitution but this
isn’t it.
“If you act, be careful not to imply ‘faculty’ involvement; this
would hurt.”
According to the Election Commission release, the purpose of
the memo was “to insure rejection of the new constitution.” The
release also went on to say that the author of the memo had not read
the constitution and was relying on hearsay.
Miss MacCauley denied these statements. She said that she
issued the memo to let her staff know how she felt and let them know
what was going on. She said many of her staff “didn’t even know
the referendum was taking place.”
Miss MacCauley said that her staff did not “exert undue influ¬
ence” as the commission release says. “They didn’t even exert in¬
fluence,” Miss MacCauley said.
Miss MacCauley said that her staff did not bring up the cons¬
titution, but did answer questions from students on how they felt
on the matter.
According to Miss MacCauley, the last statement concerning
faculty involvement meant that action by the staff to give their
opinion on the constitution, was to be only on an individual basis.
“If there was an attempt by faculty to exert influence, it did not gen¬
erate from our department.”
The Election Commission stopped the voting at noon Friday. The
commission decided not to sign the release. According to Randy
Fowler, students can be penalized for their decision with grades.
Louis Lomax Speaks
Tuesday in Sexson
Louis E. Lomax will address
PCC students in Sexson Auditori¬
um next Tuesday from 9 to 10:30
a.m.
SAC Shows Documentary Film
on Getting out of Vietnam'
By SUSAN PLATTE
After working in Vietman for
21 years, reporter David Schoen-
brun, has come to the conclusion
that the U.S. should get out.
The Student Action Committee-
sponsored film entitled “Vietnam,
How Did We Get In . . . How Can
We Get Out” had a good sized
crowd, and was publicized by the
Human Relations Committee
while they were still an on-cam¬
pus organization. As of last
Thursday the ASB Board rescind¬
ed its action on HRC’s charter,
and the committee is no longer a
recognized club on campus.
David Schoenbrun, better
known as Chief Paris Correspon¬
dent for CBS, filmed a speech in
San Francisco as he spoke to bus¬
inessmen. In this film he main¬
tains that the Vietnamese War is
unjust, immortal and against the
very beliefs of America. He then
went into how the U.S. became
involved in Vietnam’s affairs.
Struggling to keep their free¬
dom for decades Ho Chi Minh,
leader of Vietnam turned to
France for financial assistance.
Eager to move into its ports,
France sent ships to the Gulf of
Tonkin. Unwilling to give up
freedom, rebels resisted, killing
two French sailors in the strug¬
gle. Training its guns on the vil¬
lage the fleet killed 14,000 people
that afternoon.
The U.S. stepped into the scene
at the Geneva Convention to help
set up polls for free elections in
the country. In contrast the reb¬
els moved to the north dropping
their arms to wait for election
discussions. Meanwhile America
helped to set up a government in
South Vietnam. A “temporary
military border” was set.
Just four days before voting
discussions with Ho Chi Mihn, the
U.S. canceled negotiations. Rea¬
son? Fear that the communist
Ho Chi Mihn would win the elec¬
tion.
War broke out and has contin¬
ued ever since. From its start the
U.S. has spent $90 million and has
lost 128,000 men. Through “blind
patriotism” we have continued to
fight against our belief of free¬
dom and against the very people
“we are fighting for.” Stubborn,
uncompromising, these people
will not stop fighting until they
are entirely destroyed or until
they gain their freedom.
How can we get out of the war?
Schoenbrun said there are only
two ways.
Solution one: We will have to
blast Vietnam off the map or send
10 million men to the country,
meaning all college students.
Solution two: We must uncon¬
ditionally halt bombing Vietnam
and begin peace negotiations.
“We have no right to interfere
with Vietnam’s affairs,” Mr.
Schoebrun emphasized as he rap¬
ped the speaker’s podium. “The
Vietnamese must deal with their
own problems no matter how they
choose to settle them.”
“The Negro in American His¬
tory and Culture” is his new lec¬
ture title. Topics to be covered
are: Black Power, Meaning and
Misuse; The Urban Negro; A
Dream Deferred; The Problem of
Racial Unrest; The Negro Revolt,
Struggle of Race or Class; Two
Revolutions: Youth and Race.
Lomax is the author of several
highly regarded books. “The Ne-
gr Revolt,” published in 1962, has
gone through a number of edi¬
tions, both hardback and paper¬
back. It has received consider¬
able acclaim in both content and
writing style.
Among his other books the
“The Reluctant African,” “When
the Word Is Given,” “Thailand,
The War that It, The War That
Will be,” and “To Kill a Black
Mem,” his most recent work,
which covers the lives and assas¬
sinations of Malcolm X and Mar¬
tin Luther King.
Lomax began his professional
career as assistant professor of
sociology at Georgia State Col¬
lege, Savannah Ga. He is a grad¬
uate of Paine College and did
graduate work at American Uni¬
versity and Yale University.
He has traveled widely in other
countries, and has lectured inter¬
nationally. He is the author of a
syndicated column, is a news ana¬
lyst for ABC television network,
and a frequent guest on many
leading television programs.
According to the report to the
Board, Lomax is one of the coun¬
try’s foremost lecturers in Afro-
American history, culture, and so¬
ciological analysis. His lectures
promote understanding and the
tempering of action with reason.