Western Front - 1984 June 26

              PERHAPS WONDERING
'What are we doing here?' two
students, presumably fresh
and Invigorated by their 11-
day spring vacations, get
reacqualnted with Fisher
Fountain. Red Square has
been distinctly uncrowded this
term as summer students
apparently take care of busi­ness
early, then split to go on
about their pleasure. Front
photo by Janice Keller.
Trustees dismiss WashPIRG proposal
By Shaun McClurken
The Washington Public Interest Research
Group has failed to secure a foothold on
Western's campus for the fourth time in 12
years.
June 7, the Board of Trustees denied the
group its chosen form of funding, a $2.50
tuition tax approved by 54 percent of the
students in a petition drive, with more sheets
yet to be returned.
University President G. Robert Ross
recommended the board not approve the
collection of any fees over which it would
have no authority. WashPIRG, with chap­ters
at the University of Washington and
The Evergreen State College, is unaffiliated
with any school.
WashPIRG supporters were asking for an
"assessed-refundable" fee, included in tui­tion
billing but not appearing on the billing
card. Students were to request refunds if
they desired not to contribute to the Wash-
Pirg chapter.
Trustees Curtis Dalrymple, Gordon San-dison
and Irwin Le Cocq objected to this
device, saying they were uncomfortable with
requiring students to pay for something they
knew nothing about and might not benefit
WashPIRG supporters, including Lisa
Hedlund (who spearheaded the drive and
who has worked in an Oregon PIRG chap­ter),
Aleta Parcell and Dan Pike, maintained
the assessment was a very democratic tax,
and one the majority of students had already
approved.
They also pointed out the PIRG would
benefit students, the university and the
community by supporting research in the
public interest. Students can earn credit
through PIRG activity; the PIRG serves to
expand the university's curriculum without
costing the school money; and the commun­ity
benefits from such projects as the Phone
Buyers Protection Act, instigated by student
researchers and signed by Gov. John
Spellman two Fridays ago.
The trustees would have preferred a "posi­tive
check-off" funding system: students
wishing to contribute to the group would
check off "yes" boxes on their fee billing
-^cards. Gerpy- Poltett,-froj»-the Seattle
WashPIRG office, told the board the most
support any school organization had gar­nered
with a positive check-off was 20 per­cent,
far below the level needed to support
the PIRG.
Pike, asked if he would prefer to be turned
down outright or take a chance with the
positive check-off system, replied the two
were effectively the same.
Trustees James Waldo and Judith Maleng
supported the students'aims, though Waldo
proposed some amendments to their prop­osal
designed to make the group more
accountable to students and the board.
Waldo's measures included a student ref­erendum
and trustee review for 1985 and
reimbursement to the university for any cost
of collection. But the board turned down
both the assessed-refundable proposal and
a request for a negative check-off (the type
used by the Washington Student Lobby:
students check a box if they wish not to
-contribute-to-the group); >— r v%
Though the WSL provides a precedent for
the billing card check-off, Dalrymple indi­cated
he might like to review WSL's status,
too.
After the rejection by the board members,
Seattle Executive Director Kim Nelson said
it was fairly normal for a board of trustees to
be distrustful on first attempts. She expects
more time spent talking to the board
members and helping them understand the
system will enable the group to make West­ern
its third chapter in one-and-a-half years.
"1 think the students are disappointed
because they've worked so hard. But Wash­PIRG
takes the long view."
Ford again accepts academic hot seat
By Nevonne Harris
In Old Main 460 his temporary office has
a desk, a chair and a telephone. The window
gives the room its only illumination. The
walls are bare, as is the desk except for a
four-inch thick budget proposal—his first
task as Western's new vice president for aca­demic
affairs.
"This is the infamous transition period,"
Paul Ford said. Ford officially begins as vice
president July 1, which also is his birthday.
Ford was chosen for Western's "number
two" administrative position at the end of
last quarter. He has been with Western's
education school since 1970 and served as
acting vice president for academic affairs/
provost in 1982-83 when then-President
Paul Olscamp left and President G. Robert
Ross arrived.
He will replace James Talbot, who
resigned from the position earlier this year.
Along with a change for Ford, the job also
changed. The vice president will focus more
on instructional programs and the instruc­tional
budget rather than the entire universi­ty's
budget, Ford explained.
The current instructional budget project
concerns about 68 percent of $107 million
Western will ask of the Legislature in Sep­tember.
The instructional budget is a com­piling
of each departmental request.
Ford said the change will give the vice
president more time to emphasize the aca­demic
part of the job because he doesn't have
to focus on the uWiversity-wide budget.
The university budget now is the chore of
the vice president for business and finance.
Ford said he will spend time on specific
programs, rather than whole departments or
colleges, and try to provide access to good
resources such as the library, computers and
media.
'I want to help make Western the best
possible institution," he said.
"Liberal arts is the centerpiece of West­ern's
instructional program and it should
continue," he said. "No education is as
potentially powerful as a liberal arts educa­tion.
It gives students a sense of responsibil­ity
for themselves and a sense of responsibil­ity
for their fellow man."
The challenge is to find the balance
between a liberal arts education and special­ized
programs that emphasize "something
else," such as employment, he said.
Ford said he would like to see more links
between Western and China and Japan.
Such programs "have all kinds of potential,"
he said.
Technology also is an area of "immense
potential," Ford said. "And Western has
made some commitment to that."
When the budget project is completed, he
said he would like to develop internship pro­grams
and visiting professor-type programs
with government and business agencies that
would give students and teachers a chance to
broaden or continue their own education.
Another goal is to improve resources for
faculty development, which means giving
professors money, time and computer
assistance to pursue research and continue
to grow in their professional fields, Ford
said.
Ford said he switched from teaching to
administrative work because an "effective
administrator can help get things done that
they think are important to get done."
"I wouldn't have gone to another institu­tion
to be an administrator, but I would do it
here," he said. "Knowing the institution well
will make the transition smoother."
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