the journal sept. 13, 1971 page three
Vermillion: ‘UNCC a Super-
versity’
by Charlie herndon
(The Below interview was held
with Dr. Robert E. Vermillion,
Associate Professor of Physics, the
‘70-‘71 president of the UNCC
Chapter of the American
Association of University
Professors (AAUP).)
Late Thursday afternoon, Sept.
2, I rushed into an interview with
Dr. Vermillion with some
hastily-thrown-together questions
concerning “academic freedom.”
At that time, I had no impression
of who I would be facing, save the
fact that he was a member of the
DNCC faculty -- not a wholly
complimentary circumstance.
^^^en I left his office two
hours later, I had an
impression--that of a man
dedicated to his profession and to
those people it involves. He is a ■
journal
interview
man with revealing viewpoints and
was not afraid to issue some harsh
criticisms of the University.
Dr. Vermillion strongly
supports the view that the
fulfillment of the University’s
function necessarily rests upon
the preservation of the intellectual
freedoms of teaching, expression,
research, and debate. He also
constantly emphasizes the
importance of “due process”
concerning any action taken
within the University community.
He stated that, in his opinion,
there is general agreement and
support of this view of ‘academic
freedom’ among the UNCC
faculty; concerning UNCC’s
administration and the same
question, he replied, “1 don’t
know. I wouldn’t want to speak
$450 in 1968
Out-of-state tuition
raised by Legislature
(reprinted from the N.C. State
Technician, August 27, 1971. The
article has equal interest to UNCC
students who are from
out-of-state. They were notified
of the increase on July 20, 1971
'n a letter from Chancellor
Dolvard.)
Out-of-state students at State
had their summer vacations jolted
hy a surprise from the North,
Carolina General Assembly.
Their tuition was raised from
*950 to $1,300 by the Assembly.
The first official notification came
"'ith their bills in July.
Next year a further raise in
tuition from $1,300 to $1,800
"'ill be put into effect. This
fepresented a compromise in that
the original legislative proposal
Called for the entire raise to go
uito effect this year rather than
being spread out over the next
two years.
The rate hikes could mean an
^dditional $16 million during the
1971-73 biennium. The additional
'Unds, however, ended up being
Used to increase employment for
public school teachers without
^uy direct benefit to the budgets
^t the public universities.
. In fact the idea of a tuition
jucrease came up only after the .
legislature began working with
ue state budget and realized there
^ould be a shortage of funds for
ucw state programs.
During hearings on the bill.
college officials warned the hikes
could be disastrous for graduate
level programs, which rely heavily
on out-of-state students because
of the traditional practice of
students to do graduate work at a
different institution from where
they studied as undergraduates.
To accomodate this argument,
the Senate Finance Committee
added a provision to entend the
in-state rates to an out-of-state
student if he is on scholarship,
working under a regional or
federally funded program, or is a
student specifically solicited by
the college because of the
student’s talent or aptitude in an
academic or athletic field.
As a result, out-of-state
athletes on scholarship are now
attending on in-state tuition in
addition to those in non-athletic
fields.
In the past month,
cancellations have been reported
from out-of-state students who
are either unable or unwilling to
pay the new rates. The rate has
ranged up to 10 per cent at
Western Carolina University.
In the past few years, the N.C.
General Assembly has become
increasingly hostile toward
out-of-state students, arguing that
they should pay more of the
actual cost of their education.
This is the second time in two
years that their tuition has been
raised. In 1968, it was only $450.
I brief
Due to the increased number of applications from students desiring
enter UNCC, new cutoff dates have been placed into effect. They are
follows;
^frn of Entry
stS.S.’72
S.S. '72
fall '72
?P''ing"73
S.S. ’73
File By
Complete By
May 1
May 15
June 15
July 1
July 1 *
July 15*
Dec. 1 *
Dec. 15*
May 1
May 15
June 15
July 1
2nd S.S. '73
’’'D
enotes change from previous dates.
for those whose opinions I am not
sure of.”
Dr. Vermillion is a strong
proponent of student’s rights as
citizens in the academic
community and feels that there
are several instances where these
rights have been or are being
violated. In one of his most
violent criticisms during our talk,
he blasted UNCC’s policy of
expansion:
“The emphasis seems to be on
creating some sort of
‘super-university’ for the future
while the rights, privileges, and
well-being of today’s University
members are being flagrantly
disregarded. For example, where
is there a mere park bench on this
campus where someone may sit
outside? The faculty is being
overloaded with the University’s
building chores; I know of a
faculty member who is on 22
committees! This emphasis on
building and fast expansion is
neglecting the main purpose of
the University, resulting in the
loss of quality education.”
Considering solutions,
Vermillion went on. “The
solution to this problem must
come from the students and
faculty - the administration
doesn’t seem to agree with us on
this matter. Maybe the best course
of action for the faculty is simply
to refuse to perform the building
chorse. The students certainly
have a legitimate gripe.
Concerning their imput into the
solution, I would suggest that
student agitation is definitely a
viable option.”
We went on to talk about the
exclusion of six students from the
dorms last spring. Dr. Vermillion
commented on that incident: “I
don’t know the facts; I wonder
what the situation actually was.
On the surface, it seems that the
procedure for ‘due process’ was
violated and that worries me. I do
not agree with and certainly can
not support an arbitrary decision
by anyone.”
In reference to this situation.
Dr. Vermillion indicated that the
UNCC-AAUP has a committee ~
the Committee for Student
Rights-which he feels should have
investigated this action taken by
the University but, for some
reason, did not.
(continued on page 9)
^ Renaissance
Man’ lectures
Sept. 24
A former associate of such
notable literary figures as James
Joyce, W.B. Yeats and George B.
Shaw will speak at UNCC Sept.
24.
Dr. William Starkie, a noted
lecturer and writer with a range of
interests “impressive enough to
suggest a Renaissance man” will
present his lecture on The Gypsy
Culture.
Dr. Starkie, of Dublin, is also
schooled in Spanish and Italian
literature and music, and was
involved in the Irish Literary
Movement.
He has lectured in numerous
universities in Europe and North
and South America, and has been
Distinguished Professor in
Residence at UCLA.
He has been honored with
several higli European awards
including Knighthood, bestowed
by the King of Spain, and election
to France's Legion of Honor.
During his stay at UNCC he
will meet with classes in various
disciplines.
Death-machines
I work in the newsroom of the Charlotte Observer. You have to get
hardened to a lot of things. Like news editors mulling over whether
“Draft may be extended two more years” or “East Pakistani refugees
left without food” should be the front page lead story. You can’t stop
to think much about the stories themselves or you might go insane.
But some things are impossible to ignore. They’re too horrible and
too ridiculous at the same time-like holiday traffic death tolls.
■ very close friend of mine was travelling cross-country over the
July 4th weekend. Bad scene already. I was at my job tearing stories
from the wire service machines. Fascinating how the heart kind of
stood still each time the machine started its impersonal clicking and
deaths started spewing out of its mouth. Every five minutes— for hours
on end. Each time ten to twenty more ljuman beings did not exist
anymore. Each time I wondered if it was THAT person. It wasn’t very
,long before I wanted to take an axe and shatter that metallic god into a
million pieces. It was killing my friends.
It happened again this past weekend. That same gray box, with its
incessant pecking, played god again and murdered more people.
And everyone has someone to blame. “It’s all those drunk drivers
with their holiday spirits. It’s all those teen-age hippie types high on
pot. Those slow drivers that make a hazard of themselves are to blame.”
It seems, however, that anyone with a scratch of logical form in his
head would ask, “Why do we have so many, powerful, suicidal
automobiles? It’s like giving a group of chimpanzees a box of
grenades.”
Ah, Detroit has the answer. How else can a successful businessman
prove he’s successful unless he has a $6,000 combination living-room
and office with 350 horsepower? How else can a 16-year-old boy get
the girls without a “play-purty” that will do better than 120 mph? And
what would a young, attractive, jet-set hopeful, female do without a
competition-built, daddy-paid for machine. “I don’t know how it works
but it gets me to the beach in 2 hours.”
Detroit and Madison Ave. have struck again. They have brainwashed
the American to such an extent that the old cliche must be
paraphrased-”Automobiles make the man.” A man can no longer be
masculine any longer unless he can “lay rubber” at least 30 yards. A
young girl can’t be chic anymore without a 3000 lb. sex symbol. Cars
are now synonymous with success whether it be plateaus reached in
business, sex, influence or whatever. The more horsepower you have
the better.
If so many people find so much pleasure in this sort of thing, i.e.
passing 12 cars at one time, having cars that automatically do
everything except feed parking meters, then something must be sadly
lackiiig somewhere else. Society and the rat-race world evidently is
stripping everyone so thoroughly that the only way one can beat his
identity crisis is to refer to his auto registration card. If the super sport
murderers are the only thing these people have to show for their efforts
in this life then how can modern man be sold to be even remotely
happy. And if this idiocy doesn’t stop what will be the ultimate.
Someone has to beg for mercy. Excuse me for a moment, the machines
are killing my friends again.
Is anybody listening? If so, drop me a comment in the Journal box
behind the info desk in the University Center. I want to know your
feelings about my ramblings. Besides, mail makes me feel important.
edited from various sources
by Journal staffers
Midwest mary jane out?
Intent on appearing to do something about the drug problem, the U.
S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs has pumped an $85,000
grant into the Agriculture Department for a subsidy program designed
to eradicate marijuana plants in ten Midwestern States.
Since the five to ten million Midwestern acres which hosts mary jane
includes some of the best game and song bird habitat in the country,
conservationists are concerned with the eradication program’s outcome’
The plants-they average seven to ten feet in hei^t, some rocket to
sixteen—are scattered throughout other weeds and grasses which
provide essential bird food and cover.
The broad application of chemicals, according to C. Philip Agee, of
the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, “would result in the control
of a broad array of plants. Among these would be ragweed, nettle and
fruit-bearing shrubs on streambotton sites, fireweed, pigweed
lamb s-quarter, partridge pea, and sunflower on upland sites. The net
result would be to shift the composition of the plant community from
Its present grassy-weedy complex toward a grass-only complex” In
other words. The destruction of a species such as eild hemp with
herbicides is to the ecologist the removal of from one to several
components of a dynamic wild community.”
ij _T 1 1 t' 1 rvation Agent quoted in a recent
Outdoor Life article by Joel Vance, “The stuff is all over the place.
without doing-in a heck of a lot
of wildlife cover.
Should the program flop, conservationists will caU for careful
consideration of the next step. Scattered marijuana plants may be a
problem, but ten million acres of valuable wildlife habitat deserve
something other than a hard lacing of 2,4-D.