Robbins Resigns Dr. John Robbins, associate professor of history, has resigned his tenured position after 10 years with the university. The resignation, submitted Oct. 26, is effective June 30, though Robbins says he hopes he will be able to teach summer school. His resignation, he said, was caused by a combination of thing, not least of which is the department itself. "I'm not happy with the direction the department has taken", he said," especially the firing of Andrea Solomon. I was one of the ones who fought against that. Certain kinds of things, like the standards we're holding, just don't seem realistic. "I'm dissatisfied in a lot of ways with the way the university is goirt. Out side of the BCA and HDL nothing is going on here. I was looking for people who fought, faculty and students who shared in running the university, different and innovative things. "I would like to have been left alone a little more to teach, not the symbolic ritual of academic bullshit, to publish when I had something to say. 1 would have •iked to have been involved where we could really do something other than spin wheels. American higher education is in trouble, and I rn not sure it can be corrected from within." Robbins said he was uisappointed with the students who, after the movements of the late 60's, "sold out too easily for the wrong things." Robbins said that the universities have become iriterested in the perpetuation of their interests and less interested by charlotte porter in service. "The university tends too much to serve the interests of the Establishment, it tends to lag in Innovation because the people in control are products of the system which rewards them and they're not going to change it." Robbins came to the university 10 years ago, seeking a small urban college where "the fundamental interest was in teaching. It was Interesting to watch the place grow. I didn't want to be stuck in some large college — I'm not by nature an academic hermit." He said that his decision to leave may not have been solely prompted by his disappointments. "Even If I had been totally happy I might still have left. I've been here 10 years — It's time to do something different. A person should not spend his whole life teaching. I number most of my friends among the students and I'm going to miss them. But its time to decide you want to do something different. "I'm thinking about going to law school. I'm interested in some kind of civil liberties practice. There are tremendous inequities in American society, and the law might get them changed. I'd like to travel maybe India or Australia. I don't want to live my life in a rut'" "A lot of people think I've flipped out. Like the hippies in Easy Rider, I'm doing something they can't do. I'm a threat to people who've made their compromises and aren't happy with them." volume ix, number 11, november 6, 1973 ilOURSBitL Court Rules Butterfield Wrong Journal photographer John Baynard, armed with his trusty camera, sallied forth to picture fall. His work is displayed on the following pages. The Student Superior Court, in their Oct. 28 session, upheld the plaintiffs in the first part of a case concerning the powers of the student body president. The first part of the case, brought by Terry Fulbright and A/alter Young against Richard Butterfield, concerned what the plaintiffs termed Butterfield's illegal appointments to the Student Media Board. On June 14, Butterfield appointed Mary McNeill, Ed Ridgell, and Bill Frye to the SMB, after their approval by the Ways and Means Committee of Student Legislature. The legislature, however, was not to meet until July 15, so the new appointees took voting office and were approved by the July 15 legislature meeting as of June 14. The plaintiffs argued that Butterfield had no right to appoint without the consent of legislature and that legislature had no right to approve retroactively. The defendants, represented by Bill Frye, attorney general designate, pleaded not guilty, and the two hour session began. Frye said that, Butterfield's actions were in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order. He stated that an emergency situation existed and that Butterfield was forced to act as he had. Without this power, Frye said, 'a body cannot begin to act in anything like an emergency situation., Frye was the first witness called by the plaintiffs, who asked who had informed him that he had the power to vote on the board. Frye replied that the SMB did accept him following the approval of the Ways and Means committee. Butterfield was the next witness. Young, who did most of the questioning for the plaintiffs, asked if Butterfield had made the appointments without the prior 2/3 consent of the legislature. When Butterfield attempted to explain, he was cut off by Young. Frye objected to the question, but was overruled by chief justice, Tom Duley. Young then asked the question, and Butterfield again told him that the question was irrelevant. Duley told him to answer, and Butterfield explained that a presidential appointment. under the existing rules, did not require anything. Butterfield said that the people he had appointed to the SMB were the only ones he could find at the time. "The board could not operate without members," he said. "There is no procedure I have to follow In making an appointment. The legislature was not to meet until July 15,nearly a month away. Approval by the Ways and Means Committee is tantamount and these people were approved and accepted by the chairman of the Media Board." Young then attacked Butterfield on his statement that Frye, Ridgell, and Ms. McNeill were the only students he could find to fill the vacancies. "Did you advertise that there were vacancies to be filled?" he asked. Butterfield admitted that he had not. Under cross-examination by Frye, Butterfield stated that important work had to be undertaken by the board. Every year, Butterfield said, constitutional revisions were undertaken by the board, but the business undertaken by the Fees Commission (the body composed by two members of the media, legislature and Union Board which splits student fees) was the most urgent of the summer. "Had the Media Board not been able to operate," he said, "there would have been no money to the media, legislature, and union board until after the fall elections." "Is it normal to go to those you know best for appointments?" Frye asked. "I want people capable of doing the job," he said. "I'm one person, and I have no governance as to how I should make appointments. I talked with Bill Frye, who suggested Mary and convinced me that Ed would do it. I also came up with Mary Newton, who was unable to serve. Summer school is a hard time to find people. There was a limited number of students that I personally knew who would be here all summer and into the fall." Young then called Fulbright, who testified that the at large members appointed by Butterfield had voted at the meetings. At this point, the plaintiffs case rested. by charlotte porter Frye, in presenting the case for the defense, called Mike Aldridge, chairman of the Media Board, as his first witness. "In your opinion as acting chairman of the media board," said Frye, "was there an emergency in business?" Aldridge replied that there was, and was asked to explain. "There were budgets, the question of who would go to Fees Commission, and constitutions and statutes to be approved." Aldridge further stated that the board had been without a quorum since the spring, since the two faculty representatives were abroad, and thus it was impossible to meet. He further stated that the members appointed by Butterfield sat with the approval of the board and that, to his knowledge, there was no disapproval on the part of any of the board members. Fulbright tried to establish that there was in fact a quorum present during the summer, and Duley called a 10 minute recess to consider the question. When the session resumed, the defense called Butterfield. Frye asked him to outline the normal procedure for handling appointments. "When a vacancy is created," Butterfield replied, "I go out on my own with no established procedure or guidelines and pick arbitrarily the person I feel is most qualified to do the job. Being only one individual, I only know so many people. I pick the person, present It to the Ways and Means Committee, which interviews the person and votes in closed session. If the appointment is approved, the chairman brings it up for legislature approval." Since no at large representatives were elected to the board in the spring, he said, it was necessary to get at least two people on the board. The first legislature meeting of the summer was June 10. The Ways and Means Committee, which must approve all appointments, did not meet until June 14. The next legislature meeting was to follow a month later. Butterfield said that he felt that approval by the Ways and . continued on page two...

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