1980_01 The Daily Collegian January 1980

              No compromise forseen on student-RTP issue
By Tom Brisson
United Professors of California Presi¬
dent Warren Kessler said that he will be
talking further with California State Stu¬
dent Association representatives about
student input on committees which��determine retention, promotions, and
tenures of faculty, but doubted that a
compromise is possible at this time.
Kessler made his remarks in the wake
of the defeat last week of a resolution
which would have mandated student
participation as non-voting members on
the RTP committees throughout the Cali¬
fornia State Universities and Colleges
System.
The resolution, backed by the CSSA,
was voted down by the board of trustees
by one vote.
"I understand the concern of the stu¬
dents in wanting to have some say in
which faculty receive promotion and
tenure," Kessler said. "But if the resolu¬
tion passed, it would have created some
serious procedural problems."
"As non-voting members, the
students would have had access to
faculty personnel files. We are not say¬
ing that students are not able to handle
confidential information, but if a faculty
member on a committee made a file pub¬
lic he could be disciplined by being
demoted or having his pay docked,' he
said.
"If a student did the same thing, it
would be much more difficult to disci¬
pline him."
Kessler also said that even untenured
faculty, who have a greater professional
basis for exercising judgement, are ex¬
cluded from the committees.
"Opposition to the resolution was fair¬
ly widespread. If the trustees had tried
to mandate this on each of the 19 cam¬
puses with all of the 6-7,000 tenured
faculty that participate on the commit¬
tees, it would have been very difficult to
see that the thing would have been put
into effect with any integrity, * he said.
'I do want it to be made clear that
some extreme claims were made by
some faculty in fighting the amendment
to Title V," Kessler said. 'But I don't
think those claims are representative of
the majority opinion.
"We' recognize the status of students
as adult consumers who should have in¬
put regarding their own education. But
at the same time, most students do not
have the expertise and professional per¬
spective necessary to make decisions re¬
garding people's careers," he said.
Kessler noted that students already
hav- .he right to make presentations
before the committees on each campus
regarding the hiring and firing of facul¬
ty, a right which he said does not seem to
be very widely publicized or used.
"I would like to see the use of this pro¬
cess beefed up before taking more dras¬
tic procedural steps," he said.
"There is also a second possibility,
though I am not endorsing this, that the
prohibition against untenured faculty
acting on the committees be removed be¬
fore considering whether students
should also be included on the commit¬
tees," lie said.
Kessler said that another possibility
would be to let the individual campuses
decide whether to allow students to par¬
ticipate on RTP committees.
'But I think it was a mistake for the
CSSA to try to seek a shortcut through
regular procedure for every single cam¬
pus when more qualified people are not
-yet permitted to take part in committee
decisions as members," he said.
"We are not happy about being in the
position of having to •disagree with the
students," Kessler said, 'but ft is an
honest disagreement and people's
careers are at stake.'
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
the Daily Collegian
TUESDAY
January 29, 1980
Acceptance is growing, but
marijuana draws concern
By Peter Woodside
The fiery 60s ended with the mari¬
juana debate still unresolved. But the
decade's turn-on generation had
entered the mainstream of the 70s, and
it looked as if pot's use had gained wide
acceptance.
Today doctors, lawyers, businessmen
and other successful professionals
admit using it. Pot's wide acceptance
has been reflected by decriminalization
efforts in many states, both successful
and unsuccessful.
However, recent studies have raised
questions about marijuana's safety and
other evidence shows that the number of
youth now turning on to pot is greater
than once thought and is growing.
This alarming new evidence has rekin¬
dled once dormant fears about pot and
has spurred frightened parent groups
and drug authorities across the country
into taking action.
The more militant members of the
anti-pot forces are guilty at times of
returning to the style of the 'reefer
madness' era of the 30s in their holy
crusade against marijuana.  There is,
however, genuine concern at the core of
the   movement   over   the   increasing     I
number of marijuana-smoking youths
and what pot does to their bodies.
Figures compiled for the Health,
Education and Welfare Department's
National Institute on Drug abuse show
that in 1978, one in nine high-school
seniors was smoking pot every day,
nearly double the percentage of daily
users in 1975. In all, 28 percent of
high-school seniors admitted to trying
pot before tenth grade. Use among
younger Idds, some as young as eight or
nine years old, is on the increase, also.
Heavy use of marijuana by children
at a time when they are developing both
physically and emotionally is especially
worrisome. However, accurate findings
on the effects of marijuana on the body
are as hard to find these days as good
hash. Because of the emotion involved
with the subject, many scientists' find¬
ings tend to support their own beliefs
about pot.
As yet there is no conclusive study
that   shows   marijuana   is   especially
continued on page 4
BundotPem V«ifc«a»«*.(3a>).*ii- Jeer
Edward, of UOP.
Inside
Viewpoint on Russia........ page 2
Agriculture job outlook................page 2
jports • •••• pagen ijO
photo by Greg Trett
sM^