1979_04 The Daily Collegian April 1979

              The Daily Collegian
Part one of a serialization:
The education
of Norman Baxter
Editor s nofe. The following ia one ol
a series ol excerpts from "The Slow
Death ol Fresno State ' by Dr Kenneth
Seib, chairman of the English Depart¬
ment and president of the campus chap¬
ter ol the United Professors of Califor¬
nia. Copyright 1969 by the Fresno Free
College Foundation, the book is being
published by Ramparts Press, and will
be released early next month
By DP. KENNETH SEIB
Dr Norman A. Baxter came to Fresno
State College as its Academic Vice Presi¬
dent in September, 1969—just before
the resignation oi President Frederick
W. Ness and the appointment oi Karl
Folk as Acting President
In a college rife with factionalism, the
appointment of Baxter to a key ad mini
strative position was a hopeful sign, for
he was aa outsider with no community
ties and with what most colleagues
would have labeled a 'moderate* politi¬
cal and educational philosophy
Baxter was s young man—in his mid¬
dle 40a-who held a Ph.D. from Harvard
and degree* from Taylor University, a
small Protestant Institution in Upland,
Ind., and tha school of theology affiliated
with New York University.
He had published one book, A History
of the Freewill Baptists, Lo 1958. Baxter,
in fact, looked not unlike a seminarian
— horn-rimmed glasses and the shy,
open smile of an altar boy.
Prior to his coming to Fresno State, ac¬
cording to Baxter' s press releases from
the Community Relations office, he had
'assisted in the development of the
health sciences program at the Universi¬
ty of Arkansas* and before that served
'as professor, dean, and acting presi¬
dent of the graduate school of theology
affiliated with New York University. *
colleagues later discovered, for the
school of theology was only vaguely af¬
filiated with NYU and Baxter was not af¬
filiated at all with the University of Ar¬
kansas, but with Little Rock University—
but no matter. Even if he did not have
the impressive credentials of a Frederick
Ness, the credentials were reasonably
Impressive enough for a president of
Fresno State.
What was more Important to many of
the faculty was Baxter' s youth, his abili¬
ty to bring a fresh approach to campus
problems, his lack of factionalism. Many
believed he would serve aa a buffer be¬
tween the forces of the campus that were
standing more and more in adversary
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And in many ways, Baxter performed
as that buffer. Members.of the English
Department, for Instance, who were un¬
able to achieve any significant communi¬
cation with other members of the Felk
administration, found Norman Baxter a
willing and polite listener.
Minority students, who found Fa Ik In¬
communicado and Fixes contemptuous,
found" Baxter Veadily available. During
his first months Th the administration,
Norman Baxter seemed to be listening
and learning.
Baxter' s first real administrative deci¬
sion came during the crisis involving the
Experimental College. Th* general
chronology of events want this way...
■r^M^yw^m9KUtM
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1
THE SLjOW DEATH OF
FRESNO STATE
A California Campus under Reagan and Brown
by Kenneth A. Seib
On Dec. 1, 1969, the Experimental
College Committee made a final deter¬
mination oi Its spring program and sub-
Baxter 'softie
On December 19, Falk requested a
meeting with th* committee's chairman
In order to raise several questions con¬
cerning student Instructori  ~
fore
s had
On December 31, Richard Toecan, Di¬
rector of the Experimental College, re¬
quested a meeting with Baxter In order
to discover what action, if any, had been
taken on the spring program,
Baxter informed Toecan orally that
Falk had established the following poli¬
cies: (1) no courses were to be taught by
undergraduate students; (2) no faculty
could teach more than one course par
semester; and (3) no course* taught by
part-Urn* Instructors could be approved
unless the instructor had already been
hired for th* spring semester.
_ On  Jan.  5,   1970, th* Experimental
cation of the spring bulletin.-
Two days later, Baxter replied: 'You
are hereby directed and authorised to
publish these courses approved by th*
Acting President and theee only la an
Experimental College Bulletin for Spring
1970."
Toecan replied on January 8 that th*
request was In violation of the Faculty
Handbook, which stated that Baxter was
required to 'consult with the Experimen
tal Collage Committee because th* com¬
mittee supervises tha Experimental
College and . the publishing of the Ex -
perimental College Bulletin."
When Baxter failed to reply, Toecan
requested the chairman of the Academic
Policy and Planning Committee (APSP)
to arrange a meeting with Acting Presi¬
dent Falk. The chairman arranged a
meeting for January 21.
On January 20, th* rhairman of APAP
wss informed that Falk had not read any
"* *""        "   ' o* January 16, and would
AU8 CUsPd-DMr
The Armenian Movement
Arniertbn Martyr*'W***, April 16-241OT
Armenocide: Crime
Against Humanity
By MARK MALKASIAN
The Twentieth century has no place
for the Armenian genocide.
A world immersed in suffering no
longer senses human tragedy. The mod¬
ern age has been saturated by tragedy-
graphic, explicit and vociferous tragedy
World sympathy exists as a commodity,
a commodity sUked and monopolized
It belongs to Jews, Blacks, Indians and
Palestinians.
The Armenocide cannot compete for
the world's tears. Of course, Armenians
can produce corpses-two million corp-
ses-but the Armenocide remains rele¬
gated to history' s back burner.
The Armenian Case Is not a pressing
international topic. There are no fanati¬
cal guerillas, struggling for national
identity In the mounUins of Turkish-
occupied Armenia. The Armenians have
no charismatic leader, suitable for 45-
second tirades on the evening news
The Armenians only have th* surk,
numbing reality of the Armenocide
The facts are simple:
On April 24,1915 the Turkish govern¬
ment began the systematic annhilatlon
of the Armenian people - the 'final sol¬
ution" of the Armenian problem Under
the guise of World War I, two million
Armenians were murdered. The Armen¬
ian people were torn from the homeland
they had occupied since the dawn of
civilization. Three thousand yean(of
Armenian history were abruptly "*vered
by a single, savage blow of the Turkish
Of course, there are outcries among
the Western powers Armenia was a
valuable playing card of international
diplomacy. The 1920 Treaty of Sevres,
promoted by the Western Powers, pro¬
vided for the establishment of an inde-
no charismatic leaoer, sunaote iu> ->j-
second tirades on  the evening  news. See Page 3        soared the fate ot rhew parsis-* ounng
-The Armenian Case in the UN.
On January 24, Baxter cancelled tha
spring classes of th* Experimental Col¬
lege. He stated two days later In a press
release, *To* mechanism of the present
Experimental College ha* broken down
...      SmeP»ge7
By BRYAN BEDROSI AN
The Armenian Case, embodying the
national aspirations of the world's six
million Armenians, is today expressed
in the form of Paragraph 30.
Paragraph 30 is one section of a large
report being prepared by a Special
Rapporteur for the UN bubcommission
on the Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities. This subcom¬
mission is part of the larger UN Commis¬
sion on Human Rights.
Paragraph 30, as quoted from the
Genocide Report, reads: 'Passing to the
modern era, One may note the existence
of relatively hill docurnenution dealing
with the massacres of Armenians, which
have been described as the first case of
genocide in the twentieth century' '
Varaz-an
Inspired
Armenian
■   Artist
If accepted, Paragraph 30 would pro¬
vide at. least the legal basis for the return
of Turkish-occupied Armenia. In re¬
sponse to Turkish pressures. Paragraph
30 was omitted from a previous draft of
the Genocide Report, adopted last
September by the UN Subcommission on
the Prevention of Discrimination and the
Protection of Minorities. The United
SUtes absUined in the final vote
The Special Rapporteur cited three
reasons for rejecting Paragraph 30:
1. I| Is impossible to compile an exhaus¬
tive list of historical examples of geno¬
cide.
2. It is important to maintain unity with¬
in the International community In regard
to genocide.
3. In many cases, delving into the past
By BARLOW DER MUGRDhtHIAN What .aspires you
'PvjM-vthino insnir
...ight reopen old wounds that
healing. -.      .
Like the Armenian people, Paragraph
30 has not disappeared It was reintro¬
duced and approved by the UN Commis¬
sion on Human Rights (The Commission
had the power to reject the Genocide
Report, accept it. or send it back to the
Special Rapporteur.)
Despite heated protests by the Turkish
government, the subcommission in itt
March meeting in Geneva, reendorsed
insertion and voted to send the
Report back to the Special Rapporteur
for reconsideration Paragraph 30 today
lies in the hands of the Special Rap-
Paragraph 30 demonstrates the influ¬
ence a united Armenian people  can
have. The reconsideration of Paragraph
30 was a major victory in itself, especi¬
ally considering the strong objections
and strenuous lobbying of the Turkish
•is> ™ii»iii«i people, without a
nation, without an army-seemingry
powerless in the international arena-
succeeded in bringing the Armenocide
before the nations of the world. U.S.
Ambassador Set Momjian, the personal
represenUtive of President Carter on the
UN Human Rights Commission, was
instrumenul in forcefully presenting the
facts of the Armenocide before the world
Varaz Samuelian Is an artist of inter¬
national reknown, famous both for his
paintings and sculpture. I have known
Varaz for many years and I interviewed
him while he was at work in his studio.
'After World War I
both as a Russwn ,~-—	
French partisan I came to San Francisco
to be with my brother in November,
1946. My wife and I had friends in
Fresno so in 1957 we moved to Fresno
I moved also because I wanted to live in
•    e there were a lot of
What inspires you as an artist r
"Everything inspires me I am against
war of any kind, especially nuclear war,
and the quest tor peace inspires me. The
ocean and the sky and the trees inspire
me. But I find that the struggle for war
and peace is very important to me *
"    tealytMltwsiamtimemaOsAridel
the Fresno CietwH**. sexusr
yoomakeDavklefSasseenl
-The legend of David, the heroic story
of a people inspired me. For me, he
embodies the powerful symbol of the
Armenian spirit of freedom. He em¬
bodies the spirit and history of Armenia
But more than that David of Sassoon
stands for all the courageous fighters
against oppression...Man  striving  for
justice and peace.* gggggr^
Which l-srms ef art de y**i prefer t,
uT are the same. Sculpture, painting
... -re th* same to me If you can do one
you can do them all It's all in the way
you look at it.'
b«riwTUtl»*oa>*y*»jwe*4^ as an artist?
'Learning, the experience of teaming
new things The love of learning keeps
me working. I m interested in all things
in the world. Scenery, the ocean...life
itself. The trees, animals, flowers, sci¬
ence, the *tars...l»e itself. AM keep me
inspired in my work. The struggle for
justice and peace."