Monday, January 21, 1985/The Battalion/Page 5
TATE AND LOCAL
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Are A&M faculty free to speak?
At one time, dramatists, pacifists
and unorthodox educators were qui
eted and extremists were asked to
«levi| i conform.
iiiH With a few exceptions, faculty and
By JEFF BRADY
Reporter
M r
•ftht it administrators say that in terms of
restriction and conformity A&M is
Hippoi, not the institution it was a decade
iiday. igo. The little college on the Brazos
'un.Onu ^ as come a long way on the road to
a.m. ai| aecoming a world university, they
inis (in say, and f ree expression among fac-
ice said, nlty members has helped fuel the
.hest aid trip.
lire,SB Contrary to popular belief, most
Mil. A&M educators now agree that they
lionedi hot «nly can, but are encouraged to
Horsd out an< J challenge established
si ptrsii- dewpoints.
ars. “We now have it pretty good,”
ihefals says Dr. Paul Parrish, former presi-
wk piaii dent of the Bryan American Civil
ring no;*Liberties Union and A&M English
ivenii ■professor, referring to the freedom
i 'SimiMpf expression educators have at
k i«l/^&M.
“But I probably wouldn’t have
said the same thing six years ago,” he
says. “There has been a marked
change in my ten years here.”
‘ I’ve seen A&M change from the best university in the
world to a cesspool ” ~~~ Dr. Rod O'Connor, former di
rector of the first year chemistry program, referring to
the opportunity faculty members have to express them
selves on campus.
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Parrish describes the atmosphere
vhen he first arrived on campus as
estrictive and inhibiting.
For example, a theater arts pre-
ientation three weeks into rehearsal
dabout vas cancelled, he says, when word
jot that it included a scene of rear
| shm] nale nudity and another of simu
lated sex.
It was a very significant moment
nto j fe for many of the newest f aculty mem-
and IlBiers, Parrish says. It illustrated the
he riiiL
kind of censorship that existed in
1974.
“1 just don’t think that could hap
pen here now,” Parrish says.
A professor of philosophy who
has been at A&M for 18 years, Dr.
Manuel Davenport, compares the
situation on campus 12 years ago to
the McCarthyism that gripped
America following World War II.
McCarthyism has been called a
“tyranny of the majority,” Daven
port says. “Tyranny of the majority”
maintains that whatever the majority
wants is right.
“And most of the time the major
ity is wrong,” he says.
When asked about serious con
frontations, Davenport described a
protest of the Vietnam War staged
in 1968 in which a handful of faculty
and student demonstrators had to be
guarded from a crowd of hundreds
by campus police.
“That kind of situation is intim
idating in itself,” he says. “It has a
chilling effect on free expression.”
For one faculty member, how
ever, little has improved in recent
years and, if anything, A&M has re
versed its tendency toward tolerat
ing open communications.
Dr. Rod O’Connor, former direc
tor of the first year chemistry pro
gram, chuckles when asked about
freedom of speech at A&M, and
denies that communication is either
open or responsive.
“I’ve seen A&M change from the
best university in the world to a cess
pool,” he says, referring to the op
portunity faculty members have to
express themselves on campus.
O’Connor left his position with
the chemistry department following
a committee inquiry of his unortho
dox teaching practices, during which
time he was asked not to address
members of the committee, the me
dia or students concerning his situa
tion.
“My right of academic freedom
was violated, my right of appeal
turned out to be a farce and my right
to stand in the presence of my ac
cuser was nonexistent,” O’Connor
says.
He now teaches graduate courses
part-time in the basement of the
Chemistry Building.
“The channel of appeal is identi
cal to a chain of command,” he says.
“The department head is your ac
cuser, prosecuting attorney, judge,
jury and the person who decides
about appeals,” O’Connor says.
What concerned the administra
tion most, he says, was that he spoke
to his students and the newspaper
about the investigation.
“That was not liked,” O’Connor
says. “As a - matter of fact, I’ve been
told on numerous occasions, in writ
ing and verbally, that you do not dis
cuss these things with the public.
“But if there’s any place in the
world that should be the last bastion
of free speech it’s our colleges and
universities.”
O’Connor, however, is in the mi
nority. The consensus of faculty and
administrators seems to be that lines
of input and comment are fairly
well-established and no one has to
suppress opinions.
The faculty senate, for example,
created in the fall of 1983, is viewed
as particularly effective in further
ing this exchange.
“The advent of the senate has
provided the faculty with a forum
for f ree debate that they didn’t pre
viously have,” says Dr. Clinton Phil
lips, Dean of Faculty.
Regarding the future of faculty
expression at A&M, head of the phi
losophy department Hugh McCann
says “I think the faculty voice is
going to be heard and regarded
even more clearly now.”
These days faculty unrest is hard
to find at A&M: no one is on strike
or demonstrating; few are protest
ing censorship or suppression; and
almost all educators are satisfied that
their opinions are heard.
Davenport predicts the next 10
years will be a decade of social unrest
and conflict much like the 1960’s.
He says society’s behavior follows a
cycle through which America will
have completely traveled by 1990. If
this is so, more turbulent times may
be in store for A&M as educational
development expands.
GOTTA DANCE?
0
SOCIETY
General Meeting
Tues., Jan 22, 7:30
268 E. Kyle
Bring your I.D.
EVERYONE INVITED
7
Austin police crack down on traffic violators
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Associated Press
AUSTIN — The city of Austin,
faced with a surge in traffic deaths as
growth has congested city streets,
vill launch a crackdown on traffic
Slaw violators.
The get-tough policy approved by
the City Council includes giving
Ifewer warnings and more tickets, of
ficials said.
Police also will allow less leeway
over the speed limit. Tickets will be
written for driving at speeds more
than 5 mph over the limit.
There were 88 traffic deaths in
Austin last year, far more than in the
previous record year of 1979, when
65 people died on Austin streets.
The crackdown, which was autho
rized by the City Council on Thurs
day, is part of' an overall traffic
safety program ordered for the city.
Allen Brecher, Austin’s director
of urban transportation, said some
parts of the program can be started
m 30 to 60 days. These include un
announced checks of drivers’ li
censes and proof-of-insurance cards.
Other parts of the program will
begin in two to six months, he said.
Long-range projects, including re
designing intersections, will take
more than six months to complete.
Under the engineering aspect of
the program, sites where accidents
are common will be reviewed to de
termine whether new traffic lights or
new designs for roads would reduce
the accident toll.
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