Pa. challenges desegregation ord By JOHN SCHLANDER Daily Collegian Staff Writer The Pennsylvania Department of Ed ucation is disputing the authority of the federal Department of Education's Of fice of Civil Rights to force inclusion of all publicly related colleges and univer sities including Penn State in a revised desegregation plan. Conrad Jones, from the state's Bu reau of Equal Educational Opportunity, said only the federal legislature would have the authority to direct the state to take this action. Jones said the state sent a letter, which federal officials received Friday, stating the dispute. The state is not judging whether desegregation in this instance is right or wrong, he said. El Salvador policy polarizing split on Latin America issue U.S. Editor's note: Bruce Cameron is the chief. foreign policy lobbyist for Ameri cans for Democratic Action, a liberal political organization. Cameron works in the area of international human rights. .He also recently visited Central America with several U.S. legislators, touring El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Dai ly Collegian staff writer Vicki Fong re cently interviewed Cameron on U.S. involvement in El Salvador. The follow- ing interview has been edited for length and clarity. COLLEGIAN: What do you think of the Reagan administration's stance on the conflicts in El SalvadOr? CAMERON: Currently, the chief thing to understand about this admiiiiitrathin is that it has polarized this country faster than any administration perhaps in this century. The only administration that might have polarized things this fast may be Roosevelt's first term. Interview The Washington Post said Reagan has the highest disapproval this early in his administration, and one of the reasons that he has achieved this so quickly is because of the budget cuts and El Salva dor. For all foreign policy lobbyists on the liberal side of the spectrum, there is no choice but to be involved in El Salvador because that's where they draw the line. That's where they have so much de- parted from the best of the Carter admin istration. The Carter administration started the El Salvador policy; the Rea gan administration is now concluding it, but they're taking it much further. The administration has essentially said that human rights don't matter That if the Christian Democrats are 111 thrown out of the government, it doesn't matter, we'll support them. They have essentially given the green light to the army in El Salvador not only to kill at the levels they have killed last year, which has deceased 5,000 innocent young people. By innocent, I mean they .were not involved in combat; they were 'illed because they were suspected of being leftist or a lover of a leftist. Bruce Cameron This administration, by giving $25 mil lion extra military aid, by sending 25 more military advisers, including 15 Green Berets, to train people in counter ;insurgency, has said to the army in El Salvador, "Kill at will." . And given the aid, that's probably what they'll do. • COLLEGIAN: What about the admin istration's reasoning that the United States must help defeat the guerrillas to b.„ stop the spread of communism? BINDERY W 202 PATTEE It is disputing legal jurisdiction and whether the state's publicly related colleges and universities are "public." The letter states Pennsylvania's posi tion on the matter: "While the Commonwealth is unwil ling to include the community colleges and state-related universities in a de segregation plan, the state is actively seeking voluntary discussions." Penn State, Temple University, Lin coln University and the University of Pittsburgh are classified as "state-re lated." Penn State has its own desegregation plan for both students and employees. In Friday's issue of The Daily Colle gian, William W. Asbury, University Affirmative Action officer, was quoted CAMERON: That's crap. But reality is not that the leftists are all the good guys and the government the bad guys. There are good guys in both the government and the left, but in my judgment, there are more in the left than in the govern ment. The extremists on both sides have more power. On the government side, those in the military who believe in vicious brutal repression have greater power than the Christian Democrats who want to control the violence. The Chris tian Democrats • have no power in the government. On the other hand ; on the left are those people in'the Military'element tharhave the•tnost" power ' '- not the civilians. Obviously, it's a military situation, not a political one. It's the military element who have the power, and among the military element, there are those who have a very, harsh, totalitarian or com munistic vision for El Salvador. Nonetheless, our purpose in ADA is two things, One, we don't believe the United States should, under any circumstances, involve itself militarily. And second thing, it's my personal judgment that, despite what I've said about the left, the El Salvador people would be better off with the left even with those very extreme leftist elements. But if a different solution, a mediated solution could be found, that would be preferable. A solution where somewhere you could get the shooting to stop and politics to return. People can compete politically, instead of militarily. To have that come about, you have to have two things. One, the United States has to want to mediate a solution, and right now, th Reagan administration doesn't want that. They want to go for military victory. They're encouraging the army of El Salvador to 'think about a military victory. Second, even if the administration changed its mind, you'd have to find a way to get in outside troops to supervise the process of returning to politics and keep the army in its barracks. Keep the extreme left where it is, in camps like the guerrillas in Zimbawe Rhodesia. But at this point, that would be very difficult to imagine. The key to even beginning to go in that direction is for the American people who are concerned about greater U S. involvement in El Salvador to oppose it, to again become politically active. COLLEGIAN: Like the violent protests in the '6os? CAMERON: I'm not advocating that now is the time for people return to the streets. I think that's premature, I think that now is the time for people to become politically active, right here in State College and Penn State. William Clinger should not go a day without hearing from constituents about El Salvador.• COLLEGIAN Is the El Salvador situa tion similar to Vietnam? CAMERON: There are parallels here. 'ln each case, you have presiding over the country, a corrupt military establish mat which stayed in power through terror.. And that's a combination that can't work. It's a combination that is alienating so. many people. The more the United States gets in volved, the more likely an American will get killed which will lead to more in volvement. It's an never ending spiral downwards. COLLEGIAN: How do the U.S. sen ators and representatives feel about U.S. involvement? CAMERON: There are a lot of mem bers of Congress, mainly Democrats, who see the Vietnam analogy in the case of El Salvador, who see this from the human rights perspective as opposed to the "We got to draw the line and stop 4 COPT.::. . . ~..-:::,,..,,,,:i.i.•,,....-.H..i.:.-•:::.:...:..:..,'.c )i 1e .. ..-0 • ~~~ dai1y.......,..i.....,:::::::::::„:.,...,...: , -,,-,-_-_...-....,.., as saying he thinks the University is already following federal desegrega tion guidelines. If the state would be ordered to com ply with the federal desegregation or der, the University may then have to set numerical quotas for minority en rollment and employment, Asbury said. However, the Office of Civil Rights claims Pennsylvania is still operating its higher education system in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which calls for desegregation. Jane Glickman, spokesman for the Office of Civil Rights, said Friday the office needed more time to consider Pennsylvania's letter before a response could be given. Run for it! Students ran in the seventh annual Delta Chi marathon yesterday to raise $3,500 for the benefit of handicapped students at the University. From left are Phil Chamberlin (12th-marketing), Dino Del Nano (12th-marketing), Bart Veberroth (Bth-business) and Bill Minehan (3rd-petroleum and natural gas). See related story on Page 20. communism" perspective of the admin istration. The problem is that it (opposition) tends mainly to come from Democrats and the Democrats were just whipped in the 1980 elections. Second, there are a lot of Republicans who are very wary of what the administration is doing but they're not ready to go public yet. They're not ready to oppose them yet. Unfortunately, a lot of people are going to die while they wait to decide when they're going to go public. COLLEGIAN: Do the Republican leg islators feel Reagan is that strong politi cally? CAMERON: Yes, they feel Reagan is that strong and he got a mandate. And there's a third element, I talked to one member of Congress. He didn't commit himself, but you could tell he didn't buy the good guy versus bad guy argument, that he knows a murderous government is in power. But he told us, "Look, you have to understand this. What might be happening in El Salvador is a symbol. This is the place where we're going to have a quick victory against Soviet-Cu ban adventurers by making a big noise and forcing them to cut off the arms flow and claim a victory." Now that's pretty sad. And by implica tion, he was saying, "Because I'm a Republican, I'm going to have to go along Likewise, Clayton L. Sommers, the state's commissioner of higher educa tion, said he did not want to comment on the impact of the state's letter until the Office of Civil Rights had more time to study the letter and make a response. The state's letter is a response to a Jan. 17 letter sent by the Office of Civil Rights directing the state to revise its current desegregation plan, which does not include the four state-related schools and the community colleges. Pennsylvania's current desegrega tion plan, approved by The Office of Civil Rights in 1974, covers only the state's 14 state-owned institutions. Civil rights court cases lead to the Jan. 17 order to revise the desegrega tion plan, Jones said. with this." . What he did say was, "They want a quick victory and this is an easy one for them." COLLEGIAN: Why is a quick victory so important? Cameron: Because they want to re orient foreign policy. They want to kill the human rights policy in which the United States not only looked at the question of East-West conflicts, the ques tion of U.S. interests in economics and resources, but also how the government treats its people. The administration wants to substitute a policy that primarily focuses on the East-West struggle. And . one of the places to do that is El Salvador. They're saying human rights is not important, that*what is most important is the East-West conflict. How better to get that moving than by . having a quick victory and saying we stopped the East ern flow of arms? COLLEGIAN: So you oppose this anti- Communist approach? CAMERON: I think it's mad, and it's so destructive. The human rights policy was a good policy for the United States. It won us so much new respect in Africa and Latin America. The way the Afri cans view us now is because of our policy toward Zimbabwe; it's an amazing dif ference. Jones said the state is seeking volun tary discussions with the involved schools and with the Office of Civil Rights. Although University officials said they were not yet aware of communica tion from the state when contacted by Joe Bennett of the University's Public Information office and by The Daily Collegian, the state had contacted Penn State, Jones said. Jones said voluntary discussion is a distinct change from forced action. What the state is saying, Jones said, is "let's sit down and talk about this problem. We think it's in the best inter est of everyone involved." He said he hoped the Office of Civil Rights would agree it does not have Photo by Chuck Andrasko COLLEGIAN: Is it true that many U.S. businesses have interests in stopping the guerrillas in El Salvador? CAMERON: We have very minor in vestments in El Salvador. The Japanese have many more investments in El Sa lavdor. It's a political-military judgment, not an economic one, in my view. There is no country on the border of El Salvador which is sympathetic to the guerrillas. Guatemala, which is almost a facist government, opposes the guerril las and aids the government. Vietnam, you had North Vietnam which directly supported and eventually took over the guerrillas in Vietnam. The other difference is the channel of weapons. The Russians were shipping weapons through China to North Viet nam which would then ship them to South Vietnam. COLLEGIAN: In your opinion, what would the best course of action for the United States? CAMERON: Stop aid, cut it off and withdraw our advisers. Become tacit toward the internal situation in El Salva dor and support efforts by governments of Mexico, Venezuela and West Germany to create a framework for negotiation. Place about 2,000 peacekeeping troops from the United Nations which would serve like the police in El Salvador. legal jurisdiction over the publicly re lated colleges and universities "Regardless," Jones said, willing to talk." The Office of Civil Rights also charged in its Jan. 17 letter that certain areas of the 1974 plan have not been properly enacted, including charges of limited desegregation progress at the predominantly black Cheney College. Part of the state's letter deals with what it calls inaccuracies concerning Cheney College in the Jan. 17 letter, Jones said. The last 'part of the state's letter is basically an update on desegregation procedures in the 14 state-owned schools, Jones said. Monday April 6, 1981 Vol. 81, No. 144 20 pages University Park, Pa. 16802 Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University Club wants chance for varsity title By TOM SAKELL Daily Collegian Staff Writer The Federal Office for Civil Rights has decided to investigate the Penn State athletic department concerning a Title IX suit filed in which the women's soccer club asked for varsity status. ' In a letter to Tim Conley, club adviser and coach, the director of the Office for Civil Rights in Region 111 said: "We have determined that your com plaint is complete and that we have the authority to investigate under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs or activities re ceiving federal financial assistance. A-ccordingly, we are assigning this com plaint for investigation." Conley received the letter, dated March 31, on Friday. Athletic Director Joe Paterno, reached at his home last night, said, "I don't know a thing about it and I'm not going to comment on it tonight." Not only might this Title IX suit be the club's last chance to gain varsity status, it could be its last chance to remain alive. The club is partially funded by the Asso ciation of Student Activities, but the club contends that money allotted by ASA may not be enough to continue. Conley, a volunteer coach, has said he probably will not return this fall if the team is not granted varsity status. The athletic department has rejected the club's applications for varsity status twice in the past two years. The federal investigators have a 90-day period in which to review the athletic budget and program, Conley said. After 90 days, the investigators will say wheth er or not the University has the monies to give the women's soccer club varsity status and accompanying funds. "They talk to coaches about their bud gets," said Elvira Falsetta, president of the women's soccer club. "They're au thorized to talk to anyone they want to review the budget, to see if there are any other channels to give us money." Should the Office for Federal Rights rule in the club's favor, the University will then have 90 days to negotiate with the office on terms of varsity status. If the. University is dissatisfied with the results of this 90-day investigation, it can then take the case to court, said Federal Investigator John Garven. Conley said he was glad the investiga tors decided to take the case, the club's first step in gaining varsity status through a Title IX suit. "I expected it," he said, "but it is never definite until you receive the let ter." Falsetta said, "All it really does is acknowledge our complaint, that they have the legal status to investigate." The 9G-tiay investigation period should begin the day the investigators come to the University, Conley said, but he is unsure of exactly when they will arrive. Our streak of days with above normal temperatures will end today. Considerable cloudiness, windy and chilly today with P. few passing sprinkles or flurries possible. Today's high will only reach 46. Clearing and cold to night with a low temperature of 29. ToMorrow should feature plenty of sunshine with less wind. After a chilly start tomor row, temperatures will rebound to an afternoon high of 56. Streak ends "we're
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