1980_01 The Daily Collegian January 1980

              Trustees: No students on faculty committees
by Tom Brisson
The California State Universities and
Colleges board of trustees yesterday
/repealed an intention to allow students
{o participate as non-voting members on
boards determining hiring, promotions,
and tenure for faculty throughout the
CSUC system
The decision was made as a 9-9 dead¬
lock vote was broken by the trustees'
chairperson, Claudia Hampton, accord¬
ing    to    CSUF    Associated    Students
President Dave Ditora in a telephone
interview from Sacramento.
"The     California     State     Students
I Association   (CSSA)   has   been   trying
I unsuccessfully for about the past ten
■years to get students a voice on the RTP'
(retention, tenure, promotion) boards at
the universities throughout the state,
Ditora said
"Last Novemeber, we were finally
able to get the trustees to announce an
intention to consider an amendment
to Title 5 (which governs the actions of
RTP boards) which would allow student
representatives on the boards to act as
non-voting members," he said.
"Although they could not vote, they
would still be able to participate in dis¬
cussions and have access to faculty
personnel files," Ditora said. "We would
have preferred that the students would
have had the vote, but we compromised
on this to at least get the idea of student
representation considered. *
Ditora said that the CSSA had the
option of going to the state legislature
to  attempt  to  get  a  measure  passed
which would force the trustees to move
in that direction.
"We decided not to because we've
been heavily criticized by the chancel¬
lor's office for not working within* the
present setup," he said "So we worked
within the present system and this is
what happened. We compromised and
got nowhere "
Ditora also said that this issue was the
first time in his recollection that the
trustees had gone back on one of their
own votes.
"Ever since it was announced that this
thing would come up for a vote, the
different faculty senates, the Congress
of Faculty Associations, and the United
Professors of California have been
fighting it all over the place," he said.
Ditora also accused the same organi¬
zations of blowing the whole issue wildly
out of proportion.
"One professor from Pomona even had
an editorial published in the Sacramento
Bee saying that the measure would lead
to the downfall of western civilization
and would put us where Iran is today,"
he said.
Ditora said that he expects the CSSA
to try again in May to get the measure
passed that would allow voting student
representation on the RTP boards..
"We were defeated this time, but we
also received some pretty strong support
from places we weren't expecting it.
Lt. Gov. Curb has given us some good
support on this and we were also sur¬
prised to see Speaker McCarthy show an
interest in the issue along with other
legislators," he said.
ZALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
January 25, 1980
FRffiAYWEEKEND
the Daily Collegian
'Professor's checkered life enriches students
By Matt Alger
"No I am not a KCB agent" is not what
most instructors say when they introduce
themselves to a new class.
But Dr Alexander Pronin is not an
ordinary professor. Most professors
have not had to lie, kill and steal to
exist And most have not experienced
life under repressive regimes. Nor have
they been forced to toil in concentration
camps
But the Polish born Russian professor
is anything but an agent for the feared
Soviet secret police. In fact, communists
and fascists have long been his adversar¬
ies, having killed his relatives and taken
his wealth, not to mention years of his
life, he said
Even if much of Pronin's life wjs not
very pleasant, it has provided him with a
reservoir of knowledge from which he
can enrich the content of his Russian-
related classes at CSUF. Pronin not only
teaches the Russian language but other
courses such as the literature of Soviet
and Russia - Myth  and
Reality, a course that examines contro¬
versial issues involving Russia that are
generally misinterpreted
Pronin's past enables him to provide
his student with an insight into world
affairs and Communism.
"Eastern Europe hates the Commu-
nits.'But America they cannot trust,"
said Pronin.
The Yalta agreement between Russian
leader Joseph Stalin, American Presi¬
dent Franklin Roosevelt and Britain's
Winston Churchill during World War II
resulted in the establishment ot tne
Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe,
according to Pronin.
He said that it was hoped that the
Soviets wisely did not enter the Asian
battle until the first atomic bomb was
dropped.
'This is when all the appeasement
started," added Pronin.
Part of the appeasement directly af¬
fected Pronin himself. Rather than just
being released from a Nazi concentration
camp for Russians, Pronin and others
were turned over to Soviet soldiers, he
Executive Vice President Bill Holmes tells newimen that CSUF is excluded from the
PCAA t_n>ry.Athtetk director Jack Wilcox, left, and CSUF's PCAA rep, Dr. Allen
Agnew also sat in at the news conference. Story on page 9. Photo by Greg Trott
said, as part of the Yalta Agreement.
"You see Stalin wanted to get the anti-
Communists into the Soviet Union
because they were a powerful force" on
the outside, said Pronin. These people
had one choice: Either join the Red Army
or work in Siberia, he added.
The Nazis had executed Communists.
But other people of Slavic decent were
forced to spend their lives at hard labor.
The callouses from working 12 hours a
day on railroads that the Allied forces
damaged are still on the professor's
hands.
Pronin had been released from one
concentration camp earlier in the war by
the French Foreign Legion but was later
recaptured. During the interim, 'I used
to steal for life, * he said.
But rather than being released at the
end of the war, Pronin found himself
back in the hands of the people who had
destroyed many of his aristocratic rela¬
tives and taken their wealth during the
Russian Revolution. He and others were
turned over to the KCB by French
soldiers.
In an effort to survive, Pronin agreed
to sign on as a soldier for the Red Army.
He also joined the soccer team at the
Russian concentration camp in the
French area of jurisdiction. It was his
soccer ability that allowed him to escape.
Arriving at a Polish camp to play
soccer, Pronin managed to unobtrusive¬
ly convince a Polish officer at the camp
that he was a Pole.
The Polish officer then managed to
sneak Pronin away, even though he was
wearing the shorts of the Russian soccer
team, and provided him with Polish
papers and with clothes.
Despite the involvement of the U.S. in
an agreement that jeopardized the lives
of his countrymen, Pronin had a lot of
praise for the free nation. He said that
the U.S. is a land of 'great opportunity*
because with some ambition, people can
improve their lives considerably.
Pronin said that when he arrived in
this country in 1949 he only had one
DR. ALEXANDER PRONIN
dollar to his name. He went on to earn
his B.A. in Slavic Languages and litera¬
ture at the University of California,
Berkeley and PhD in Russian area
studies at Georgetown University. He
said that very.few foreigners in other
countries can become professors.
Pronin conceded that most Americans
do not realize how lucky they are. 'They
don't appreciate it because they have it
too good;' he said.
After gaining his freedom from the
Soviets, Pronin met up with a friend
with whom he had fought side-by-side in
the Polish underground army. Pronin
learned that his friend was a
Communist.
He then decided to accompany his
continued on page 8
____________________
Inside
Columns p. 2
Movies, music. v p. 3
Calendar p. 7
Sports  p. 9-T7