1969_10 The Daily Collegian October 1969

              Daily
Collegian
NESS AFTERMATH:
Resign^
rse re<
IXXV/1S
WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 8, 1969
athaway comments
letter of advice'
on
A "letter of advice*' from Lt.
General Lewie B. Herahoy, Director of Selective Service wblch
was judced lUscal. le glvine no
concern to J. D. Hathaway, central valley area coordinator for
the aconcy.
Contrary to flndlnte of the staff
of Allan Cranston, U.S.Senator
who contacted draft boards
throutnout tbs stats, tho Freano
board, hooded by Hathaway, ls
a wars of the decision mode by tbe
court.
ac cor dine to Hathaway tba
power of a local board to reclassify anyone convicted of a
demonstration banco on a play on
words. Too law, passed by con-
dress, cronta authority to tbe
boarde to clnaalfy as delinquent
anyone aba brooks baa low.
Accordlnc to Hathaway, tha law
waa orielnaHy conceived when a
Croup of ami -draft demonstrators In M.chlcan formed a bar-
acade around a local board. The
fooling waa tbat If a group obstructs pabllc business it ls canoe
lor  the reclassification.
Hathaway aald, "Where tho
demonstration ia peaceful I aae
no croat problem. I'm cure no
court woald convict someone an
tbls     count for just dractine o
Asksd If he hsd received official notification from Gen. Herahoy tbat bla latter of recommendation was lllecal, Hathaway
sold that he had a subsequent
letter from Attorney General
Ramaey Clark.
A diversity of opinion was
evident yeoterday as studsnts and
rsculty reacted to the realcnatton
of Froaao Statu College Prealdent Frederic w. Neee.
poctad raatpnntton durlnc an Academic Seaate meetine yeoterday. Ho aald hlo decision was
prompted by 'Impaired effect -
iveneao* reoaltlac from reaction
to the Marvin X affair.
F.S.C. president lor fiveyeero.
Dr. Negg planned to leave hla
poat Doc. 31 to become preeldent of the Assn. of American
Colleces  ln  YVashlncton,  D.C.
Richard Keyee, ethnic studlee
chairman, sold he rocretted Dr.
Noes' decision
•He's leaving in the midst of
the problem, and the problem ls
still unsolved,* he sold. "It loaves
the collece in somewhat of a dilemma.
"Wa stlU intend to pursue the
mstter throne!, the courts and ara
trylnt to solvate as much of tbs
proeresg as possible."
Keyes said hs wants ths parsons who actually mada tho decision not to hire Marvin X to
egpoes themselves.
If tMs happened, local action
could be taken apsinet tho appropriate forcss, ho noted.
Dr Don Albrtpht, deen of studenta, said ho regretted that "Dr.
Ness felt it woo necessary to advance the dote of hlo reelcoo-
-on.
Comment!nc on tbe poll wblch
goopht tbe faculty's
oo the hlrtnt of Marvin X. Dr.
Albiitbt sold Noas Mt tbat further information concernlat tbe
caoo could bo led Into tbe Chancellor's  offlcg.
Naaa' opinion tbat he woo Ineffective as a campua leader waa
shared by somsfaculty members.
Alex Vavoolle, associate
professor of chemistry, screed
that Dr. Maes •probably1' bad
become ineffective.
Compaiiap this incident with
the Mosey case, Vavoulle aald
he woo afraid Noas hadn't
learned much.
"The declalon be (Dr. Neee)
sent out In tbs Oct. 2 memo ln
which he refused to hire Marvin
X was misleading, and Inaccurate," Vavoulla said.
Ths faculty poll was also In
srror, he sold ... •State Col-
lecoa just don't operate that
way.* Such an action would te*
tobllsh aa undesirable precedent" and would not bo logically
feasible.
Stadent opinion on Naaa' resignation varied from condemnation ta aupport.
Dr. Ness wisely saved his skin
before tottingIntoth#%ot water,*
lafor- •
counterpane      reeortod lo tba
of Dr. Nona
conflxmo tbe thoachte expreeeed
by tbe minorities tbroatbowt I
poet three oemeetere," stato*
sopbomors chemtetry major.
•Neee le a t
earned more with eolnlnc a f
altloo than a homaa ooaeon
witbg
departure to lormor
Lyndon Johnoon'a declaration c
non-c-nosdocy. "Both wanted t
dtaasaoclate themeelvee
mietokoo lor which tbey ware r
sponsible," ba   theorised, -ond
monto durlnc his years at Fn
oo Plato. Student Body P«
dent Done Broten described y
terdoy's evenu so "very, t
oat-ftaaale*, etattap boar I
bad mora to offer tbe collece tf
•The
thine  that could happen lo I
school,* optimistically stated a
other    reependant, "aa
we have a responsible
roent.*    Executive   Tlce Prt
ldent,    Dr. Harold Walker,
portedry mora    pUobls oa
Marvia X laaae.
la aaaaaad Noes on on I
meat,   while      his      Amsrtean     baeia.
STATEMENT TO ACADEMIC SENATE
Ness gives reasons for his resignation
Editor's note: Tho following
is a stetement to the Academic
Senate by Freeno Stato Collece
President Frederic W. Noes ln
record to tho hi line of Marvin X
and his (Neee') r
the collece.)
(October 7, 19*9)
I am here this morninc to offer
you soms insights Into a particularly unpleasant decision. This
report, complstsd durlsp tho
■ ight, asay wall contain oome ln-
'elicltlee. If so I ask you to bs
tolerant. It woo written ln a stats
of some physical, emotional and
loubtlsss mental fatlpue.
It had been my hope to leave
F resno Stato Collate with at laast
* feeUnf of partial eattg faction
'or a difficult task reasonably
wall done. Unfortunately this will
not bs possible For reasons for
which I heve no ready explanation, I have boon confronted wtth
* situation ln which I have hod to
msks a doclgloa where either a
positive or e necatlve mat boston
*ag likely to be mletadtod and
where either was Inevitably toint
to Involve a saiic asly detrimental response.
Bscoaoo I have board oo many
charcee and countercharges I
am aaklnc your patience while I
detail the bocktround leedlnf to
my doclolon. I will then attempt
to explain 'lie reasons for ths decision, a.,d moke one or two final
com mania.
Letter, missing
My flrat lnklinf that we mlfht
' avg a problem coma whoa, an
Micuet 13, tba Peroonnel Services office forwarded to the office ef tbe then aow Academic
vice Praeldoot tbe application
'orm of Marvia X (Jackmon) witb
the Info, motion that lettere of
recap
The i
11, 1969 and was forwarded with
recommendation for approval by
Profeaaor Laury tn Dean Burtner'a office on the 13th of Aucust.
The file alao contained an earlier
gppllgallon, doted July 11, 1969,
which contained eeeentlally the
aame Information, tho-fti aa I
ahall note shortly there were
gome differences between the two
documents.
By lsttsr dated Aucust ths Academic Vies Preeldent requested
the mlsslnt letters of reference.
Even thouth the appointmsnt was
tn the full-time (one-year) lectureship cststory I concurred
with him tbat this reqoest was
within certainly tbe spliit of ths
hliint guidelines to which the
deans hod screed some months
esrlier - particularly since all
the appointments In Ethnic Stud-
iss to dots ore (one-year) lec-
tureehlpe. I waa informed that
Dean Burtner. aware of the pos-
slbls seneitlvlty of appointments
ln tbe Ethnic Studies area, hod
directed his office to coll him If
any problems arose even tboagh
he was oo vacation. I am aloe Informed that, on Aucust 28, Professor Laury telephoned Dean
Burt nor about the request for lettere of rsfersocs end was directed, ln accord with previously
screed-upon procedures ln the
Dean's office, to wait for Pro.
foseor Keyee' return from Atlanta. On September 2, on his return to the office, Dean Burtner
reportedly naked Professor
Keyee to obtain tbe letters, say-
lop tbat t
Still g
to Dooa Burtner ln wiitlnc on
September 18 and apaln on October 1, at which time I Indicated
tbat I could aat withheld my de-
clslon boyood taa moralng of
October t. Oae letter of rater-
enee oad reporta oa three tele-
between
Profeeeor Keyee and the refer-
ranta were finally delivered to
my office late on October lot.
The recommendatlong were all
affirmative but—and this is purely Jndfiantal on my port-not detailed or particularly informative, without clearance from tho
raferrante, and ln the brief time
available to me I could not seek
such clearance, I do not fool
suthoiixed to sharg their content-
with you.
Qualifications
The statements of professional
preparation and experience provided on tho candidate's two application forms tndtcste an a.a.
diploma from Oakland City Collate, received la Juno 19S4, and
gtudy at San FrancleeoStateCol-
l*e* from 1964-6S, where he reportedly served as sn "assistant-
teacher" part time from 19S5-66.
He also ststed in tbe Aucust 11
application that he woo employed
as a full-time lecturer at the New
Lafayette Theatre ln Harlem,
Now York, lo 198S-S9. thoaebthe
July 11 application indicated that
bo woe employed on a part-time
basis and only from January to
Jane 1989. Finally tbe application forme Included tbs names of
colleces where be has given loc-
ture-readlnea, lioted certain
publications and editorial afflla-
tions. sad tba July 11 application
reported tbe receipt of a wrltlnp
Croat la January of 19S9 from tbe
Columbia Unlverglty Center for
Urban Stediee. The file included
copies of oeveral of his wrMiejo
and oome com menu about him
taken from certola Journals.
In both application barms tho
igaolPiti reported tbat bo ia not
a cltlxon snd that bo has not filed
s declaration of Intent to rename
his emsonahlp. Nevertbeteeo, on
Aucust  IS ha swore tbe loyalty
oath required of all State Collece
employees and hod his flntor
prints taken. Ho did not provide
s Social Security number at that
time or sines and thus could aet
havo been placed on the Stole
payroll. To the queotion concerning convictions on offences "other
than speeding or unlawful parklnc
of a motor vehicle" exclusive
alee of offencea committed before hlo 21st birthday wblch ware
sxpunpod) he answered that be
hod no convlctlono. There la tho
poaalbility that he informed a
clerk ln the Peroonnel Offlce that
thoro were ln fact certola convictions, but my efforts to confirm this hove prodaeod no results.
Official report
On September S I received ao
official report from Pm Stabs
Bureau of CriminalIiliatlPiaMse
and Investigation that there were
convictions reletlne to vehicular
offenses other than the onea net
required to be reported ln tbe
SCI form. Certola other information, ln the meantime, had
coma to ths csmpus security office and baaa relayed to my offlce
relating to tba candldato's dti-
xenohip snd the cur rem feleay
charges growing out of his draft
status and failure to appear upon
tba indict meat Tbls materiel
woe made available to Dean
Bar tear and, I bolls vs, to Professor Keyee as well en September 10. Relevant portions have
subsequently boon shown to tbe
candidate aad bla attorney.
Bocaoeo of tbe oeveral local
queenona to which I have referred I Mt obliged, sod In this
hod tho later concurrence of Dean
Burtner and Professor Keyee, to
geek advice from tba pereonne'
and local officers on lbs Chancellor's otaff.. In tte eeeroe ot
theee lnnjMrlos I woe
answered, certain queries relative to the candidate's i
On the moraine of 1
19 Profeaaor Keyee, Dean E
nor, and I met todlocussthsp
poood appointment and tbe_
wblch hod been reload. Wo <
aidered  tocotber aa
as we knew bow all possible i
teraatlves and the probable «
alon Deen Burtner delivered to
me hla official rocomi-oadntten
for tbe appoint-! sat.
Io our discussion I expressed
ths fee line tbat I bad baaa lat
down by the failure of Dean Burtner and Profeeeor Keyee either
to alert me Initially to tho existence of poeglbig probleeao or to
I la oar roaaaot tor a fall
inc.udint lettere of
reference. I further otatodtbatia
my Judgment tbe cendktote's
qualifications wsrs extremely
doubtful aad tbat I woald bo bard
pat to defend nay such appoint-
moot. I had by tble time ooaoa
Indication that tbe appointment
woald probably have to be da-
I ol me Chancellor'a level.
Resolution sought
Nevertbeleoe.  I epreod thi
would moke every effort to m
aame reeotutlon to the proh
and that, psnrtlnt receipt of
fell  record end clniificetloo
certola other points which art
rathar hasp, I was  inclined
tbe   rocommendatli
however reluctantly.
At tela point and with coma
aor Keyee end I hold oo
coll wlthDra.BrakoblU.Wbltt
oad Koooe. Durlnt tble call wa
tried to Oil te thobaektiwaadt-d
to explore other possible ways of
handUnt tbs situation. Wo mods
s genu! no effort te seek aome
abimmstelUa. We reqaeotePa
(Continued en pope 4, Cat 1) .