THE July 9, 1987 Vol. 85, No. 59
VISTA
Thursday Edition
Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma
Funding, tuition hike approved by Governor By J. Money Summer editor The appropriations bill for the state's educational systems was signed into law Jury 1 by Gov. Henry Bellmon. The bill encompassed the funding for the common, vocational and the higher education systems, with the latter receiving a total of approximately $394 million dollars for the 1987-88 fiscal year which began July 1. The State Regents for Higher Education Press Secretary, David Blakeman, said $383 million of the funding was for the maintanence of the higher education system as a whole, and the other $10 million plus was appropriated
for the Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant Program and the Willis Scholarship Trust. The grant program received $10,325,358, approximately the same amount as last year, while the scholarship program received $256 thousand. In a related matter, Gov. Bellmon also approved the tuition increase bill which could raise the cost of going to school for regional university students up to 29 percent. The new law, signed by Bellmon July 5, proposes an increase for regional university students of 21 percent for lower division classes and 29 percent for
upper division classes. Before the bill had become law, it drew fire from the Higher Education Chancellor, Dan Hobbs, who said the increases would not raise as much money as the legislature predicted. Hobbs said studies conducted in other states who raised their tuition similarly showed that for every $100 dollar increase per year students paid for the cost of going to school, the system experienced a three percent drop in enrollment. Taking into account the projected increases, Blakeman said during a previous interview he expected the enrollment to drop approximately six percent, a drop
that would primarily effect the freshmen and sophomore classes. Blakeman said the regents will meet tomorrow to formally allocate the money appropriated by the legislature to the different boards of regents around the state, who will in turn meet to allocate money to the institutions under their jurisdictions. Blakeman said the higher regents will also take up the tuition increase plan at its meeting tomorrow. Keith Allen, the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges press secretary, said once the funds have been allocated by the higher regents, institutions will
have one week to submit detailed budgets to their controlling board of regents. From there, Allen said, the budgets will be brought up in front of the governing board for approval. CSU President Dr. Bill Lillard said the budget CSU will request will not be the amount the school receives. "Usually every institution has needs for funding that it doesn't get," Lillard said. Dr. Barbara Ryan, acting vice president of administration, said CSU has a budget formulated, but she was not willing to release the amount CSU hopes to get.
History prof presents constitutional theme By Bridgett R. Hollowell-Chism
Student Writer The Constitution is a" living document" said Dr. Jere W. Roberson, CSU history and professor, "because of the promises it made and made possible." This was the theme of a speech given by Dr. Roberson to a group gathered at the opening of the "Patriotism on Display" poster panel exhibit Saturday at the Edmond Historical Society. The exhibit commemorates the 200th anniversary of the United States Constitution. Rather than spout the virtues of the authors of the document or lists random dates and events,
Roberson talked about Americans who lived, fought and died on several battlefields at home and abroad for liberty, freedom and justice for all. People like Alexander Hamilton, who were deeply concerned about liberty and felt it would be better served if the masses were, "governed by their betters," and others like James Wilson and James Madison, who believed in a nation where the "common man" would share in government, met in Philadelphia to draw up the frame work for the new country. Roberson described how Wilson reminded Hamilton of
Photo by Bill Taylor One of the four Sooner Skydivers who parachuted into Wantland Stadium Saturday for the fireworks festival held on campus makes a gentle ark toward the ground. The skydivers, which included a husband and wife team, were part of the warm up activities at the stadium before the fireworks began.
their purpose as leaders of the nation and authors of the Constitution by saying, "The people, Mr. Hamilton, the people..." Hamilton promptly replied, "The people! the people, sir, is a beast." Roberson also said though they did not agree on who should manipulate the reigns of government, they did agree, however, that in order to survive as a strong nation they had to build a strong government. And speaking of the "common man," Roberson talked about the people whose bloodshed paved the way to liberty and insured that the words of this important document would live on. Roberson recounted his trip to France where he visited an American First World War cemetery at Ramogne. Buried on a long slanted hillside lay thousands of Americans who were some of the first to die in Europe, "in order to keep liberty alive and filled with promise," said Roberson. The cemetery included the grave site of Jessee Henderson, a white Oklahoman and lying nearby, Willie Hunter, a black soldier from Chickasha. Poets, nurses and others from all walks of life are buried there. "Angels of mercy also die for liberty," Roberson said. Dr. Roberson said, "All kinds of young Americans lie here in soil their blood had helped liberate." He also reminded the listeners that throughout history and even today liberty and change is not without sacrifice and history vehemently proves that point. Dr. Roberson also shared with the audience his visit to the prison labor camp in Maulthausen, Austria. He said as he walked through the "stone pit" he felt the presence of the "slave laborers struggling to make it, through one more day." He noted the plaque attached to
Dr. Jere Roberson the stone wall of the prison marking the sacrifice and struggle of these American soldiers. Roberson spoke of the changes that have occurred in America from the American Revolution to Vietnam, the race riots of the 1960's and of former Klansman Hugo Black. In 1937, Black was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Franklin Roosevelt. With his Klan days behind him, Justice Black finally understood, "that his liberty was no more secure than his brothers or his sisters," Roberson said. He went on to add that Black knew then that liberty is the right of the many and not of the few. In a 1969 TV interview, Justice Black was asked what the First Amendment meant to him. Instead of giving a long drawn out explanation, he merely ,"reached into his vest pocket, pulled out an old, well-worn copy of the Constitution, turned the pages to the First Amendment and read: `Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
Photo by Jack Money
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."' said Roberson. "Liberty is our living gift," said Roberson. Basically, Roberson was saying liberty doesn't come free, people have to constantly fight and sacrifice to keep liberty alive. Roberson finished up his speech with the Preamble of the Constitution: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America. "It made promises worth keeping alive," Roberson observed of the famous paragraph.