Show Monday May 7 say ‘Bon Voyage’” As a natural consequence students fail to command the full attention of the university’s productive capabilities Ask any university staff member what the most important function of the university is and he’ll probably say “undergraduate education” But in real terms undergraduate education rarely gets center sta£e The reason: other university activities (like research) provide more rewards While an outstanding teacher may be cited as “prof of the Year” and receive a $500 cash bonus the honor is e usually a thing Once tenure is achieved there seems to be few incentives left for teachers to consistently strive for excellence beyond personal one-tim- satisfaction Research on the other hand can offer any number of incentives including status increased income advancement opportunities and travel Under the present setup students must rely on the university to reform itself Altruism rather than monetary incentives provides the unsteady base upon which academic reform is founded (non-marke- t) Doug Anderson editor 973 editorial comment The University Market In two speeches last week Evsey Domar the renowned MIT economist explained in economic terms why students sometimes feel that university personnel really don’t care whether they attend school or not In every other segment of the nation’s economy the consumer is king Domar explained Firms bend over backwards to provide that slim margin of service that will lure consumers to buy from them and not from competitors This gives the consumer tremendous leverage in the market In a university setting however the producers of goods (teachers dispersing wisdom and administrators providing services) are in the driver’s seat Because the demand for educational services is excessive and because students don’t bear the full cost of instruction they are forced to take what they get “The student is deprived of the elemental economic power of telling someone at the university that he doesn’t like the service and he’ll go somewhere else!” Domar said “If he tried that they’d probably smile and 1 "N One man’s view Osor© to judge? by The Majority of those' who attended returned POW Capt Reeder’s speech at the Fine Arts Center last week undoubltedly found his remarks about the evils of communist propoganda and anti-wa- r US protestors reassuring It was also un- doubtedly reaffirming to hear him speak of the wonderful “peace with honor” and of how grateful he is for the suport of the American people throughout the war The vast majority probably felt Career Officer Reeder's offer of some sort of “conditional amnesty” a rather magnamous gesture for those who refused to participate in this country’s involvement in South Asia However there were a few who left somewhat less reassured reaffirmed and with a feeling that a deadly serious injustice is being committed by the American people and their elected representatives I am one of those few I served part of my Vietnam tour of duty as a helicopter crew chief in Cpt Reeder’s old outfit We undoubtedly know some of the same people and have certainly shared many similar experiences (except that once back from Vietnam I chose to get out of the Army rather than make a career of it and volunteer for another tour and as a consequence get shot down and captured) Rather than launch into a lengthy rebutal of the all and rehearsed speech and question answers he presented I would like to briefly comment on the amnesty issue Thousands of young Americans are struggling along in self-impos- ed exile in foreign lands Still other thousands are serving federal prison terms or are serving military prison terms for refusing to contribute to America’s abuse of SE Asia and R L Wirth her people Undoubtedly there are cowards among them However the vast majority are probably simply opposed to the blatant disrepute of the Vietnam conflict A good number of these have left their family friends loved ones and beloved country for reasons of personal principle (something America was built on) Many have spent more years away from home than the longest held POW Yet we continue to punish them We not only expect them to commit treason against themselves by accepting “some sort of conditional amnesty” but we expect them to voluntarily submit themselves to further punishment if and when we allow them to return It seems to me that we cannot question the motives of one who has left this country to avoid war any more than we can question the motives of those who left this ' country to go to war ’offc"would be haive to think that all those who went to Vietnam dfd so out of patriotism There are many who went for promotion opportunities increased money 'opportunities glory excitement and yes even cowardice Many young men w6nt simply because the only alternative to par-- 4 ticipation was prison or exile May God help me I may be one of the latter Those who were strong enough to leave all they loved for a principle will not return under an offering of “conditional amnesty” We should not even insult them with such an offer In this period of American history we need men of principle and integrity who are not afraid to act on conscience It may be well worth it to put up with a few extra cowards for one or two good men self-impos-ed Editor’s Note: Randy Wirth is a Vietnam Veteran and a senior in sociology |