Argo: Volume 16, Number 1

              FACULTY STRIKE LOOMS
Operation Letter Dump in full
swing; 60,000 expected
the workload increase will do is
cut out the independent study
and curtail advising."
When asked about what would
be done to help students make
up for lost time Scott Stark
said, "Marcatonio Lacatenia
(American Federation of Teach-ers,
New Jersey head) said that
student make-up time was up
to the individual teachers' lo-c
a l . . ."
John Searight: "Speaking for
our local, every attempt will be
made to help students make up
lost time. We are committed to
providing students with the op-portunity
towards finishing their
courses. We are asking that no
teaching take place in the event
member of the entire college
community support this' project.
Hand write letters
A hand-written letter has the
most impact on our legislators
in Trenton, since it shows the
writer is personally concerned
about certain issues. The letter
should be written on a persoanl
basis, i.e., to your own legisla-tor.
This correspondence should
contain both information in-forming
your representative of
how the proposed budget cuts
will affect you, and ask his or
her stand concerning the bud-get
cuts and tax reform.
Some references to be made
include: stress that you are a
student citizen, as many legi-slators
often tend to think of
students as kids; and that you
are a registered voter in his
district. Make it a point to
remind your representative that
you helped to elect him,
List as topics of your concern:
cuts in programs, cuts of facul-ty,
cuts in enrollment of 300-
400 students, enlargements of
class size, raise of tuition (50
percent), tax reform, the low
priority of higher education in
New Jersey, and the overall
erosion of quality higher educa-tion.
End your letter in a question
which requires an answer.
These handwritten letters are
to be folded and addressed to
your individual legislators and a
return address should be in-cluded.
Write your letters and
Continued on Page 3
President's Hoar attracted nearly 50 students and faculty
By Marta Baker
The President's Hour, featur-ing
Richard Bjork, began with
a lecture on the current budget
crisis. The good news. Stockton
State is the only college in New
Jersey permitted to grow. "The
dark cloud is brighter for us
than other institutions," said
Bjork. 200 more students have
been budgeted for September.
"The fiscal situation next year
may be better—some increased
revenues," continued Bjork.
Concerning the possible facul-ty
strike, Bjork anticipates "fur-ther
discussion, if not formal
negotiations. If there is a strike,
general information and instruc-tions
will be disseminated.
Handling of the strike will be
professional and orderly."
Then Mike Calabrese, Presi-dent
of the Student Union, re-torted,
"We are students, not
professionals, and will conduct
ourselves as such. We will not
only cross picket lines, but ac-tively
work to break the strike
itself. A strike vote before the
legislature takes their vote is
ridiculous."
Which prompted Stockton Fac-ulty
Union president John Sea-right
to speak up. "The union
is not Interested in holding stu-dents
hostages. The students'
interests are going to be com-promised,
(if there is a strike).
Long range, the increased work-load
will have greater negative
effects. Speaking for the union
we do not want a strike (but)
we are prepared to do it if we
have to."
The meeting continued with
arguing between students and
faculty members. President
Bjork intervened occasionally
stating his opinion in a re-hearsed
manner. The debating
went on—one student comment-ed,
"The faculty union is run-ning
this thing in an intimidat-ing
fashion." Students Cala-brese
and Mike Ryan stated
their concern about the general
confusion and alleged loss of
credits due to the last strike.
They fear it will happen again.
Nonetheless, Searight said that
"we will take a similar position
this time," (ample opportunities
to make up work will be pro-vided).
Scott Stark, president of
the New Jersey Student Assn.,
explained that he had difficulty
finding students that were
harmed by the strike. A faculty
member conjectured, "lose a
semester, gain a future."
The Designer's Lounge was
uncomfortable with derogatory
laughter. Jim Wickenden sur-mised
the outcome of the meet-ing,
"the love affair between
students and faculty is dimin-ishing."
By Bob DeLozier
On Monday, March 15, John
Searight, head of the Stockton
Federation of Teachers (SFT)
and Scott Stark, New Jersey
Student Assn. president, came
to the Argo office and gave
their views on the possible
teacher strike at Stockton and
the 7 other state colleges on
Wednesday, March 25. The fol-lowing
is a record of the high-lights
of their statements:
John Searight: "The workload
is the main issue ijecause it
strikes at the heart of this
college. Dungan feels the facul-ty
should be spending more
time teaching classes, a typical
bureaucratic statement. What
President's Hour
Pomona, N.J. 08240 March 16,1976
M • > .:. :.;J - A
John Searight
of a strike, whether on or off
campus. We will encourage our
members to provide reading
lists and study guides to all
their students. We do not re-gard
this as a substitute for
make-up time, however, neither
does the administration."
Scott Stark: "Of course, only
the top council of the AFT can
vote a strike."
Searight: "That's right. A
strike vote only gives them the
power to act. If the strike takes
place it will be on the 25th.
We will stay out until we get a
new contract ratified by our
members. We won't come back
simply on a promise like we
got last time."
Asked how many of the facul-ty
at Stockton would support a
strike, Searight answered "as
of rigfht now, I feel we can
mount a strong and significant
strike. I would expect at least
70 percent of the faculty to wal
off. If a strike vote is called,
we will be available for contin-ous
negotiation with the state
to try and avert it before it
happens. After our last session
I feel that the solutionto the
strike has been laid on the
table. If we have a strike we
will try and settle it in a
reasonable amount of time.
However, people should be pre-pared
for the possibility of a
long one."
For his part, NJSA president
Scott Stark said that "we (the
NJSA) don't want a strike, but
if it comes we will support the
faculty union. We have five
demands. No tuition increase,
no decrease in the amount of
financial aid, maintainence of
current faculty workload and
present student-teacher ratio
and the continuance of sabbat-icals.
We feel the Stockton
Federation of Teachers has a
more idealistic attitude than
most college locals—they are
concerned about the quality of
higher education in the event
of the strike. The official NJSA
position is that we will support
the teachers in the event of a
strike. Indications are that
Ramapo and Paterson colleges
have a united front of teachers
and students who will support
the strike. Other schools seem
to be more divided however.
We are applying pressure on
the government to settle this
Continued on Page 2
By Eileen Wall
The Governor's proposed bud-get
for fiscal year 1977 inflicts
massives cuts on Stockton State
College. These budget cuts will
force reductions in enrollments,
elimination of programs and
majors, teacher layoffs, and an
increase in tuition and fees to
$800 per year. The quality of
our education will be perma-nently
affected if these actions
are instituted.
: From Monday March 15
through Friday, March 19,
Stockton will participate in Op-eration
Letter Dump, a 5-day
letter writing campaign in con-junction
with the New Jersey
Student Association and the
Stockton community. The pur-pose
of this campaign is to
inform our legislators in Tren-ton
that we, New Jersey's stu-dent
citizens, will not sit idly
by and watch the quality of our
education be eroded by cut-backs
in faculty, funds, pro-grams
and tuition increases.
60,000 letters expected
Operation Letter Dump will
culminate with the depositing
of some 60,000 letters, from all
the state colleges, Rutgers and
NJIT, on the floor of the New
Jersey Legislature (assembly
chamber) in Trenton.
Tables will be set up in the
C-wing gallery from Monday
through Friday of this week
where students can help you
find your legislative district and
provide you with the necessary
information to include in your
letters. If you are not yet a
registered voter, you may also
register to vote at the tables.
Operation Letter Dump will be
a success only if we are all
united and ready to participate
in this campaign. It is of the
utmost importance that every
Operation Letter Dump will be in C-wing through March 19.