If there is one common sent—Politics,A Model of Eight

iment among the people who work,study,teach,research, type,organize,administer, service people and machine— ry at U.P.E.I.-it is that the current strike is a "bad thing":teaching and learning conditions have become in— sufferable (Faculty Assoc.); academic life has been bad— ly disrupted;physica1 con- ditions of buildings,grounds and washrooms,residences have become deteriorated badly;tensions among people are high;divisions;strife, hostilities,conf1icts are evident between and among / faculty,students,support staff,and all those in— dividuals who-less and less comfortably have to see them- selves identified with the "administration"At some

time it1 the (hopefully near

'future,the students(Those

who did not drop out)and the faculty (who are not dis— missed) will find themsel— I ves back in the classrooms, being served by the support staff(who are not fired)

and the support staff will find themselves back in the company of their supervisors (who are on the "management" side)Will have to get along with each other once again,and that will be the more diff— .icult ,the higher the ten- sions and divisions have risen,and the longer the strike will have lasted.It should be clear to everyone by now that this is not a good way to run a commun- ity.

Yet,it is important to realize that under the lab— or—management madel,the hos— tilities,divisions and str- ife are not abberations but are necessary and conse— quent ingrediants of the system itself.Interest groups who exert pressure against the community,power—politics, machiavellian maneuores,deep divisions aluminating in strikes and lockouts are very much part and parcel of this system itself and they can- not be considered foreign to a university basing it— self on this modelzquite to the contrary,they are to be recognized and ex— pected as essential ingred- iants of the labour—manage— ment system.

It is crucial that members of the university—whether students,staff or faculty, recognize this benefact,and that we dispell any motions that such divisive and host: ile behavior are somehow inimical and foreign to the system as we have acc— epted it.The Labour-manage- ment model is a Conflict MOdel,and a model of_§ower—

. . ‘

Makes Right,in its very

essence,at its very core.

If we continue to accept this system for decision— making within our university we should not be surprised at power—plays and pressure tactics:we should expect them: and'indeed there is every indication that we will continue to get them:not less than before,but rather more than before as support staffs become unionized,as faculty becomes unionized,' (which is a logical conse— quence),as students find that the only effect pressure is that of power in numbers and the willingness to ex— ercise that power,ruthless— ly,against what ever group or groups stand in their way.In the labour—manage- ment system—in the plural- ist interest group model which governs much of our great society-arguements based on justice,on equality or on any ethic whatsoever are quite meaningless.The only things that count are:

how much power can you display

:how many men and how much money do you have? 0n how much force you can mount,and how ruthless you are prepared to be?How much of your, ’ humane and compasSionate sentiments can you suppress? To how low a level can you bring your feelings of res— ponsiblitity and caring for'the other guy,for the good of the community as a whole? This is no place for Bleeding Heartsll Neither, quite evidently,is it a place for those who would seek social justice,or Right or Truth,or Harmony,Peace and Brotherhood for Man.And that is why the labour-manage— ‘ ment model is essentially inimical,is fundamentally incompatible,with a Humanist— ic University.0n1y a univer4 sity which essentially re- jects the status quo,-the

division in society in

which we now see it develop—V ing,and hence the inevitable disaster caused by unbridled competition,growth,the cen- tralization and monopoliza- tion of power leasing to human and physical disaster. Only a university which es- \

The UniversityzfA Community or Image of Generallilom’tu‘~

Intelligentna forsake their Bretheren we will see a new

Treason of Intellectuals

and soon the dawn of the Brave New World,of 1984,

or the Doomsday predictions of MIT come trueIThe univer— sity,the mind and soul ofw man,having failed to find

a "viable"solution for its society will with its soc- iety,die.

‘ That is why the Humanistic University,—indeed any Un-"‘

iversity worthy of the

name and of the responsibility

for a higher learning —needs to consider alternative

models of decision making and

devise other means of running itself as a com— munity based on higher,nob— ler,and fundamentally more viable capacities of man. The-capacities which we

will have to try to ressurect

from the dim corners of the human soul,where they have been pushed or where they have sought refuge from the constant attacks and vilifications of the present system,are the , capacity to seek justice in human affairs,the cap— acity to strive for harmon— y among men and between man and nature,the potency of lOve,the device of peace the will to seek the good. inthe present context, the capacities which we need to use are quite simply the willingness to try-however cautiously and circumspectly ' to work within and among

Inward a System

To: Faculty, Students, and Staff of U.P.E.I.

Till now, I have assumed that our unions have wanted to negotiate for salaries within the normal framework of labor—

'management relations, that the

Faculty Association has wanted salaries that are comparable with those of othEr univer— sities, and that our students wanted fees and services that are roughly comparable with those in othertuniversities. After discussions with stu— dents and faculty yesterday, I have decided that I may be wrong, that there may in fact~ be a case for a policy on sal—

sentially rejects and refusésaries and fees within the un—

to imitate this triumph of power can deserve the trust, the responsibility,the funds and the academic "freedom" (and hence, the tenured positions of its faculty) which society grants it.If the university is not will- ing to accept its reSpon— sibility to help lead our society out of this path

to disaster,who should?

Who will? Who can? If the

iversity-that is based on con— cepts of "social justice" and, the best allocation of the university's resources.

At present, I think that there is something of an ideo— logical conflict taking place

‘with the lowest paid members of the university caught in the/what is in effect an incww

middle and suffering the most. Consequently, I propose that the three union locals 0n

‘campus, thetFaculty‘Assocaié'w

. all parties.

align, . «f/f

the existing "groups" to hard and honestly,and whh determination,to try to develop a way to run thh university as a communit rather than a model of ’

‘ General Motors.This memm_ giving our highest prion to the development of pr“ ceedures for dicision—mfi which are honest,open,fah and which involve every existing sector(group,ea of the university commum‘

Much to its credit ,me

Faculty of the Universiw is on record as favournm this proce dure througha motion passed by its ass ociation some four years‘ ago.The President,himsem has recently indicated his willingness to try “ an approach,quite regarm less of the motivations which prompted these sug gestions,such a new meflm of running OUR Universiq deserveS‘to be sought,to be discussed,to be”deveh to be tried.The issue at stake is much larger thm the personalities invoh it is much larger thantm current generation of an“ istrators,faculty,studau or support stafftnow wow at U.P.E.I. The issue at stake is our intellectufl "emotional,ethica1,phySim practical ability to arm humane,workable,and just structures that will be

- viableethat will sustain human life and civilizafi on the earth.

Fred Dre 0f Socuallus tion, the Student Union,am representatives of the aim istration meet to see if n can ag ree on a policy for university that distributw aur resources equitably,sfl ting fees, salaries, andsa vices.' ~

Obviously such a policy' not going to be worked mu overnight since it might fl‘ volve a radical redistribfl of the.university's resmfic and so that the maintenanw people do not Suffer furi'uha loss of their income andtm univeristy further loss 0f their services, I propose? the strike be suSpended M“ the union locals,ther'FaCld Association, and the Stud”! Union discuss mechanismsf meetings to arriVe atwa nev policy for the universityin accordance with the wishfi

I do not want to pretefl‘l that I. am optimistic that “9 could reach a’settlementon

policy, but Enough peoples

to think that we could to

me believe that we sh’oul‘L 7R.J.,Baker,President‘