theLouisville Cardinal
Vol. XLVI No.4 Room 117, Otter Hall, Louisdle, Ky. 40208 September 20, 1974
Witten sel~ection controversial
by Kenny Vandew:lde
A storm of controversy has erupted
over Dr. Carroll Witten's appointment
Monday at the Board of Tru~tees meeting
. as director of student health at U of L.
Witten is a physician and former
President of the Louisvillle Board of
Aldermen.
The controversy surfaced publicly at
Tuesday's Student Senate meeting when
President Greg Price, who sits on the
Board of Trustees, explained the
circumstances surrounding Witten's
appointment.
Price said that he had been led to
believe the University intended to hire a
full time physician to attend to student
health needs on Belknap campus. The
Senate had earlier appropri1ated $36,000
from revenue collected through the $30
student fee to pay the salary of a
full-time doctor.
coordinate the work and make sure that
full time health care was available.
Price later t~rmed that argument
"hogwash."
''They just came up with that bright
idea yesterday," he said. Price noted that
no other doctors had been hired nor were
there any assurances that any others
would be hired.
Price also said the University didn't
need a full time health director because
"there's nothing to direct."
At the Senate meeting, following
Price's report and considerable discussion,
the Senate passed unanimously a
resolution which said, "The University
Student Senate urges the administration
to fulfill its obligation to students by
hiring a full time doctor . . . before
November 1. The Senate diametrically
opposes the hiring of Dr. Carroll Witten
as student health director inasmuch as a
full time physician is more essential on
The present physician, Dr. Carroll the Belknap Campus."
Luhr' is on campus nineteen hours a Price and other student government
week. leaders met yesterday morning with
When Witten's appoiintment was Ekstrom, Witten, and Dr. William
announced at the priva1 e executive Vonderhaar, Chairman of Family Practice
session of the Board, it as explained at the Medical School, to discuss the
that Witten would serve as a director of objections raised. little was resolved at
the health service and wm ld spend the the meeting.
bulk of his time on adminisbative duties. Price said afterward that he believed
P · · di t 1 b. t d . . the most important outcome of the
nee rmme a e y o JC~c e , saymg . h h d · · ·
th t t d t . cr36 000 f session was t at now t e a mtmstrabon
a s u en s were paymg ., , or a d d h · d ·
f 11 t · h . · -t th un erstoo t at smce stu ents are paymg
d
u .. ttmte P ystctan, no ano er a $30 annual fee, they expect a full time
a rmrus ra or. h · · · t H d
The administration's response was that
. a top-notch physician wo'Uld · refuse to
work full time in a campus health center,
due to the monotony of the work. The
prQper approach, it said, was to secure
several doctors who would each work
part and to hire a director to
campus p ySictan m re urn. e accuse
the administration of being "vague" and
"foggy" about just what the students
were getting for their money.
Price is scheduled to meet with
President Miller on Tuesday, wher he
returns from out of town, to discuss the
health service further.
/
Photograph by Gr:ady Throneberry
Diane Kvapil, a student at Kent School, pores over her book near the Main Library.
News analysis
Tuition cut appears safe
by Kenny Vandevelde
There have been few real
developments since lac;t week in the
Hopkins-Christen lawsuit that has
jeopardized $75 of this year's $100
tuition cut. But the chances that the cut
will really be lost seem to be diminishing.
The suit was filed in Franklin Circuit
Court two weeks ago. It asked the court
to hold Governor Ford's allocation of
$75 million in state surplus revenues
unconstitutional. The tuition cut, along
with several other U of L projects, was
financed by a portion ofthe $75 million.
The week's main development came
last Friday when Assistant Attorney
General Carl Miller ftled an answer to the
lawsuit on behalf of Governor Ford and
the Commonwealth of Kentucky .
In a telephone conversation with a
Oudinlll reporter Monday, Miller said the
reply agreed to all the facts alleged in the
complaint and admitted there was a
controversy. But, he said, the reply
denied that the allocation was
unconstitutional.
Miller said that since there were no
facts in dispute, there would be no need
for a trial. He added that one side or the
other would probably move for a
summary judgment soon!, and the case
would then be argued orally before the
court or with legal briefs.
But as the case moves toward
resolution, a number of indications
suggest that the tuition cut is probably
safe.
Dr. John Nelson, Director of Research
for the Kentucky Legislative Research
Commission told a Cardimrl reporter that,
although the Commission had studied the
Governor's surplus allocation plans and
had recommended agai1flst them, he ·
believed the Court would rule in Ford's
favor.
Attorney General Joh11 Hancock has
written a legal brief supporting the
constitutionality of ~1e Governor's
appropriations.
(A Cardi1111l editorial last week
compared this case with its legal
precedents and. predicted Ford would win
the case.)
Should Ford lose, he could save the
surplus allocations by catlling a special
session of the state legislature and asking
its approval of the apprqpriations. With
strong Democratic majqrities in both
houses, it seems very likely the legislature
would easily approve the expenditures.
Photograph by Alan J ett
MeJrriclk:~ chairinan of the USA, relaxes momentarily in his office after a busy week arranging the
Indicative, perhaps, of the new
confidence that the mone¥ is safe, is the
fact that although last Monday's Board of
Trustees meeting dealt primarily with
budgetary matters, the su.it was not even
mentioned. When asked by a Cardinal
reporter about this apparent confidence,
Ex.ecutive Vice President William
Ekstrom said the governor had
committed the money to U of L "in good
faith" and the Universi y could only
Crafts Festival. (More pictures on page 10 and 11 ). a~ume the commitment ·would be kept.