The Campus / Ralph Nader's Fifth Column

...It was easy...

...Here the formula was more ingenious...

...Though not involved in its day-to-day doings, Nader says, "I encourage PIRG and other forms of student activism...

...Nader calls PIRG "a major extension of democracy on campus.'' It's not voluntary, he told me, because "there is a difference between democracy and charity...

...For example, Rutgers President Edward Bloustein overruled a faculty senate decision to deny approval to PIRG's "concept plan...

...energy policy, with emphasis on "alternative" sources...

...Moreover, PIRG's funding mechanism is open to any student group that can exploit it...

...But it is not PIRG's political views that upset him...

...PIRG fees vary from campus to campus, usually from $2.50 to $3.50...

...women's rights...

...Thus the PIRG refund process (when there is one) exploits the "negative action" principle: each student pays so little that it is hardly worth the time and effort to get it back...

...Then there are problems with PIRG's refunds...

...John Collins, attorney for the Mid Atlantic Legal Foundation, which represents the SUNY and Rutgers students, says that the First Amendment's free speech guarantee and the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause make it "unconstitutional for the state to require any citizen to pay money to support the political or ideological views of another...

...The students charge that PIRG's funding mechanism violates the Constitution...

...And .local PIRGs...

...Nader may continue to chortle about PIRG's virtues, but local PIRG officials have become wary, even defensive...

...But despite such efforts more and more students-conservative and liberal alike-are coming to agree with the arguments of the Rutgers and SUNY plaintiffs: mandatory student fees to bankroll partisan political activism has little popular appeal...

...A decision will most likely take some time, and the losing sides are likely to appeal...

...According to College Republicans' Chairman Jack Abram-off, challenges to PIRGs have been mounted at 37 campuses across the country...

...Steve Baldwin, deputy coordinator for College Republicans, says his group's booklet is designed to provide a "common strategy" for fighting PIRG...

...But the publicity surrounding the lawsuits is putting the public spotlight on PIRG, in much the same way that Nader's suit against General Motors 12 years ago put the auto industry in the public eye...

...THE CAMPUS RALPH NADER'S FIFTH COLUMN by Laura Ingraham Contrary to most popular impressions, the greatest tyranny in the country is not from Washington, it is not from New York, it is the local tyranny...

...education issues...

...Certainly it would be a healthy sign were PIRG to follow the guidelines it so meticulously sets for others, not to mention those of the Constitution...

...Then charge each student a mandatory fee, say $2.50 per semester, which goes to PIRG's operating fund...

...The suit is not a contest of politics, but a fight for the right of all students, regardless of their political philosophy, to free political expression and freedom from political coercion...

...So there is a great deal of accountability," Lloyd says...

...they also want PIRG to repay approximately $1 million to students on whom PIRG dues were compulsor-ily imposed...

...for the Equal Rights Amendment, and on and on...

...They are a small minority with no student support...

...Even Ed Lloyd, executive director of NJPIRG, admits, "We've never denied that we're political...

...they want back the mandatory fee they reluctantly paid to PIRG...

...There is an effort to expand PIRG's student intern programs, which PIRG offers as evidence that it is not entirely an off-campus group, that it is educational as well as political...

...This is a pretty plan, with but one snag: it may be unconstitutional...

...They can't get the : funding themselves," he says...

...If you dont like it, enroll elsewhere...

...Nonideological...

...In campus referen-dums PIRG needs majority vote, with a majority of students voting, which it interprets to mean: if 25 percent of students okay PIRG, it is entitled to charge everyone...

...One form of activism that Nader does not encourage is plucky students challenging the legality of his brainchild organization...

...it is tacked onto the compulsory activities fee...

...He's on the side of the PIRG conglomerate: NYPIRG alone has a $2.3 million budget and 125 full-time employees, according to its executive director, Marilyn Ondrasik...

...and (c) refunds for PIRG fees can be obtained at most schools by filling out applications...

...Even if you apply in time for a refund, you won't get it until the semester is over...

...Moreover, there have been irregularities...

...Which leads Lloyd to speculate that the student plaintiffs suing PIRG are spoilsports...

...Listing PIRG's five major concerns, Lloyd said they were environmental protection legislation...

...Thus the issue really is not whether one agrees with PIRG's progressive agenda, but whether one believes that it ought to be funded in such a dishonest way...

...At SUNY, the PIRG fee does not appear in a separate line item on the student bill...

...Nader, of course, is not referring to an obese and tyrannical organization of his own: Public Interest Research Group (PIRG...

...First they established a national PIRG office with the $280,000 Nader had won from an invasion of privacy suit against General Motors...

...and consumer protection...

...So when he speaks of "local tyranny" he is referring to truant companies: companies that dump chemicals into waterways, companies that build nasty weapons, and, worst of all, companies that make large profits...

...Nader told the New York Times that the campaign to discredit PIRG was "a total smear," noting that the research groups were "about as nonideological as you can get...

...Attorney Myrna Field, who is representing the Rutgers students, says it is irrelevant whether a majority of students support PIRG, As she sees it, the issue is the protection of minority rights as guaranteed by the Constitution: a majority of Rutgers students voting every three years cannot overturn the Bill of Rights...

...The Republican student group also sent out a 50-page packet to local chapters saying PIRG's funding is "unethical, undemocratic and unconstitutional...

...He points to a quotation from Thomas Jefferson: "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical...

...Thomas Carroll, a plaintiff in the suit against NYPIRG, adds: "Whether NYPIRG's funding mechanism is constitutional is the only real issue...

...Those students who do find out, and do apply, probably won't get refunds anyway, because activities fees are not refundable at SUNY...

...Now, with $100,000 or more from each college in your PIRG bank account, you can get down to business, actively protesting against nuclear power plants and the arms race, lobbying for abortion rights, pushing for tougher environmental legislation, zapping waste-dumping corporations, campaigning Laura Ingraham is a sophomore at Dartmouth and managing editor of the Dartmouth Review...

...So many students have no idea they are funding PIRG...

...Ed Lloyd says PIRG's fee is fairer than other campus levies such as student activities fees because (a) PIRG submits a "concept plan" outlining its program to the university senate for approval...

...Rules vary, but in New Jersey if you don't apply before the fourth full week of classes, you forfeit your $2.50...

...The system preys on the apathy of students," says Galda, one of the Rutgers students...

...Two major lawsuits, filed against PIRG by students at both the State University of New York (SUNY) and Rutgers University, allege that PIRG's mandatory fees violate the civil rights of students...

...If the student doesn't want to pay, make him fill out forms saying so, and refund his cash at the end of the semester...

...For Nader, the government is the solution for ills brought about by corporate irresponsibility...

...In other words, what's good for Ralph Nader is good for PIRG: to the extent that Nader is nonpolitical PIRG is nonpolitical...

...Although PIRG is fighting back, it is with an increasing sense of weariness...

...Pl RG, of course, denies it is being coercive...

...Asked why he supports Goliath in this case, Nader implied that the student plaintiffs were tools of the Mid Atlantic Legal Foundation, a right-wing concoction...

...Present a "concept plan" to a university, conduct a slick marketing effort, and get 25 percent of students to approve of PIRG...

...As for PIRG, plump Aunt PIRG, yes, she was getting round in her old age, but she still operated on a "hyper-democratic process" for the "broader public interest...

...b) students approve most PIRGs every three years in a campus-wide referendum...

...Not quite, says Hugh Farley, a New York state senator and SUNY law professor...

...Ralph Nader It is not surprising that Ralph Nader, consumer activist, should absolve Washington from responsibility for public repression...

...If successful, the suit could severely debilitate PIRGs across the country: there are 180 PIRGs in 25 states, and three in Canada, each of which operates autonomously, accepting advice but not control from the central PIRG office in Washington, D.C...

...Nader got his idea for PIRGs back in 1970...

...While Nader admits that all PIRGs oppose President Reagan's positions on toxic waste, consumer fraud, and other issues he nonetheless contends that PIRGs are not "institutionally" opposed to the President...

...Bloustein also overturned the Student Congress referendum in spring 1981 that had denied recognition to PIRG...

...Both the SUNY and Rutgers suits are crawling along, constantly tripped up by the obstructions of modern legalese...

...Joseph Galda, one of the Rutgers students suing PIRG, believes this is doubletalk...

...Here Nader's efforts on behalf of the little guy-the student gypped out of his two bucks-take a back seat...

...Together with Donald Ross, New York PIRG's first executive director, Nader wrote a book, Action for a Change, which instructed activists on how to start and maintain these research groups...

...A lot of students have expressed to me resentment at having to pay PIRG dues," Farley said...