The Griffin: volume 55, issue 19 - Mar. 29, 1985

              Serving The College And Community FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1985 Liberalism Provokes Debate at Fitzpatrick Chair Lecture William Rusher, publisher of the National Review was .one of the speakers at the William H. Fitzpatrick Chair of Political Science lecture series held Wednesday night in the Grupp Fireside Lounge. Photo by BETH H(H H Rusher also spoke of the different types of liberalism which have evolved over the past two centuries. The concepts of classical liberalism have been a popular way of conducting society in a Judeo-Christian view, according to Rusher. "It is not Darwinistic, not dog-eat-dog," added the speaker. Rusher also discussed the con- Mr. Rusher opened up the discussion by defining what liberalism is not. According to Rusher, liberalism is not the Democratic Party, the opposite of conservatism or a world feud. Liberalism, said Rusher, promotes the special welfare of the country in a secular humanist manner. by Kevin Saville The never-ending debate between conservative and liberalprinciples came head to head last Wednesday night during the William H. Fitzpatrick Political Science lecture held in the Grupp Fireside Lounge. Participants for the lecture were Allen Matusow, professor of American history and dean of humanities at Rice University and William Rusher, publisher of William F. Buckley's National Review. The topic of the lecture was "The Future of American Liberalism." In what many observers saw as more of a debate, Matusow argued his views in a liberal sense, while Rusher discussed the future of liberalism in a conservative light. Second Floor of Ramp to Close Wednesday Matusow, however, soon turned his criticisms in the direction of the conservative political philosophy and the policies of the Reagan presidency. that liberalism in the past generations was started by the New Deal. However, he added that the New Deal did have a negative side in the way that everytime something went wrong, the Roosevelt Administration would pass legislation to correct it. The two main subjects that Matusow focused on were the massive military increases and the desire of the conservatives to inject their moral beliefs into the population. Matusow claimed that the government is too involved with policing the morals of its people. He added that he proposals of the conservatives are "dangerous." Another area of Reagan's agenda that Matusow criticized was the conservative's social policy. Dr. Matusow believes the Reagan Revolution that swept the President into office in 1980 and again in '84 (cont'd on page 2) Matusow broadened his attack on Reagan by saying that the President was "obsessed" with obtaining nuclear and military superiority over the Russians. The professor stated that Reagan is irrational in his dealing with the Soviets, and has refused to compromise on simple issues. cept of the Social Democrats. According to Rusher, the Democratic Socialists, as they are also referred to as, want the economic controls that the government executes, yet at the same time, want their political freedom. In terms of the contemporary liberal in our society, Rusher said that they have remained loyal to the free-enterprise principles of classical liberalism by advocating reform, government control and redistributionism, such as transfer payments. Reforms have fared well, according to Rusher, who cites the New Deal programs of Franklin Roosevelt as an example. However, Rusher added that the' other two components, namely governmental control and redistributionism, have not -fared as well. According to Mr. Rusher, government control has not been successful and redistributionism "is beginning to turn out to be damaging to those who it is suposed to help." Rusher closed his talk by stating that the conservative world view is gaining in the global spectrum, and he mentioned world leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl as examples. Dr. Matusow focused his talk on liberalism in contemporary American politics. According to Matusow, liberalism despite popular belief, is not dead, and will soon resurrect. Matusow stated closing the second floor was the abundance of parking spaces in both the Health Science and lower Koessler lots. He also stated that Public Safety kept a running estimate of the spaces available in these lots and decided that the number of cars parked on the second floor could be accommodated in these spaces. Canisius students will now confront a scarcity in parking space as the administration announced that the second floor of the Sears ramp will be closing. Photo by jim greco According to Lieutenant Ron Lavigne of the Public Safety Department, there were no problems concerning the use of the second level, lavigne stated that one of the main reasons for Previous to the storm, the college rented out only the ground level from the Uniland Corporation. According to Franz, Canisius paid Uniland $2500 for the rental per month of the second level. The money was taken out of a contingency budget. by Jim Greco On Tuesday, Dr. Laurence Franz, Vice President of Business and Finance and college treasurer, announced that the college will be closing the second floor of the Sears parking ramp on Delavan Avenue. For the first time, Canisius rented out the second floor of the ramp to alleviate the parking problems caused by the January blizzard. Dr. Franz hopes to rent the second floor of the ramp next year during the period between winter and spring breaks. This should eliminate many of the difficulties incurred by Canisius students in relation to parking during the winter. Although fearful of the possible safety risks to students presented by the relative desertedness of the second floor, especially at offpeak tipies, Lavigne stated that "there were no problems concerning security" on the second level. Gray Dismissal Upheld, see page 2 • ' ' •■ ;v' :''V^W?:: '. ■' "■ :■ S ' , ■ ' ' ■•■ :-v:- ' " :"'v : \ ' ' il* - '■ - : ' , ' .' ' ' ' ' ■ Spring Season is Here: Play Ball! see page 12 Alternative Course Listing, Griffiti page 7 VOLUME LV, NUMBER 19 "OVER A HALF CENTURY IN PRINT-