Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990 TAG: 9004100258
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
A resolution saying that the Tech Student Government Association opposes any state or national legislation aimed at restricting abortions was defeated last week, leaving its backers disappointed and officials speculating on the campus political climate.
Of some 18,000 undergraduates, about 1,700 cast votes on the abortion resolution, which failed by 150 votes.
The measure, proposed two months ago by student Sen. Kristin King, originally was intended as a response to anti-abortion legislation in the General Assembly.
When those bills died in committee, student leaders decided to keep the resolution on the ballot as a measure of student opinion. And get a measure they did.
"WARNING! The SGA's proposed abortion resolution represents an extremist position held only by ultra-left radicals," said an advertisement in the Collegiate Times, a student newspaper.
"The resolution advocates abortion for any reason, including gender selection, up to the moment of natural birth. If the resolution offends you, send a strong message of approval to the SGA."
There was more. Anti-abortion groups marshaled their troops for a student forum on the issue, vastly outnumbering abortion-rights supporters, student leaders said.
Students criticized the SGA for involving itself in non-campus - and, to some, partisan - issues.
"The issue at hand is not whether we are all pro-choice or pro-life," Heather Fregin wrote in a letter to the Collegiate Times last week.
"The issue is that one of the major powers of any student government, the representation of students . . . , is being deplorably abused."
Some campus leaders, such as Kristin King, didn't agree. "I was really shocked to hear that students thought SGA should not be tackling issues that weren't pertinent to Virginia Tech," she said.
Historically, the SGA has staked out public positions on national and international issues, something the group's bylaws say it may do, she said.
The SGA's role aside, student leaders credit campus anti-abortion forces with outhustling abortion rights advocates in their campaign against the resolution. "There were no countermeasures by those who were supporting the measure," said Dave Gilbert, SGA president.
Said King: "The pro-life people really had their act together and put up signs around campus saying things like, `If you think SGA is power-hungry, vote `no' on the abortion resolution.' "
Campus officials who work closely with students say the vote highlights a conservative - some say cautious - streak in Tech students.
"College kids are different now. Think of where they came from," said the Rev. Richard Mooney, the Catholic campus minister. "Vietnam is a distant memory. You may as well talk about the War of 1812. The only president they've known in a full-fledged way is Ronald Reagan.
"It is said college students are more conservative today. I don't believe that," he said. "They're more cautious."
Julie Sina, assistant dean of students, said the "fact that the vote was so close represents a divided opinion on the issue," though she expected more students to take part in the balloting.
"What you see, too, is a reflection of our students. And if you asked the students, some of them would describe themselves as more conservative," she said.
Despite the evident strains of conservatism on campus, King and others maintain Tech's student body favors abortion rights - though it may be reluctant to say so.
"In my opinion, and that of other senators, we have a pro-choice campus. We also have an apathetic one," she said.
by CNB