DATE: Thursday, May 15, 1997                TAG: 9705140006

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   38 lines

SOLID APPOINTMENTS GOV. ALLEN TAKES THE FIRST STEP TOWARD REBUILDING LOST CREDIBILITY.

Gov. George F. Allen has taken a needed step to restore credibility to the State Council of Higher Education by filling four vacancies with the sort of established community leaders long identified with the state council.

He has appointing Robert H. Spilman, chairman of Bassett Furniture Industries; Anne Marie Whittemore, a prominent Richmond attorney; John W. Gerdelman, president of a subsidiary of MCI Telecommunications; and Douglas L. Guynn, author of several books on public school finance.

The four will fill slots left by members who resigned in protest at actions of the current council majority, including the firing of longtime Council Director Gordon Davies. The members who resigned complained that their colleagues had created an ``uncooperative and dictatorial atmosphere.''

Allen, who had appointed three of the resigning members plus the majority that ousted Davies, tried to limit negative fallout by suggesting that a freeze on college tuitions was the primary issue in the turmoil.

But discord went far beyond that single issue. In fact, Davies did not oppose a freeze, so long as a responsible way was found to compensate for lost funds. What was really at stake was the desire of the administration to exercise greater control over the university system.

A group of relatively young, little known individuals dismantled the status quo. Now a group of more proven leaders has been assembled to help them construct a new reality.

It is too bad that seasoned, tested leaders were not appointed by Allen from the start. His turning to them now is a hopeful, but inconclusive sign that stability may be restored.

As noted by state Sen. John Chichester, a fellow Republican of Allen's and co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the new management ``will have to prove itself worthy. . . .We'll just have to wait and see.''

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