For years now, Skidmore’s Business Department has received a multitude of salutary publicity. The local headlines and even a one-time feature story in SAVVY magazine have all been understandable. Through the past eight years the department has overhauled its curriculum and has grown by approximately forty percent in the process. A decade ago one could obtain credit for courses as typing and shorthand. Presently, Business students are required to undergo often painstaking courses that use Harvard Business School graduate materials. Over the past two years the department has graduated twenty-five percent of the senior class; considering that, Business has become the largest department of Skidmore College. In all this growth, however, the Business department has not gone without its share of problems.
John Ramsey, Dean of Academic Advising, member of the Curriculum Committee, and Asst. Professor of English was asked what he thought of the friction between the traditionalist and pro-business line of philosophy at Skidmore. “There is a long historical rivalry in America between the the world of affairs and the ivory tower. It’s like Ichabod Crane, the story of the school teacher vs. the working man. The tension at Skidmore is nothing new.” Ramsey continued by saying, “A liberal arts college should be centered on the pursuit of worldly ideas, but there is certainly something for the practice of daily livelihood, and the two can work together.” Why, then, has the Business department taken such a minute role on the liberal studies program?
Mrs. Balevic’s explanation of the department’s slow beginning in LS may have been compounded by the department’s inner turmoil. The previous chairman, William Greene, was one of the five professors to leave, and Mrs. Balevic will only serve as chairperson for the 85-86 academic year. Currently Skidmore is advertising for a new chairperson, the turmoil in leadership, however, may have caused a bit of departmental despondency and disconcertion.
When confronted with the old issue of “Does Business belong at a liberal arts college?” Mrs. Balevic replied, “Yes, there is a big demand for Business professionals who have been educated by the liberal arts as well as Business. We have taken a while to understand that the two schools of thought must interact. When I first came to Skidmore, I waived the flag solely for Business. I now believe in more interdisciplinary courses.” Mrs. Balevic noted that the Business department has recently worked in conjunction with the departments of American Studies, Psychology and Sociology in hopes for a lace of new courses.
Disdain for the Business department may, in part, be due to the Business professors who pursue other endeavors. Some Business professors work for other employers or themselves outside of the classroom. There are factions on campus which view this as not a total dedication to teaching. Mr. Ramsey called this problem “a double-edged razor.” Ramsey exclaimed, “We are happy these professors are acquiring more experience -their work allows them to to keep current with the trends of Business. On the other hand, problems occur when the professor becomes unavailable for assistance outside of the classroom.” Mrs.
An article on Charles Corddry, above, and Marion Corddry will appear in next week’s edition of the Skidmore News.
Vityal Yurchenko, a KGB agent who defected from the Soviet Union in August of this year, announced on November 4th that he would be returning to his homeland “as soon as possible.” At a news conference held that afternoon at the Soviet Embassy, Yurchenko told stories of being tortured and drugged after having been kidnapped while in Rome to be brought to the United States where he was then held prisoner by the CIA. American officials, however, refute these tales as mere lies and add that Yurchenko had defected to the West three months ago and has been revealing secret information since that time. Senator Dave Duremberger of Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Mr. Yurchenko signed a statement requesting asylum in the United States. The former agent proceeded to tell of a different contract he had been encouraged to sign that issued to him one million tax-free dollars on November 1 and an annual sum of $62,500 in the later years of his life in return for his silence and helpful consultations. In combination with other payments he said were promised, by the end of his secretive career, Yurchenko would be the recipient of an annual $180,000, which is more than the Presidential pension. The State Department can only assure the public that Yurchenko defected of his own will and was more than cooperative with the CIA and the FBI in the exposing of Soviet information.
The main concern in Washington at this time is the validity of Yurchenko’s defection. There are two theories circulating the area, one that Yurchenko, as a family man, simply became homesick and reevaluated his decision of defection. The second and more threatening to the United States’ security is that the Soviets sent Yurchenko into the American governing system to create a scam that would discredit the Administration’s human rights campaign at the Summit Talks. Further speculation suggests a Soviet plan to shock and embarrass the U.S. intelligence system and implant Yurchenko as a double agent. The Intelligence of the States commented on the more than opportune time for a scandal of this sort to take place, as Reagan and Gorbachev are scheduled to meet at the end of this month to negotiate toward the settlement of the Nuclear Arms Race.
In support of the theory that the Yurchenko incident may have been staged are two other recent cases of defectors having second thoughts. The first, briefly mentioned by the President, is the case of the Soviet soldier who sought asylum in the United States Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. More recent and relative to the issue is the incident of this past October. Soviet sailor Miroslav Medved jumped into the Mississippi River from a Soviet freighter, apparently to apply for political asylum. However, he was returned to the ship by Border Patrol against his will. A few days later, Medved was removed from the ship and was interviewed by the State Department. At this point, however, the 22-year-old Soviet repeatedly asked to be allowed to return to the Soviet Union. Various congressmen were outraged by the poor handling of this situation and have requested that President Reagan prevent the departure from U.S. waters of the ship, enabling the sailor to reevaluate his decision. Reagan has stated that the issue is closed as far as he is concerned; a possible reason for his lack of compassion may be the situation’s effect upon the scheduled arms talks.
It seems the United States has had previous problems in dealing with Soviet defectors. In 1964, KGB officer Yuri Nosenko sought asylum in the United States. He was kept in solitary confinement for four years and was continually interrogated by counter intelligence officers in order to determine the validity of his defection; similar to this most recent defection conflict, officials were wary of the possibility of a Soviet implantation of Nosenko as a double agent. Eventually, Nosenko was proven to be a sincere defector. The unfortunate incident is very much a poor reflection on the United States governing system which claims to be humanistic and righteous.