Tight security on campus marks rector ceremony in Manado
Tight security on campus marks rector ceremony in Manado
MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): A strong presence of police and security officers marked the installation of a new rector at the state-owned University of Sam Ratulangi here on Wednesday, testimony to the troubled relations between students and college administrators.
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro installed Jopie Paruntu as the university's new rector to replace R.S. Tangkudung, who finishes his second five-year term.
Police officers and security guards were posted at the main entrance of the assembly hall. Inside, the ceremony proceeded smoothly. It was watched by hundreds of university officials and faculty members, though less than 20 students, mostly members of the rector-controlled student senate, were in attendance.
The campus has been beset by students protesting for the last two months for more democratically elected student representatives and organizations. The students have also accused a number of faculty members of misappropriating student funds.
Students said that the previous rector had simply summoned the police to deal with the protesters and thus his relationship with the students has soured.
"Pak Tangkudung has given Pak Paruntu a lot of homework," Indah, a student from the School of Social and Political Sciences, commented.
Paruntu, when questioned about the current problems, replied that he needed time to study the situation. "I cannot say anything yet ...Only after I have identified the problems can I say how I will handle them," he said.
Tangkudung was not available for comment.
Minister Wardiman in his speech at the ceremony addressed the problems of student organizations on campuses, stressing that the presence of these organizations is already regulated by rules issued by his ministry.
Rather than establishing new organizations, Wardiman suggested that the students, together with university administrators, try to improve existing organizations.
"Any flaw in the way the regulations are implemented should not be seen as an excuse to form a new organization or to deviate from the law," he said.
Similar demands for better student representation and for greater campus freedom have also been voiced by students on other campuses throughout Indonesia.
Emphasizing that campuses are not the place for practical politics, Wardiman defended the decision by the rector to call on the police to maintain campus order.
He also doubted that the protesters represented the entire student body.
Paruntu was elected rector by acclamation in a plenary meeting of the university's senate last December.
He obtained his bachelor's degree at the School of Agriculture here, his masters degree at the Bogor Agriculture Institute and his doctoral degree at Nottingham University in Britain. (pwn)