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)