College district strikes Communist Party reference from loyalty oath ============================================= Student gets Communist reference removed from oath ------------------------------------------------------ from The Arizona Republic http://www.azcentral.com/news/0915loyalty.html September 15th 2000 Kerry Fehr-Snyder The Arizona Republic Sept. 15, 2000 Chalk one up for the Commies. -------------------------------- The Maricopa Community College District has scrapped a provision that employees not be members of the Communist Party. The decision paves the way for Fabricio Rodriguez, a Mesa Community College economics major, to be paid for his job as student body vice president. But even with the Communist Party reference eliminated, Rodriguez said he still may not sign the oath, citing ethical grounds. Arizona Revised Statute 38-321 was deemed unconstitutional by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1966, but it was never repealed by the Arizona Legislature. Although it is unlikely he would be prosecuted, Rodriguez said, "I would still be a felon in the state of Arizona." Rodriguez, 26, a member of the U.S. Communist Party, made headlines last week after he refused to sign a loyalty oath promising, among other things, that he wasn't a Communist. Without the signed oath, the sophomore was not paid his minimum-wage salary as an elected student body officer. That left him facing an Oct. 1 eviction from his apartment and unable to buy books for classes, although some faculty members lent him textbooks and others donated canned foods and even money to encourage his fight. On Tuesday, the college district agreed to omit the words saying that a person violates the loyalty oath if he or she "knowingly becomes or remains a member of the Communist Party of the United States or its successors or any of its subordinate organizations." Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she is pleased the oath has been revised "to remove the offending language." But she emphasized that it is up to Rodriguez to decide whether he will sign. "He is a young man of tremendous principle and social conscience," said Eisenberg, who is representing Rodriguez. "He's concerned about the workers throughout the state who may be asked to sign similar oaths." The ACLU does not object to generic loyalty oaths requiring that government employees abide by state and federal laws. But oaths that address political or religious beliefs are a problem for the ACLU, and some employers still try to require them. "We have had at least one person refuse and go back to wherever they came from because they didn't want to live in a state that was stuck back in the days of McCarthyism," said Eisenberg, who plans to push for the law's repeal. Meanwhile, Rodriguez is using the dispute to further his political beliefs. Although his views were well-known among his friends, his refusal to sign the loyalty oath has thrust him into public debates with strangers. "I now find myself having to address people who know nothing about communism and socialism but rhetoric and fear," he said. Reach the reporter at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (602) 444-8975. _______________________________________________
