TAs support families via loans, luck
Editor’s note: The Jan. 10
Emerald reported that a re
port was made to the Graduate
Student Council which alleged
that the TA wages are “set at
a level insufficient to sustain de
cent minimum standards of liv
ing.” The Emerald, in a follow
up to this story, interviewed
four TAs. Whether or not these
four TAs represent the norm
is unknown. Other TAs in other
departments may be in differ
ent positions.
By LES BLUMENTHAL
Of the Emerald
Marvin Feuerberg is 29 years
old, has a wife and two pre
school children, is finishing his
M.A. in sociology, and has been
a teaching assistant in that field
for the past three years. Feuer
berg is paid $2,400.
“Without loans I wouldn’t
be able to .continue my educa
tion. I was supposed to have a
National Defense Loan this year,
but two weeks before school
started they told me the monej
had not come through.
“I was sweating it. but I came
up with a State Guarantee Loan
I am willing to insure the debt
now almost $5,000 worth. I am
not willing to let my wife work
—this would have a negative
consequence on the kidp. I
would quit school rather than
have her work,” he said.
Feuerberg and his family liv
ed in the Amazon Park Hous
ing project for two years, but
due to the need for more space
they moved into a place that
has double the rent. Last year
one of his children had a sick
ness that was not diagnosed for
a year. “I felt the pinch. My sal
ary can't sustain any mishaps.”
he said.
Feuerberg ideally sees a TA
assistantship as part of profes
sional training for a teaching
job. He feels, though, that de
partments have not systematical
ly developed the assistantship
so that training occurs.
MARVIN FUERBERG
“My salary can’t sustain any mishaps"
Cover approved
for EMU court
By KATHY KUCERA
Of the Emerald
The University Buildings and
Grounds Committee approved
plans Thursday for a translucent
plastic roof to cover the pres
ently open court in the EMU.
The structure will be per
manently installed over the area
to control leakage. Water leak
age in the basement bowling area
through the tile floor of the
court makes some kind of floor
ing repair necessary.
Several alternatives have been
proposed but all methods of con
trolling the leakage have been
termed risks. No definite source
of the leakage has been discov
ered by Physical Plant officials
and others who have investigat
ed the site. University architects
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The Emerald is looking for
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terested may inquire at 301 Al
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ext. 1817.
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have devised the roof method
to hopefully prevent the leak
age. They are reasonably certain
that it will work.
Committee members approv
ed the motion by a vote of 4-3.
Unless a suitable alternate pro
posal is presented soon, the
plans will be carried out as soon
as possible.
The roof will be financed with
money from the rehabilitation
fund of the EMU at a cost of
about $G,000. During the past
year $3,000 has been spent in
patchwork on the tile floor, ac
cording to Dick Reynolds, EMU
director.
“I am disheartened with the
result of the committee’s vote,”
said Reynolds. “We are quite
reluctantly going to go ahead.”
He explained that because of
shifts in the cement beneath the
tile the area has been re
paired three times within the
last year and a half. No defi
nite cause of the leaking has
been found, despite tests to de
termine the source of the water.
A temporary structure below
the ceiling of the bowling al
ley now collects and drains off
the water.
In other committee business,
preliminary plans for the de
velopment of the Eugene Sand
and Gravel Co. property north
of the campus were presented.
The committee directed sugges
tions for further sudies to the
architect present. No formal ac
tion was taken.
The committee reviewed gen
eral policy concerning parking
permits and granted a parking
permit to a petitioner.
His first year he was paid
$2,000 for his work, the second
year $2,200. This year he figures
that he puts in 15 hours of
work a week correcting papers,
making up test questions and
seeing students.
“Salaries should be based on
need. Maybe there should be a
children’s allowance. It appears
to be in my department that
most TAs are single, or are mar
ried with the wife working, or
they have no children, but there
are some in my position. Even
given the existing limits on
funds there should be provi
sions made for those TA fam
ilies that have children,” Feuer
berg said.
Jan Newton, a TA in eco
nomics, is married to a student
and has two young children.
“The small salary forces you
to go outside for other sources
of income. We have taken out
large loans and are subsisting,”
she said.
No Correlation
She sees no correlation be
tween teaching and money as
motivation, and says she tries
to do a good job, because of
pride.
“Becoming a TA was my very
last alternative. I had a fel
lowship that payed almost twice
as much but that ran out. I
applied for a research grant
from the government and other
teaching jobs, but these didn’t
come through. This was my
last resort, and we had to have
something to live on,” she said.
Mrs. Newton feels that this
selective process filters people
down to those who become TAs
as a last resort.
“I will go from a subsistence
level to a substantial level this
summer, as hopefully my salary
will leap from $2,200 to $11,
000 if I become a real member
of the faculty. I will have the
same duties and the responsibil
ities as I now have, without any
real change in my experience,”
she said.
Some Discussion
She also mentioned that there
had been some discussion among
TAs in economics departments
who maintain that they take
over the duty of the principals
who are now teaching courses
in the 200 sequence, and divide
the salary of the professors ac
cordingly.
Richard Block is married and
his only means of support, be
sides his previous savings, is his
salary for being a TA in psy
chology. “The Graduate Student
Council’s report is very true
and very relevant. I estimated
my salary on an hourly basis
and that wasn’t too bad, and
Police arrest two
on drug charge
EUGENE (AP)—Two Port
land men who police said had 45
“lids’’ of marijuana hidden in
suitcases, were arrested as they
walked on a street near the Uni
versity of Oregon campus Fri
day night.
Charged with illegal posses
sion of narcotics were Norman
John Brindley, 20, and Bruce
Gordon Fraser, 19.
The two were not University
students.
They were held in lieu of
$2,000 bail each on the felony
charge. A “lid” is a small plastic
bag of marijuana.
University writer
is among best
PRINCEON, N.J. UP>_Wan
dalyn Rice of Monmouth, Ore.,
a sophomore at the University,
is one of 82 of the nation’s best
journalism prospects as select
ed by the Newspaper Fund. She
will receive a $500 scholarship
after a summer of work as a be
ginning newspaper reporter.
The Newspaper Fund reported
that more than 300 college stu
dents applied for the fund’s
scholarships. The program is in
tended to give each student at
least 10 weeks of practical ex
perience in newspaper report
ing.
the experience is excellent, but
making a living on this salary
is something else.
“I’m breaking about even, and
we haven't been starving, but
that is about it,” he said.
Block said he knew what
the pay was and could have
gone elsewhere, but he decided
to come to the University
after four years at Michigan.
‘Limited Budget*
“I came here because it is a
good department, the cost of liv
ing is lower out here, and the
general geographic location was
what I wanted. I don't know
what can be done, everyone
these days are working under a
limited budget,” he said.
A1 Mandelberg, a TA in phil
osophy, isn't having too bad a
time, but “I don’t see how mar
ried TAs, especially with kids,
could possibly live on a TA
wage.
“I know a man in the de
partment who 10 years ago at
Nebraska was getting $1,800
as a TA; today at the University
I'm getting $2,000 and the price
of living has certainly doubled,"
he said.
He sees TAs as "plastic imi
tation faculty members” and the
teaching as a job that can be
negotiated and strikes called.
"The financial aids depart -
ment views the TA salary as a
scholarship, and if you're caught
on another job, you lose that
scholarship. TAs should nego
tiate themselves with the ad
ministration. and not let de
partment chairmen do it for
them. It’s the virtual limit of
what you can live on," he said.
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