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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1974)
University physical plant builds ramps for handicapped students Handicapped students will have easier access to several campus buildings thanks to the construction of new ramps by the University Physical Plant. According to Harold Babcock, physical plant director, two ramps were constructed this summer next to Lawrence Hall, one leading to Friendly Hall was finished last week and work is under way on a ramp leading to Carson Hall. All the ramps, except the Carson one, are temporary for two reasons, said Babcock. First, there is a hope to get something better, and secondly there is a lack of money. The Carson ramp was paid for by the dormitory food services. The physical plant is merely building it. Babcock hopes the "something better" will be some type of lift He described it as a little elevator next to a deck. He is working with two persons in Salem trying to get the lift legalized. They are Chris Cassidy, a handicapped student, and Jack Thornton of the Department of Human Resources. The lifts currently don't meet the codes, explained Babcock. "We're trying to make them meet the code or get the code changed," he said. The lifts are not expensive. Babcock compared their cost to that of a ramp. By making more buildings accessible to handicapped students, we might be abie to attract more handicapped students to this campus, concluded Babcock. Collective bargaining brings problems along with benefits Editor's note: This is the third in a series intended to inform the University community about faculty collective bargaining, who is involved, what its implications are for the University and what student reactions are to it. Faculty collective bargaining would bring unavoidable problems along with any benefits. If not properly controlled, all sides acknowledge, the system could turn into a bureaucratic ogre stifling liberty of action under pages of petty rules. As years pass by, it may trample far afield of its original limited intents. (The system could also have distinct disadvantages for students. These problems along with alternatives will be discussed tomorrow.) By CHRIS JUPP Of the Emerald In light of these shortcomings, it becomes necessary to ask if collective bargaining would really be beneficial. The overriding dilemma of inadequate salaries prompts faculty justification of questionable side effects. “We must trust to good relations to limit it narrowly to those issues (mainly economic) that can be resolved on the higher levels," says Robert Campbell, chapter president of Oregon State Em ployees Association. "There is just no alternative to collective bargaining," he says. Ray Hawk, vice-president for administration and financing, recognizes dangers inherent to union bargaining and goes on to claim that the system would not truly offer the faculty a stronger voice or power. The present low salaries have no relation to faculty strength but are due to the fact that the Univer sity's budget was created three years ago for presentation to the 1971 biennial Oregon legislature, according to Hawk "Who could have guessed what the rate of inflation would be these last two years," he asks. "It's very likely that this year's legislature will approve big pay hikes for all state employees. If they do, I think we will find collective bargaining lose most of its appeal." Even if approved, collective bargaining could not increase faculty power, Hawk says. Ad ministration decisions are all fully responsible to the faculty and are made only after consultations and recommendations with teacher representatives. "I think collective bargaining is an excuse for faculty apathy," he maintains. "A little less inaction would go a long way towards closing what some think is a power gap. Administration doors are always open." The President's Council, con sisting of seven elected faculty members and consulted weekly by the president, is the closest group to administrative decisions. Input, counter union supporters, has lost its effect and must be backed up with legal clout. "Over the years a bureaucratic managerial class has been built up which doesn't always make decisions fair to everybody," says Nat Teich, representative for the American Federation of Teachers. "Administration officials are often teachers too, but their first allegiance still remains with the administration." Hawk sees the two main issues of collective bargaining — wages and tenure — as being in consequential at the University. "There is really no way faculty and administration could bargain on economic matters even if they wanted to because we are only given so much money by the legislature. Right now we're operating from a known. With collective bargaining everyone will want more, but there won't be anything to give them. "We haven't had any tenure problems at all in the last few years," he continues. "Tenure is based not on economics but on peer group decisions. Right now 70 per cent of the faculty is tenured, and that is as high as it should go if we are to allow for fluctuations and exchange programs." Bureaucratic regulations may well cause second thoughts for those considering collective bargaining as an alternative. Firm guidelines must be formed, all agree, to keep it from over flowing its original areas of concern. "The system will be limited by a contract," Teich explains. "After a union is chosen, faculty and administration must sit down and negotiate the provisions of that contract." Tradition and flexibility are the main elements to be lost by too far-reaching bargaining topics. "It is partly a myth, but the concept of a university is still that of a community of scholars — one big happy family," says Campbell. "Collective bargaining must stay out of academic experimenting or we lose a hundred years of in valuable change and innovation." Hawk reinforces the concept. "One of the great things of a university is the wide spectrum of ideas. We can't lose the flexibility that promotes the environment in which ideas flourish." VOLVO OVER PROTECTS. THE BODY: Impact-absorbing bumpers protect impact-absorbing front and rear ends which protect a steel passenger cage which protects you. © 1974 VOLVO Of AMERICA COLORATION OVERSEAS DELIVERY AVAILABLE. Sheppard MOTORS LTD. 1465 W. 7th Avenue 343-8811 Charter Flight To New York December 21 to January 8 Cost: $219.00 round-trip Los Angeles — New York (JFK) Open to All U of 0 Students, Staff and Faculty Members. Charter bus will be available from Eugene to L.A. for extra charge. Sign Up Immediately - Space is Limited!! Room 202 EMU International Education Center X3721 THE FAST PASS Now available to students for $8.50 per month ASUO is still subsidising bus fares in the hope of easing some very real problems. ■ Parking ■Air Quality ■ Fuel Conservation ■ Expenses of the Student One purchase per month will take you anywhere without the bother of having the right change. Discounted Passes available at the following locations: EMU Main Desk University Bookstore Seven-Eleven,2270 W.18th CHINESE STUDENT ASSOCIATION PRESENTS A Sino-Japanese war movie 4k. -f ,?:> HfK A ±, * EVERLASTING GLORY DATE: NOV. 23, SAT. 7:00 8.9:30 P.M PLACE: (CHANGE TO) 180 PLC GENERAL ADMISSION: $1 MEMBERS: FREE
