Women workers complain of dead-end jobs
ay Kevin uumaskey
Of the Emerald
It isn't surprising that Ruby Bax
ter gracefully handles the long
lines of hungry students that file
past ner cnecK-out counter in the
EMU cafeteria. Baxter is no new
comer to the EMU. She was work
ing there before most students on
campus were born.
After 25 years at the Erb, she
plans to retire this year.
Liko many workers, Baxter
does her job so efficiently it is easy
to forget she is even there.
Over the years Baxter has ad
vanced from dishwasher to head
Hi
casnier.
Many woman workers on cam
pus have not been so lucky.
"The most common complaint
women classified workers have is
that their jobs don't leaa to any
Photo by Kevin Comattoy
Many women at the University feel that the jobs they currently hold are going nowhere and don 't make full use of a woman s capabilities
Nun battles male-dominated priesthood
By JANE LEHMAN
Of the Er; *rald
On the door appears a poster of
Whistler's Mother armed with a
machine gun accompanied by a
notice reading, “Office of the
Coordinator, Eugene Chapter,
Catholic Women Against Male
Chauvinist Pigs.”
Sound like a rabble-rousing,
bra-burning Amazon, and all the
other stereotypes that go along
with the “liberated woman"
image? Behind the door, one finds
a graying but lively 52-year old
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r
woman, who is a nun of 32 years.
This is Sister Katherine O'Neill, af
fectionately known as Kay-o, a
campus minister with the Catholic
Newman Center.
Yes, even the stalwart Catholic
church has succumbed to the
winds of change and Sister
Katherine embodies at least one
of these new directions. She is a
solid supporter of the emerging
role of women within the Catholic
Church.
On one level, Sister Katherine
literally practices what she
preaches. Within her capacity as
an associate pastor she is able to
preach and serve communion. "I
am very much at home with any
thing that has to do with ministry,”
she says. “I feel very called to
preach and do liturgical things."
Yet Sister Katherine, as all
other Catholic women, is exc
luded from many of the functions
of male priests, such as celebrat
ing Mass. “I believe strongly it
should be open," she contends.
“It limits God. I know young
women who feel very strongly cal
led to the priesthood."
As a result of her experiences
she says she is “very aware of
how important it is for women to
see women in the liturgy. I began
preaching very reluctantly four
years ago. But now I feel very dif
ferently about it."
Sister Katherine is also con
cerned with providing direction for
lay women. “Anything I do started
out of a need,” she said. "I be
came aware of women's problem
of relating to the church." As such,
she formed an informal discussion
group this fall called Christian
Feminists.
The group meets Mondays at
7:30 p.m. in the Newman Center
Sister Katherine describes the ac
tivity as "a support group, a
growth group and a way to vent
frustrations "
During the past year the group
of 15 to 20 people have covered
such topics as the ordination of
women, rape, the role of the Virgin
Mary — who may have been the
first feminist, according to Sister
Katherine — and improvisation
movement techniques to get in
touch with anger Sister Katherine
named the group in order to attract
people to the meetings. "Many
people wanted to see how such
contradictory and mutually exclu
sive terms could be reconciled,"
she says. One group member,
Anna Furshong, says, "Originally,
I started because I was interested
in how feminism fits into Christian
ity. I find now that it serves as
back-up material. By finding
women who believe the same way
helps me to carry on."
One controversy that is cur
rently raging within the Catholic
community is the ordination of
women. On Jan. 27, the Vatican’s
Congregation for the Doctrine of
Faith, on the orders of Pope Paul
VI, reaffirmed the past policy of
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rejecting women as priests They
based their decision on the
reasoning that Jesus Christ was a
man and his earthly representa
tives must bear a “natural resemb
lance/'
Sister Katherine points out the
edict was merely a reiteration of
past policy, and the door is still
open for ordination. She says,
"The only thing they have to stand
on is Christ's maleness How
ever, she feels it is more important
that we are all of the image of
Christ, not because we resemble
him physically, but because he
was human.”
Further, Sister Katherine re
ports that the literal "natural re
semblance " statement has be
come the brunt of many jokes
One typical one is Wanted —
Candidates for Priesthood Ap
plicants must be : male, Jewish,
Galilean, Fisherman Married ap
plicants are free to abandon their
wives and preference will be given
to brothers."
As a result of the controversy,
Sister Katherine is saddened
many women "are questioning
how they can be a part of a church
that discriminates against
women” and are moving on to join
the Episcopalian faith.
Sister Katherine believes the
Catholic church will eventually
embrace women equally into the
church. Although she hopes for a
swift resolution, she says, "I fear it
will be a long time in ooming."
thing better, said Affirmative Ac
tion director Myra Willard.
"What we try to do in this office
is to find a crack in the door allow
ing women a chance to advance,"
says Willard.
‘ I've got a college degree, yet if
I stay here, all I'll ever be is a sec
retary," a 30-year-old social sci
ence office worker said.
Recently the Affirmative Action
office was able to get the degree
requirement abolished for many
supervisory positions
"I’m not complaining, really;
there are a lot of people with a
better education than I have who
can't get jobs," said an ex
literature major "But I'm going as
crazv as Ophelia around here, typ
ing and filjng all day long," she
added
There are 155 secretaries on
campus. All are women
"A lot of secretaries in the dif
ferent departments are under
enormous pressure; yet a laborer
who only has to use his muscles
gets $100 more a month than she
will,” Willard said.
"Women are definitely trying to
improve their lives through their
jobs," said Dorothy Goode, staff
development officer
oooae neta a oareer Develop
ment Workshop last month — 48
or the 49 who attended were
women She has also held work
shops for supervisors Fifty-nine
women supervisors out of a total
of 71 who attended were women
"Women want to get promoted
Just as important, women want to
broaden their jobs I call this per
sonal growth," she said
According to Myra Willard 70
per cent of the classified staff are
women, holding 95 per cent of the
clerical positions and 10 per cent
of the executive The skilled crafts
are all filled by men
"Look around, women make up
the guts of this University We re
the ones who keep the programs
going," stated Vicki Bockes, re
cords manager in the Personnel
Office
“Women work hard around
here, and we have reasonable
goals. We re going to eliminate all
the unfair impediments standing
in the way of women who want to
get ahead on campus," Willard
said, summing up her feelings
about the future.
"Right now there are no women
in the top administ' ative jobs," Wil
lard said "That should change
Lobby to study
student-parents
The Oregon Student Lobby
(OSL) is conducting a survey on
the need for subsidized child care
for current or potential student
parents. The survey is designed to
determine the number of parents
denied access to post-secondary
education because of child care
costs
The OSL is interested in finding
the number of parents who would
be affected by House Bill 2459,
child care legislation — currently
being considered by the Legisla
ture. The bill would provide child
care services as part of a financial
aid package.
Student-parents may fill out the
questionnaire at registration for
classes at Lane Community Col
lege and the University.
Potential student-parents may
fill out the questionnaire Tuesday
through Friday, March 8 to 11, at
various Eugene and Springfield
social service agencies.
Questionnaires may also be ob
tained from 8 a m. to 5 p.m. Mon
day through Friday in the ASUO,
Suite 4, EMU. For more informa
tion call Rachelle Katz, 686-3724