Willard believes
affirmative action
has progressed
By MARY BETH ALLEN
Of the Emerald
Myra Willard, Affirmative Action director, has seen progress
in the elimination of discriminatory hiring practices on the Univer
sity campus, and she says, “I wori< hard to keep it from slipping."
“We're working hard but I don’t think affirmative action has
produced utopia yet,” Willard says. At the same time, Willard’s
office has been responsible for making it difficult for on-campus
agencies to get away with discriminatory hiring practices.
"Our program involves ensuring that discrimination doesn’t
take place,” says Willard. Prejudice against potential employees
due to race, sex, religion, national origin, handicap, age, or mari
tal or veteran status is what her office battles.
A grievance counselor is also under the wing of the office.
The counselor is mainly “for students who feel they have been
discriminated against or have observed discrimination against
others” in the educational process, says Willard.
Willard has held her position for six years. Affirmative Action
procedures are required by both state and federal laws and
regulations. The Title IX Task Force is under the jurisdiction of the
office, and is responsible for making sure the University is comply
ing with all the guidelines of the act.
A recent study of University academic disciplines attempted
to “examine areas in which students of one sex were under
represented,” said Willard. Academic majors in which enrollment
of either sex totaled more than 60 percent were asked to em
phasize to students that there are equal opportunities for both
sexes in the major, and encourage the underrepresented sex to
pursue a career in that particular major. Business, pre-law, ar
chitecture, and the sciences were areas with predominantly male
enrollments, while teacher education and dance are comprised of
mainly women.
Willard feels that while women and minorities have reached
a fairly high degree of equality in campus jobs and in the educa
tional process at the University, the situation in the outside world
is very different. “People in the Northwest still seem surprised that
a minority person has a bachelor’s degree or a major in busi
ness,” she remarked.
In the past decade, more women and minority students have
been admitted to law and medical graduate schools not because
of preferential treatment, but because of the growing number of
applicants, according to Willard. The number admitted is “roughly
in proportion to the number of applicants," she said. This year the
University law school has a 30 percent female enrollment, and an
8 percent minority enrollment.
Aside from her duties in Oregon Hall, Willard teaches a class
in the business school called “Problems in Affirmative Action.”
She says that “in personnel management it has gotten to be a
pretty important thing" to now be in tune with affirmative prac
tices. As to any extra points women and minorities have in the job
game, “it may be somewhat of an advantage (to be female or a
member of a minority) but those situations are isolated,” says
Willard.
DIC staffer in EMU Friday
To make things easier for students eligible to fill out a Drug Informa
tion Survey Center (DIC) survey, staff member Jerry Beck will be in the
EMU lobby from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Beck says only 50 of the 400
students invited by letters to fill out the survey have applied, and that
Friday, April 14 is the last day students can present their letters, fill out
the survey and collect the $2 offered by the DIC.
GET A
SIMM El JOB
lilBTII ■
VT fl B BB mm
FUTURE.
CALL: 686-3102
ARMY RUTC.
THE TWO YEAR PROCRAM.
ESCAPE: plenty of spots
By CAROLYN BEAVER
Of the Emerald
Once again, ESCAPE, an ASUO program that
allows students to work for credit in a school or com
munity agency, has plenty of placements and not
enough people to fill them.
“This term we have a big range of placement
opportunities, a lot of community needs, especially. I
bet we haven’t filled 20 percent of the requests we
have,” says ESCAPE Director Susannah Malarkey.
Malarkey lists a slew of placements available for
persons who want to be arts and crafts program
aides at community schools or to work with kids at all
school levels in special areas like math, English and
social studies.
People in “all different age groups, from little
kids up to adults” in special education programs
need assistance as well as seniors in the Friendship
with the Elderly program, says Malarkey.
If a potential ESCAPE volunteer has a transpor
tation problem, there are several placements close to
campus, Malarkey says.
The High School Equivalency Program on cam
pus needs Spanish-speaking volunteers to help per
sons in the program. Condon Elementary School, on
Agate Street, is looking for people to help foreign
language-speaking kids with their English. The Child
Care and Development Center also needs volun
teers.
As for community openings, several day care
centers around town need people, as does Women’s
Space, a shelter home for battered wives. Volunteers
are needed for “everything from child care to pro*
gram development,’’ Malarkey says.
The Bethel Project gives students 'a chance to
work with junior high school kids in a special activities
program, says Malarkey. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Monday through Friday, ESCAPE needs volunteers
who “have a knowledge of or interest in
running/jogging, stained glass, kite and rocket con
struction, disco dancing and bike repair and safety,”
Malarkey says.
Although sign-ups will be taken at the ESCAPE
table in the EMU Main Lobby until April 21, Malarkey
stresses that “the sooner you sign up, the better
experience it is.”
ESCAPE volunteers receive one credit for three
hours of work per week. A first-term volunteer is also
required to participate in a seminar led by an ES
CAPE student coordinator that meets once a week
for two hours. The coordinator acts as a resource
person for the volunteers, says Malarkey.
One of the largest ASUO programs, ESCAPE
gets about $15,000 yearly and places approximately
500 volunteers each term, although “we have
placements for 2,000 students” says the director.
Malarkey asks that anyone with a desire to help
other people come look at ESCAPE’S offerings.
Close Encounters
. of the Fourth Kind.
DEL TACO
IS HERE!
30 Country Club Rd.
behind the Turkey Inn
Open 8:30 am to 11 pm