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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1981)
Vol. 82, No.74 r Eugene, Oregon 97403 Thursday, January 8, 1981 Students eating in the newly remodeled Fishbowl find the choice seats to be on the upper level Photo by Erich Boekelheide but the lower level is the only part of the facility accessible to physically limited students. Wheelchair access trips up new Fishbowl By PAUL TELLES Ol the EmaraM The University violated state laws regarding handicapped accessibility to public buildings when it remodeled the EMU Fishbowl, a handicapped student charged Wednesday. Chester Faller, director of the Phy sically Limited Union of Students, filed a complaint with the University’s Affir mative Action Office after finding that wheelchair-confined students can’t get to the upper level of Fishbowl seating. Many handicapped students have come to PLUS with complaints about the situation, Faller says. The seating arrangement makes it twice as hard for handicapped students to find seating during peak periods of Fishbowl use, he adds. ‘‘They took an accessible building and made it inaccessible,” Faller says, comparing this segregation to dividing McArthur Court into male, female and black seating sections. Administration officials reacted cau tiously to the complaint, saying they wanted more time to consider the complaint before making a public re sponse. However, the officals seemed to feel the problem could be resolved quickly. Although there are differing opinions about whether the renovation violates the law, University Planner Dave Rowe says, ‘‘There is no problem about get ting this resolved. The question is how we’re going to resolve it." The University was unaware that any one would interpret the renovation as a violation of the law until after the project had reached its maximum limit on change orders, Rowe says. "It goes to show that those of us that don’t use a wheelchair everyday aren’t in the right place in our thinking” about handicapped issues, says Gerry Mo seley, associate provost for student affairs. EMU Director Adell McMillan, the person directly responsible for the Fishbowl planning, was out of town and unavailable for comment. But Bob Schutz, assistant EMU dir ector, says the Fishbowl was designed so that wheelchair access could be provided at “minimal cost,” if it proved necessary. Despite these kind words, Faller says the Fishbowl issue "is a key test of the University’s willingness to make the University accessible.” The University has fallen behind schedule on accessibility projects and isn’t likely to meet the June deadline that was set for such projects in 1977, he says. The federal and state governments have been in conflict over who has to pay for accessibility projects, Moseley says. As a consequence, the University hasn't received the funding necessary to meet its goals. The Legislature appropriated $1.8 million for University handicapped projects, but withdrew it during the special budget-cutting session in the summer, counselor Chris Goodrich says. “They said they would be able to give us the money next year, but my attitude is ‘We’ll wait and see.’ ” McConnaughey s proposals fail m Senate By MARIAN GREEN Of ttia Emerald The University Senate shot down both of Biology Prof. Bayard McConnaughey’s faculty equity motions at its meeting Wednesday. McConnaughey’s first motion asked the University Administration to give equal dollar raises instead of percentage increases in each individual's current pay when giving “across-the-board” raises. Senate members voted 20-8 against the motion with 2 abstentions. McConnaughey said his motion is a “common sense” measure designed to prevent “widening of the gaps in salaries at each rank level further and further until some adjustment must be made.” "I think that many people who have attained these ranks have already made their contribution,” McCon naughey said of senior-ranked professors. “They’re doing very good, necessary work, but in the long run, the strength of the University will be helped by the lower ranks.” He added that younger faculty may be encouraged Photo by Erich Boekelheide Bayard McConnaughey to stay at the University if such a policy is established. "An assistant professor spends almost all of his money on living expenses—these are the expenses that have gone up the most due to inflation — while full professors can afford to invest their salaries," McCon naughey said. But Acting University Pres. Paul Olum disagreed with McConnaughy on the motion’s attractiveness to faculty members. Olum remarked that while the University competes well with the 23 American Association of Universities schools in starting salaries, senior professor salaries aren’t as competitive. "We might have trouble keeping those faculty members," Olum said of the motion. "It could destroy us competitively with other universities.” In addition, Olum said the current policy does not rely on percentage across-the-board increases only. "What we’ve done in the past has been partly across-the-board increases percentage-wise, partly merit increases and partly equal dollar amounts at each rank.” “Redistribution isn’t going to solve the problem anyway,” said Senate member George Struble, a com puter and information sciences professor. “I think the salaries for cost-of-living increases are disgracefully low.” Continued on Page 16
