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FBI discrimination not totally resolved
On March 15a representative of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation will be on campus. That
FBI representative will be at the University's law
school — to recruit.
Another recruiting visit by the FBI in October
prompted a protest because of that agency’s
probable hiring discrimination based on ap
plicants sexual orientation. That issue, judging by
the law school’s willingness to permit FBI recruit
ing, has been resolved But has it really?
The Emerald's stand in the first incident was
for a comprehensive affirmative action policy
instituted University-wide that includes the ‘ ex
traneous considerations’’ clause At the time of
the FBI incident the law school used an affirmative
action policy that prohibited on-campus recruiting
by employers who discriminate on the basis of
race, sex, religion, handicap, national origin or
“any other extraneous considerations not directly
and substantially related to effective job per
formance
The extraneous considerations” clause was
the crux of the law school and FBI incident This
clause is explicit in its inclusion of homosexuals
The Emerald continues in its condemnation of
hiring discrimination based on sexual orientation
Has the FBI adequately defined their position
regarding hiring practices as related to applicants
sexual orientation? They apparently have, to the
satisfaction of Derrick Bell, dean of the law school.
Although, the FBI has not resolved their position
to the complete satisfaction of the Emerald
The FBI wrote Bell on Dec. 11 stating admin
istrative action "is taken not simply because of
their sexual orientation' but homosexual conduct
is a significant factor in such (hiring) decisions ”
That homosexual conduct is a significant factor in
hiring decisions illustrates that the question im
plicit in the entire incident remains unanswered
The letter went on to state that it is FBI policy
"not to improperly discriminate against any ap
plicant. Homosexual conduct would be con
sidered along with all other available information."
The letter also states it was FBI policy to consider
the ‘‘sexual activities of applicants, whether
heterosexual or homosexual, when such activities
could affect FBI employment."
The "not to improperly discriminate against
any applicant” statement just doesn’t sound quite
right. The FBI's legal counsel wrote Jan 11 that
the FBI “can offer no specific encouragement that
a homosexual applicant will be found who satis
fies all of the requirements ”
Bell has done a commendable job challeng
ing the FBI to state their position on hiring homo
sexuals He has been more than reasonably con
cerned with the rights of students But Bell seems
to have settled for a less than clear-cut position
from the FBI,
The statements from the FBI do not approach
a firm resolution as to the FBI’s hiring practices
The situation has reached an impasse This im
passe is due, in part, to the incident that provoked
the FBI discrimination question The question of
FBI hiring discrimination was prompted by hear
say — what will bring a specification of any dis
crimination is an actual case of hiring discrimina
tion Perhaps that will occur when the FBI comes
to recruit.
the bend in the tunnel
ROTC issue
At the February assembly
meeting Professor Sherwood
raised two questions of legit
imate concerns with respect to
my notice of motion regarding
the ROTC
He asked Pres Olum what his
action would be if such a motion
should pass — implying that it is
futile to consider such ques
tions if the administration is
just going to ignore any recom
mendation of the assembly
Olum properly refused to be
drawn into a discussion at this
point since parliamentary
procedure does not provide for
discussion at the notice of mo
tion stage
However, for those who may
share this concern we should
point out that Sherwood over
looked the fact that Olum and
Provost Hill have already ex
plicitly addressed the question
of what is the proper forum and
place for discussion and deci
sion making relative to the
ROTC.
In an interview published Nov
5, 1981 Olum says “ROTC —
whatever else you might think
about it — is an academic pro
gram within the University I
wouldn't touch that myself — the
faculty approved the program
and any changes must come
from the faculty "
Hill agreed ROTC is con
trolled by the faculty and any
questions of neutrality should be
directed to the faculty Assem
bly ” The Emerald continued
“Hill says he s concerned thai
some of the ROTC curriculum is
controlled by the army rather
than the University But that is a
matter for the faculty to discuss
— not the administration."
The second question con- ■
cerned the propriety of bringing
up a question upon which the
Assembly has voted in the past
In this connection I can only
point out that in 1977, when the
vote went in an unexpected di
rection—in spite of having, only
minutes before, voted to limit
discussion by each side to 10
minutes, and in spite of the fact
that the Assembly had just voted
upon the ROTC question —
Professor Sherwood forgot the
urgency of getting back to hou
sekeeping items — and how bad
it is to bring up questions al
ready voted on — and was one
of the first to jump to his feet to
demand that the discussion be
continued into the following
month
Bayard H. McConnaughey
biology
Dehumanizing
Ann Portal's “Liberal Arts
Students Are in the Dark on
Technology" recently show
cased the dominant view on the
subject She quotes dean
Robert Berdahl to the effect that
more grounding in computer
science and the like is needed —
even though techno thought
has, of course, "dehumanizing"
implications He sums it all up,
somehow, with typical aca
demic balance and decorum
(cowardice): "There are no nuts
here that think technology
ought to be stopped It just must
be understood "
I happen to be such a "nut ”;
high tech must not only be
stopped, but dismantled if we
are to have a chance of con
necting with nature, with each
other, with ourselves
It's not just chemical and nu
clear wastes, Love Canal, PCB.
DDT, oil spills carcinogenic
food neutron bombs genetic
engineering, ad infinitum It's
the whole industrializing of life
from the factory system and its
stunting dtvison of labor to the
specialization of everything
which has made us all specta
tors It's also shopping centers,
freeways and video games —
the entire flattened-out, de-in
dividualized world, where we re
all intended to learn the com
puter modes that could express
the final reduction of the per
son
We need a new vandalism
equal to the challenge, equal to
destroying this totality — in favor
of play, creativity, anarchy
Anyone who tells you different is
your jailor
John Zerzan
Ferry Street
Homophobic
I am writing to complain at the
homophobic review of "Making
Love1’ by Matt Meyer in your
Feb 17 issue Meyer is dis
tressed that the film tells us that
homosexuals are people too
Surprise, Meyer They are
The theory that homosexuali
ty is a disease which, as the
review puts it. ‘ might happen to
me," is both unfounded and
offensive We all have sexual
preferences, and we make our
choices, consciously and un
consciously in response to a
number of personal and social
influences A majority, in this
culture, make the socially ac
cepted choice of heterosexuali
ty a minority find themselves
attracted to members of their
own sex Who knows if homo
sexuality were a more socially
sanctioned choice, the propor
tions might be very different In
any case, there is nothing to
differentiate a homosexual from
a heterosexual except the sex of
the person they choose as lover
or mate Other than that. Meyer,
they are perfectly ordinary peo
ple like you and me Except that
most homosexuals are not as
self-righteously judgemental as
some heterosexuals
Jo Alexander
N. Monroe, Eugene
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