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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1982)
Bringing them back alive Graphic by Barbara Paca Helpers aid adventurers By Carol Morton OfMtCmtnM Floodlights pierced the darkness hovering over water opposite a wall of rock, spotlighting a rescue attempt Volunteers of Eugene Mountain Rescue had to work hard to save a kayaker who tried to negotiate the middle fork of the Willamette River above Westfir The man's kayak — along with two others — had capsized in the high water, which churned brown with huge standing waves The two other kayakers floated safely out at the bottom of the canyon The third, the unfortunate center of the rescue team's attention, had washed up at the base of a cliff EMR volunteers spent most of the night struggling up the back of the cliff, a difficult climb From the top of the precipice, they carefully lowered a man to the victim The rescuer put the victim in a harness, and others raised him to the top of the wall, finally helping him down the backside "They either overestimated their ability or underestimated the river," says Jim Blanchard, an EMR member and former EMR vice president “It's a wonder they survived " The night's work done. Blanchard changed and arrived on campus in time to teach his morning class Approximately 30 regular EMR members work at the University or other full-time jobs until a phone call from the sheriff requests the expertise of mountain climbers, cross-country skiers, and other technically trained rescuers "The prime responsibility of EMR is rescue in technical terrain," which includes cliffs or other inaccessible areas. Blanchard says "Every mission is different,' he says Rescues can take place in rugged wilderness, on major peaks or "high-angle cliff evacuations " In a typical search and rescue, a coordinated team of volunteers searches for a lost hiker or skier Immediately after locating someone who has been injured or lost, he or she is stabilized with first-aid and warmth The crew then evacuates the victim — a difficult process that may involve an 800-foot vertical cliff or a dark trail Time becomes a critical element in a rescue, especially during winter's extreme temperatures and short days, Blanchard says From the time a cross-country skier gets injured, the entire operation — the call to the sheriff's office, the calls mobilizing rescue workers, the transportation time to the trail head, skiing to the victim, giving first aid, preparing transport out of the wilderness, and helping the victim out — may easily take 24 hours before the victim makes it home or to the hospital EMR has enough local manpower and enough demand for services to maintain equipment and schedule regular practices, Blanchard says An unusually competent and cooperative sheriff's department helps make it one of the state s most efficient units he adds EMR volunteers subject themselves to substantial personal costs and risks, Blanchard says "The injury and fatality figures among rescue workers are high " Witnesses to an emergency should not hesitate to go for help particularly if they are unsure of their rescue skills or if crude methods may further endanger the victim he says Rescues requiring EMR's professional response are not necessarily life and death situations. Blanchard says An incident a few years ago temporarily changed the meaning of the acronym EMR to "Eugene Mutton Rescue," he says A rescuer "valiantly repelled" down a cliff to save a sheep stuck at the bottom Just as the rescuer got there, the sheep gathered the nerve to make a critical leap to safety and survived Minorities hold few top jobs nationwide Progress slow for women in administration By Steve Sechrist Of the Emerald Reflecting a national trend, women and minorities at the University still hold only a small percentage of top administrative positions According to a study published by the College and University Personnel Association, women and minority group members held only one in five of the top admin istrative jobs at public colleges during the academic year 1978-1979 Figures compiled by the University’s academic affairs office come close to the national rate Only six of the more than 30 top administrative jobs at the University are held by women or minorities Two of the nine professional schools — law and health, physical education and recreation — are headed by a minority or a woman faculty member Women who hold top administrative posts say they feel women and minorities have made progress in gaining administrative positions at the University Joanne Carlson, associate provost for academic affairs, acknowledges that the number of women and minorities in upper-level positions is small, but she says the study ignores the gains made at lower levels of administration In “middle management” jobs such as assistant and associate dean, associate provost, and program director, women and minorities have made better headway, she says These positions play an important role in running departments and influencing their bosses' decisions, she contends. Bean McFadden, University affirmative action dir ector, agrees that the progress of women at these lower levelsis “so very much better” than a few years ago. Some women at lower administrative jobs aren't Page 8 sure this is the case. While the ranks may be growing, that doesn’t mean those people are on a track to higher positions, says Alison Baker, associate dean of the arts and sciences college Upper ranks of the administration, especially col lege presidents, usually come from the liberal arts faculty, not the middle-management jobs, she says "These are dead-end jobs, and we realize they are dead-end jobs," Baker says Because there are so few women and minorities in the liberal arts faculty, the chances are slim of a woman president ever coming from within the University, she ‘Two women deans in the 100-year history of the University is not a significant track record. ’ says Katherine Eaton, head of the Bureau of Govern ment Research and Service library, says she is "unsa tisfied" with the number of women in the University's administration During the 1978-79 academic year, Eaton chaired an American Association of University Professor’s committee on the status of women faculty members “Only two women deans in the 100-year history of the University is not a significant track record in my mind," Eaton says Carlson says University administrators are con cerned about hiring women and minorities for adminis trative slots, but budget problems may inhibit the process, because fewer jobs are likely to become available. Part of the reason for few job openings is a low turnover rate, says EMU Director Adell McMillan "In my area, student affairs, many people have been in their jobs for five or six years," McMillan says Eaton says administrators have not done a very good job helping women within the University rise in the administrative ranks And even with tight finances, some money should go to this cause, she says “You're talking about the upward mobility of a whole class of people — women and minorities — who have not had the opportunity to have administrative experience," Eaton says Minorities hold even fewer administrative positions than women Derrick Bell, University law school dean, is the only minority member in one of the top jobs iden tified in the national study Carlson says one problem is that the number of qualified and interested minorities is very small, relative to the number of white males “You have to get a ball rolling,” says Carlson, who says she hopes the hiring of Bell as law school dean may help Celeste Ulrich, dean of health, physical education and recreation and the only woman dean of a profes sional school at the University, says when she was hired three years ago, her sex was not a consideration of her interviewers, as far as she could tell Ulrich says she sees part of her job to be "breaking ground” for future top-level women administrators She admits she is very conscious about succeeding as an administrator in order to help potential women deans. Ulrich says she's also concerned about the impact of budget problems "When the crunch comes, the people you let go are the least experienced — who turn out to be women and minorities, for the most part " And that, in turn, threatens the progress made up to this point, she says. Tuesday, March 2,1982
