Thursday, May 20, 1982
Eugena, Oregon
Oregon daily
Volume 83
Number 156
emerald
i i
Bias charged in firing of black prof
By Dane Claussen
and Ann Portal
Of »*• Emrmkt
The audience at a Wednesday Women’s
Symposium discussion attacked University
Affirmative Action Director Bean McFadden
with failing to prevent the dismissal of a
black woman employed as a history profes
sor at the University
The aftdrnoon session had been adver
tised as a panel discussion on the "com
parable worth'' of men and women in the
workplace, with McFadden and Melinda
Grier, compliance officer for the State Sys
tem of Higher Education, as panel
members
But the session turned into a confronta
tion when a member of the audience used
the case of History Prof Barbara Green to
illustrate comparable worth issues About
40 people — including a number of black
women — attended the meeting.
Two weeks ago, Green received a ter
mination notice, despite the fact she was
hired for a two-year visiting assistant
professorship of which she has worked one
year Her position was recently converted to
a one-year visiting professorship.
McFadden said she could not confirm or
deny that Green had been terminated and
said she did not know Green had been sent
a dismissal notice.
Audience members charged that Green's
position has been offered at a substantially
higher salary to a black man who now is an
assistant professor at Wayne State Univer
sity
Documents show the history department
has requested an additional $7,000 for the
salary for that position, English Prof. Al.
Butler said.
Grier said the history department may
believe it has hired someone for the posi
tion, but she said funds and the appoint
ment have not been approved
"No appointment is made until my office
and others have approved it,” McFadden
said.
Later in the discussion, McFadden said it
is possible for the University administration
to hire someone her office has not ap
proved, prompting one woman to say, “You
should say Affirmative action means noth
ing if I have no power.' ”
McFadden told the crowd that she plans
to check out the dismissal document they
referred to.
Sharon Claeyssens, a graduate teaching
fellow in the sociology department, angrily
accused McFadden of failing to perform her
duties as affirmative action director. "I will
not excuse my anger It’s justified," she
said
“You have not placed yourself on the
other side of the fence” from the adminis
tration, although a woman and an affirma
tive action officer, said Denise Carty-Ben
nia, a Northeastern School of Law professor
who was the keynote speaker for the
Women's Symposium
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People sent a letter
May 17 to University Pres Paul Olum The
letter asserts that Green should be retained
because she fulfills the affirmative action
goals for the hiring of both women and
minorities and because she possesses the
necessary qualifications.
Bean McFadden the University’s affirmative action director, was confronted
during a Women’s Symposium event. Charges of bias over the termination
of history prof were thrown at McFadden.
;• •••• •;■
Ars gratias ars
Photo by Erich Bookelhoide
Nearly a week's worth of Women's Sympo
sium activities conclude today The ASUO-funded
event featured a wide range of seminars, films,
panel discussion and exhibits.
Students were given the unique opportunity
to examine art of a distinctly feminist interpreta
tion, including a film of Judy Chicago’s best
known work, "The Making of a Dinner Party,"
which details the creation of a sculpture of 39
place settings. Chicago is a nationally known
artist
The symposium will end with an appearance
by Alice Walker and Mary Watkins in "Poetry and
Jazz" in the EMU Ballroom. Tickets, available at
the EMU main desk, are $2.50 for students, $3 for
general admission.
Few attend hearing to
respond to changes in
fees, fines and penalties
lestimony was sparse trom
the public at a hearing Thursday
in Johnson Hall. The hearing
was a chance for the University
community to respond to a 61
page schedule of special fees,
fines, penalties and service
charges levied by the University
for the 1982-83 fiscal year.
The list of fees and charges,
known as OAR 571-60-005, en
tails such things as "Free
loader" fines and a 25 cent
"charge" for opening a
chemistry laboratory locker
when a student fails to bring
their own key. The charges also
schedule fees and fines for
University housing; athletic
equipment and academic
department extra costs.
Seven people attended the
hearing, two requested addi
tions to the 531 item list, and
one person voiced an objection
to the reserve parking fee
structure.
The whole issue of parking
seemed to be the central con
cern for most of the faculty, staff
and students As recently as last
Wednesday, classified staff
quizzed University Pres Paul
Olum about the parking situa
tion during a "convocation."
Caroline Shell, a faculty
member in the dance depart
ment objected to paying a re
serve parking ree over a tnree
month period and suggested
the payments be stretched over
10 months. Shell was informed
the fee will be assessed over 10
months and because of an
oversight, the information was
not included in the released
statement.
Talk of a $1 "surcharge” for
faculty and a 50 cent ‘‘sur
charge" for student parking
fees was refuted after the meet
ing by Ray Hawk, vice president
for administration and finance.
The question of financing
lights for parking lots on cam
pus is “still up in the air," Hawk
said. “If I were to predict what
would happen . the sur
charge is out, any increase at all
will come from an increase in
regular parking fees the next
fiscal year ”
Hawk said Olum has suggest
ed using a parking reserve fund
to finance the lights and asked
Hawk's office to do a study of
the options.
The administration had
planned on using the reserve for
construction of a new parking
lot, but according to Hawk, the
financial outlook for capital
construction is bleak.
Hawk also said a meeting has
been scheduled to determine
how to pay for the lights.