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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1995)
Women in Transition group supports returning students’ needs ■ CHANGE: Coord^Jtor understands difficult balance between school, work and family By Angela Bemntendi f 'lytfanrf Reporter Busy Women in Fran si lion might be n more appropriate name for the ASUQ Women’s Center support group for return* trig students Lynn Sweet is the new Women in Transition coordina tor and the first to rnnke a one year commitment to the organ i Ait inn. Sweet, a 4S-veer-old journal ism major, understands the issues facing women who an* reluming students. Sweet said it is difficult to bn hint e ,i family. s< hool and work. but more women are making the dei csion to follow their dreams by going back to school. "Nationally, we are the fastest growing group of college stu dents." Sweet said There are approximately 1.000 women older than 25 who are studying at the University. Sweet said The large numhor may be linked to Incnuing job opportunities for women or the necessity to become more employable Whatever the reason, these women are putting everything on the line to achieve their goals. "You have to accept that you're taking a vast amount of risks — there is no safety net." Sweet said However, there is support Every Wednesday at noon, the Women in Transition support group meets for an informal brown -bag lunch called Net WIT (Networking Women in Trans! lion! The lunch provides an opportunity for the women to meet and talk about career options and academic planning Sharon Bice, a 39 year-old returning student, said some times she < an t attend the meet ing because she just doesn’t have the time. 'Some days 1 just want to sav forge! it." Bice said. A single parent, she has a full course load, which means she only sleeps about five hours a night It is her dream of becom ing an artist that keeps her going. Tl>is v«ar, Sweet would like to define the issues that fai t) these woman and build a continuous program of workshops that address them. She also hopes to network w ithin the community and develop a program of women helping women to address post graduation con cerns. Angie Hansen, the 1:01 oordi nator for Women in Transition, agrees women returning to school have special needs. "A lot of women have a per lei tionist attitude I i.«n‘t lx> neurotic about cleaning house and getting good grades any more . |Some] women need to learn to f>e more realistic.“ Hansen said. Hu «> siiid her children are very supportive of her They now share the responsibilities of household chores and have ai i epted the sacrifices for Hu e to get on education Although it is tough. Bice finds time to spend with her family “As soon as ! get home I sit down with my daughter." Bice said. Hanson fa< os tho challenge of balancing studying, n working n part-time job ami being nowly mnrrit'd; which, slut savs. puts a strain on the relationship Hanson, a.1*, is a psychology major who came bet k to school to attain a more fulfilling earner, but she misses the autonomy that she once had "Leaving my job left me dependent upon someone else." Hansen said. One thing has not changed for Hansen Before she < ante to school she was working v> mi hours a week, which limited her social life As a student, she still struggles to find time for social izing The difference is that her present situation is only tempo rare Sweet said that most profes sors are very understanding when it comes to returning stu dents Although sin- always i ompleles her assignments with out deadline extensions "it amj operating on guts it s not a matter of choice and there is no margin for failure." Sweet said. Ttn> pressure is intense Sweet's day starts a! *i:.1t) a m. and does not and until 12.10 or l am She works in the Woman's Center 'i to 12 hours per week, takes 18 < red it hours and is a single parent However, the sacrifices do not come without rewards She has seen herself grow and dtsi over worlds that she knew nothing about. She said the learning never stops. Bice and I Jansen agree that it is never too late to < ontinue an education Many women put their own aspirations on the hm k burner for the sake of their families, until their children grow up or a marriage fails "A divori e < an he a very lib ending experience.” Hausen said Sweet wants women to know the Women's Center is a plai e for women to talk about their concerns anytime they have a spare moment In the future. Sweet hopes to establish a class designed for returning students that focuses on the problems which chal lenge these women daily MEChA appeals department for explanation of Spanish instructor’s unrenewed contract ■ DISPUTE: MEChA members question why Armando Morales' contract wasn't renewed By Cindy Long > £ducaton £ t*i<v A ft or teaching for seven years at the sjSftiTfli" instructor Armando Morales' contract was not renewed by the romance languages department. The department notified Morales’ of their decision about one munth before this school year began. Morales, who received his Masters degree at the University, began teaching Spanish as a Graduate Teaching Fellow lie is currently the community advi sor for MEChA and continues to participate in student activities. Twenty members of MEChA, the Chicano/Latino student union, met with Francoise (ail-in. head of the ronianc e lan guages department, to ask why the department did not renew Morales' i.untr a t last Monday Elvia Aguilar, a senior major ing in history and Spanish and MEChA member, said Morales told the union memliers his con tract was not renewed. She said the student group went to Catin on their own and not at Morales request. "He didn't ask us to do any thing about it, but he wanted us to know." Aguilar said. H e i: a u s r i iid i v i d ii a i |i e r s o n n o I records arts not public information. Calm was restricted to »t x p 1 a i n t n g M a r a 1 ii *' case in gen MORALES oral terms of t ho depart ment's hiring procedure “We try to take just the best people," she said. “The Ixist departments are those that have a variety of cultures " Morales said ho was given several different reasons for why his contract was not renewed "Why?" he said “That is my question.” Morales said he was told he was not rehired because of three reasons: a lack of student enroll ment. his teaching ability and because he was close to reaching senior instructor status. Calin said senior instructor status had nothing to do with the dei ision. Morales has taught Spanish for It terms, and an instructor must teach for 1H terms before they are even con sidered for senior instructor sta tus. she said In addition, Calin said the only advantage senior instruc tors have over other instructors is that they must be given a full year's notice if the department is not going to rehire them The football experts? Kearney Mark McTyre Anarea DeYoung urns Stewart Keie Schneider David Thorn Awwwwww, come on. You can do better than these "experts.” It you want to pick, submit your name and telephone number to Emerald 300 EMU ot email at ode#Oregon The winner will be notified Tuesday Colin said the department advertises every year for Instrui: tors to teach tin* different romance languages, and from tile people who respond to tile advertisement, the department creates a hiring pool. The pool of applicants are ranked in order of ability and each year's instrut tors are cho sen from that pool The number of students who sign up for classes eat ii term determines the number of instructors the department will hire and often results in last minute hiring decisions, she said. "Not renewing a contract is always a painful tiling. Calm "We have to consider tint good of fall students) " Morales said the prut ess the department took to inform him he was not going to tie hired is one of tiie things that upset him. "One of tiie tilings that hurt my feelings is the way they treated me, Morales said "That wasn't fair. If they didn't want to lure me, why didn't they tell me in May?” However. Morales said despite ills difficulties with the department, he does not have any ill feelings towards Cal in “I respect |Calin|. I don’t have anything against her." he said. "Hut I don't agree with her.” Morales said he currently has a part-time job and has not yet decided whether or not he will file a grievance against the romance languages department m PUCKsr SNOWBOARD RENTAL CT per day for \ boots & board expires Jan 31, 1996 57 W Broadway mmm OPEN 7 DAYS xKipk 957 WtBametle Downtown Mo# mmm 687-0139 Own (own Moll CORRECTION It wits incorrectly reported in a story about an (ire^on Student Public Interest Research Group lawsuit last Wednesday that ti.*i pertjjnt of the student body voted to fund QSPIRG Insl yimr Only ‘>H port «m of the student body voted la fund OSI’IRG The Emerald rag ruts the error Cash For Textbooks Mon.-Sat Smith Family Bookstore 768 E. 13th I Block From Campus 345-1651 noc ftnl ?t» httat U(‘t • J4JMI1 Cmum CALENDARS! Created with your color photos or artwork. © kinko's 1265 Willamette 344-3555 / fax 344-0870
