Oregon daily emerald., May 18, 2005, Image 1

Student group calls attention to sex trafficking I 7
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Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 158 \ Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Faculty pay
not on par
with other
higher-eds
Current faculty compensation is
86.2% of the average among
peer institutions; 95% is the goal
BY MORIAH RALINGIT
NEWS REPORTER
Five years ago, the average faculty member
at the University made about 20 percent less
than faculty at peer institutions. Faculty salaries
had long lagged behind those of comparable
universities, so the University Senate decided to
take action.
“Back in the late nineties, the economy was
going like gangbusters,” said professor
Michael Kellman, who served on the Universi
ty Senate Budget Committee from 1999 to
2002. “But we were still falling further and
further behind.”
By a unanimous vote, the body formulated
and approved the University Senate Budget
Committee White Paper in 2000. The paper out
lined a tentative plan to augment faculty salary
so that in five to seven years, average faculty
compensation would stand at 95 percent of the
average among peer institutions.
But it doesn’t appear the University has
made much progress: Now in the fifth year
of the plan, faculty compensation stands at
86.2 percent of the average.
“We did better for the first few years, and
now we’re going backwards,” said professor
Nathan Tliblitz, who served on the Senate Bud
get Committee that formulated the White Paper.
“We’re losing ground.”
beverai factors have hindered the plan s im
plementation. In 2001, Oregon’s economy fell
into a recession, and state allocations for uni
versities decreased. In 2003, the state legislature
decided to freeze salaries for all state employ
ees, University professors included.
But TUblitz said “the University administra
tion has completely shirked their responsibility
in implementing the White Paper.”
This year’s University Senate Budget Com
mittee Report described the faculty compensa
tion issue as a “crisis.”
“Not only are senior faculty salaries no
longer competitive with those to comparator in
stitutions, but department heads are reporting
difficulty in hiring new assistant professors,”
the report said.
Professors maintain that the eroding faculty
compensation damages more than their own
bank accounts.
“At a certain point, this has to start to poison
the atmosphere,” Kellman said.
Professor Stephen Hsu, current chair of the
University Senate Budget committee, said low
salaries have created problems not only with
the recruitment of new talent but also with the
retention of current senior faculty.
“There’s been a steady attrition of top people
leaving the University,” Hsu said.
Kellman said the quality of academics at the
University has slipped because of low salaries.
“The academic standing of the University’s
department has declined,” he said.
At a University Senate meeting May 11, Uni
versity Senior Vice President and Provost John
Moseley responded to charges that the adminis
tration didn’t consider faculty compensation a
priority.
“I absolutely place it as a top priority, and I
am very concerned about the warnings that you
FACULTY, page 5
Zane Rrrr | Photographer
Dan Flynn, author of "Why the Left Hates America," spoke Tuesday night in the Lillis Business Complex.
Flynn's speech drew mixed reactions from audience members.
, 1'Why the
Left Hates America'
Author Dan Flynn says radical liberal ideals
neglect America's positive contributions
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
No matter how many
good things America
does for the world,
the “American left” won’t
admit it, conservative
author and speaker Dan Fly
nn said Tuesday night dur
ing a lecture on his 2002
book, “Why the Left Hates
America: Exposing the Lies
That Have Obscured Our
Nation’s Greatness. ”
Flynn met frequent verbal
opposition from some of the
roughly 250 people packed
into 182 Lillis for the College
Republicans-sponsored
event. He said that Ameri
cans have contributed tech
nological and medical ad
vances to the world and that
America is unique because of
the freedoms it provides.
But he said “the main
problem with the left” is that
they compare America to an
ideal when actually “we’re
doing a little bit better than
the rest of the world. ”
“And when you compare
anything to an ideal, it’s go
ing to fall short,” he said.
“There’s racism here, there’s
sexism here, there’s environ
mental problems, not every
one has a job. ... But next to
the Candy Land you’ve got
going on in your head, Amer
ica falls short.”
He said diversity has be
come “almost like a mantra
on most college campuses.”
But he said it is diversity
based on “superficial charac
teristics” and not based on
“the type of diversity that is
especially welcome in intel
lectual settings, and that is
the diversity of viewpoint.”
Flynn said he estimated no
more than 10 percent of the
population is the “American
left,” although “maybe
here in Eugene more like
90 percent.”
“Those small numbers be
lay mass cultural influence in
the media and museums and
libraries, but especially in
higher education,” he said.
“But I’m here because I’d like
to start a debate, and where
else to start a debate than in
the belly of the beast?”
Flynn also said there are
“real distinctions” between
the “left” and liberals and
democrats.
“That’s not to say (Sen.
Hillary Clinton) and George
W. Bush are the same, but...
you do a violence to the lan
guage when you jumble
someone like Hillary Clinton
with the Noam Chomskys of
the world.”
LEFT, page 4
Student files
complaint,
claims code
is 'racist'
Melissa Hanks filed the accusation
against the OMAS policy with the
U.S. Department of Education
BY JARED PABEN
NEWS EDITOR
A University student has filed a complaint
with the U.S. Department of Education claim
ing that a University Office of Multicultural
Academic Support policy that reserves early
registration into several math and English
classes for minority students is an unfair,
“racist practice.”
University senior Melissa Hanks filed a
complaint Friday with the DOE’s Office for
Civil Rights, saying she hopes the department
will investigate the classes and that the com
plaint will prompt University administrators
to abolish the enrollment restrictions.
“I want to see these classes gone,” Hanks
said. “I want to see no enrollment based
on race.”
The OMAS administers seven classes —
Writing 121 and 122; Math 111, 241, 242 and
243; and Algebra Strategies 199 — in which
the first 10 slots of the 18-student classes are
reserved for minority students. Other students
must meet with an OMAS counselor on the
morning of the first day of class to enroll in
the remaining slots. The classes, which allow
fewer enrolled students than other sections of
the same course, offer more individualized in
structor attention.
Linda Liu, advising coordinator and aca
demic adviser for OMAS, told the Emerald
that during the seven years she’s been in con
trol of enrollment for the classes there have al
ways been spaces available after the initial
10 spots have filled for students willing to
wake up at 7:30 a.m. and complete a five
minute pre-authorization process.
In addition to her DOE complaint, Hanks
said she has also filed a complaint with the
University’s Bias Response Team. At least one
other student, junior Matt Misley, has filed a
complaint with the BRT.
University General Counsel Melinda Grier
could not be reached for comment; however,
the University administration released a state
ment Tuesday affirming that the University
doesn’t restrict courses based on ethnicity but
that it does have programs that “try to provide
OMAS, page 8
IN BRIEF
Demetrius Williams pleads
no contest to charges
Demetrius Williams, 22-year-old star receiver
for the University football team, pled no contest
TUesday afternoon to a criminal mischief charge
stemming from an incident last August in which
police say he jammed parking meters so he
could park for free.
Williams’ attorney, F. William Honsowetz,
arranged a plea agreement with the city prose
cutor’s office in which Williams will have to
complete a diversion program. The charge will
be removed from his record if the agreed-upon
diversion is successfully completed.
Assistant Athletics Director for Media Services
Dave Williford said he does not know whether
actions will be taken by the department to
reprimand Williams, but he said it would be
looked into. Williford said he contacted head
football coach Mike Bellotti about the issue and
that Bellotti said “he will have no public state
ment until he has talked to Demetrius.”
Williams said he does not expect there to be
any repercussions from the football program but
said that “if they do something, I don’t care; it’s
something I’ll have to deal with.”
Eugene Municipal Court Judge Wayne
Allen did not detail the specifics of the diver
sion during the five-minute hearing, but he
did explain the technicalities behind one of
the requirements: Williams has five days to
schedule a viewing of an arraignment at the
jail and has 30 days to complete the viewing.
After his court appearance, Williams
said he wasn’t sure what the details of the
diversion were and that he would be contact
ing his lawyer later in the week to figure out
what he needs to do and when he needs to
do it. Williams said he pled “no contest”
rather than “not guilty” to the charges at the
advice of his lawyer.
Williams has six months to complete the di
version or he may be subjected to the maximum
punishment: 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Eugene police charged Williams in early
August 2004 with five counts of criminal
mischief 3 for allegedly sticking pennies and
washers covered in a “gooey substance” in
parking meters, jamming them so they
would read “out of order,” according to a Eu
gene Police Department report.
— Meghann M. Cuniff