PACE TWO
ROGUE NEWS
Fri.,Oct. 22, 1971
Note: This editorial is written with the national concensus on
tenure in mind. There are still nontenure districts of which
Ashland is one. At the present Ashland teachers are on a 30 year
contract basis but tenure has been filtering through the state
senate recently so, there is a possibility of a change in the
Ashland district.
If merit pay is a dirty word to most teachers then, tenure is
almost a sacred one. As it has worked out, tenure is the closest
existing thing to an ironclad guarantee of job security in any
profession. It goes a long way toward making teaching the most
secure profession.
What tenure provides is a guarantee that teachers cannot be
dismissed from their jobs except for certain specified cases usually
immorality, dishonesty or willful neglect of duty. Tenure exists to
protect the teachers from capricious acts, to let him teach in peace,
and to allow him freedom of speech in class. Unfortunately,
relatively few teachers take advantage of this freedom to discuss
controversial subjects. Because of this those who do are rendered
more vulnerable to harassment, intimidation, and dismissal
proceedings, tenure not withstanding.
The May 10, 1971 issue of the Newsweek contained an article on
tenure:
"Almost every campus has them: incompetent professors who
cannot be fired, much less shamed into quitting. Losers by almost
any academic standard, they are actually winners of academe's
choicest prize: tenure (from the Latin, tenere, meaning to hold or
keep). Tenure, charges John R. Silber, president of Boston
University, "hat become a device used by the devil to encourage
faculty slothfulness!' Why not abolish this sinecure system
forthwith? Unfortunately, the very rules that protect a professor's
freedom to stagnate, are also the rules that safeguard professors who
advocate unpopular ideas or pursue controversial research. Typically,
young teachers have up to seven-year probationary appointments;
after six years, a departmental committee reviews each newcomers
work and recommends that he either be let go or 'given tenure'
rehired on a permanent basis. After that he may be fired but only
for compelling reasons such as flagrant incompetence, moral
turpitude or his college's dire financial straits. The college must
present formal charges, usually before a jury-like panel of the
professor's colleagues.
Because the Supreme Court now holds that academic freedom of
speech and opinion is a constitutional right, critics argue that tenure
is no longer necessary. But professors often need all the defending
they can get, particularly at small or politically pressured
institutions.
Professor David Fellman of the University of Wisconsin stated
that, 'Protecting a few incompetents is a price well worth paying for
the great number of good people who are protected.' The trouble is
that more than a few incompetents are involved."
If tenure has not done all it was meant to do, it has done
something it was not supposed to: it has further sapped the incentive
of many teachers to improve their competence or bring to their jobs
a strong professional motivation. It is not a question of tenure alone,
but rather one of too many individuals with low job motivation,
sheltered by a single salary schedule, shielded by tenure and doing
work that, despite its apparent challenges, can easily become an
uninspired habit.
In almost every district one finds teachers who exemplify the
highest standards of dedication and performance. At the same time
one finds teachers who cannot control their students and simple
cannot teach. One also finds teachers who are simply time-servers.
Worse, one finds teachers who make school a cruel, unbearable
experience for the students whose minds they are supposed to be
enriching. Yet they remain teachers.
Was tenure supposed to accomplish job security for incompetent
teachers? or should reforms be made in the present system to
protect society against imcompetence?. - S. H.
Constitutional Revisions
Election Proposals Debated By Council
Election of Student Senators
was the most-debated point
under constitutional revision at
the last meeting of the student
council. More time was spent on
this topic than any other under
consideration. Three proposals
for elections were forwarded.
The first proposal was to
maintain the present system;
that is, elect Senators from
Biology, U.S. History, and Econ
classes.
Larry Taylor moved that this
system be abolished. He
suggested an alternative system,
whereby interested students
would pick up a petition and,
upon obtaining a required
number of signatures, become a
Senator. In discussion. First
Vice President Lesli Peterson
proposed an amendment to this
suggestion. She said that, rather
than signing a petition, students
which would have been needed
on a petition, and elect a
representative from there.
Taylor stated that he would
support that amendment.
Representative Chuck Wiley,
however, disagreed with this
proposal. He said that, even if
there is an unrepresented
minority of students (as Taylor
stated), there is no need to
adopt the Taylor-Peterson
proposal. He suggested that, as
an alternative, ten non-voting
seats be set aside for the
"minority."
PHI'S
flu,
Citizens For
A group of citizens from
around the valley have met to
propose an alternative to
Medford's Mayor, Bill Singler's
"Operation Denial." This group
consists of young and old people
concerned about the Mayor's
new program.
The alternative proposal
drawn up by the Citizens for
Awareness consists of several
parts.
Citizen's Committee Formed
A citizen's committee,
composed of various
professional and
non-professional, people who are
concerned about the problem
will be formed. It will be the
goal of this committee to deal
with the local drug problem in a
realistic, rational, and
humanitarian way." This group
will incorporate the aid of
existing agencies to fulfill its
purpose.
The member's of the citizen's
committee will be selected by
co-operative effort of Medford
City Government and Citizens
for Awareness
Confidentiality Kept
All of the persons who offer
assistance will be given complete
and total confidentiality during
the following consultations.
It was pointed out in the
discussion that Wiley's proposal
would provide less of a voice for
unrepresented students than
already exists. The reasoning
behind this was that now, any
student may attend student
council meetings. However,
under Wiley's plan, the
"unrepresented" students would
be limited to 10 seats. Larry
Taylor mentioned that the Wiley
proposal was arbitrary, as the 10
seats would "be filled with
student "hand-picked by the
council majority."
Students will have an
opportunity to vote between the
present voting system, the
Taylor-Peterson plan, and the
Wiley proposal.
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The committee shall
recognize and label any and all
of the distinctions among the
various drugs used as they are
discovered.
Finally, the committee shall
inform the mayor of its findings
and advise where circumstances
require such action.
No Provision for Enforcement
After the plan was presented,
there was a discussion where
various viewpoints on the
alternate proposal were aired.
Singler's major objection to the
new proposal was the fact that it
made no provision for the
enforcement of any drug laws.
"Operation Denial" consists
of several phases. One phase is
the use of an anonymous caller
phone where people can call to
inform on drug traffic. Phase
two consists of a ban of
hitchhiking in the City of
Medford. The latest phase is
strict curfew enforcement. All
juveniles must be off the streets
by eleven p.m.
Possibly a coincidence, soon
after the Citizens for Awareness'
meeting, Mayor Singler eased the
anti-hitchhiking law. It now
allows a person to hitchhike as
long as he is off of the roadway.
What pine needles are sharpest;
Porcupine.
THE ROGUE
Published bi-monthy, during the school months, by the
Associated Student Body of Ashland Senior High School, 201
Mountain Ave., Ashland, Oregon, 97520. Subscription cost $2. SO
per year.
Editor Lois Hill
Managing Editor Larry Taylor
News Editor Julie Harrison
Feature Editor Rick Stanek
Sports Editors Kevin Gandee, Mike Hocking
Advertisers Shirley Delsman, Sharon Hill, Jerilyn Lewis
Business Manager Mary Hoxie
Photographers Harold Berninghausen, Walt Vait
Illustrator and Cartoonist Dale Nelson
Reporters Rosario De La Torre, Willie Thompson
Advisor Clifford Brock
Comments
Dear Editor,
This letter is directed to the
reporting of an article printed in
the last issue. I am refering to
the article written about my trip
to Ecuador on the American
Field Service program. This
article not only misquoted me
and presented outright lies but
contradicted the perspective of
the whole AFS program. In a
time when we need a greater
understanding of the world's
people, Rosario states
"Ecuadorian boys .are male
chauvinist pigs"-something I
never said. This is also a time
when AFS is providing its
students with unlimited learning
opportunities and a new family
life. But Rosario again spends his
time describing my whole stay in
Ecuador in a
boy-watch-girl-watch-boy
atmosphere. So let us please not
look at an AFS experience in
view of Rosario's article.
Cindy Ragland
American Abroads Program
Ecuador
Dear Editor:
In regards to Pat Overand's
letter to the editor in the last
issue of the Rogue News, I
would like to apologize for any
harm or ill feelings I generated
among the student body or to
our student body president. At
the time I was writing the
editorial, "A Kid's Way of Doing
Things", I felt very strongly
against the issue of initiation.
But now, after I have seen the
article in print and have heard
the comments about it, it really
doesn't mean that much to me
anymore. Sophomore initiation
is typical of something that
would happen in the high
school.
Pat may have been right or he
may have been wrong in saying
that I misquoted him. Whether 1
did or not, I do not want to
argue it, as we could be at it
forever. In any case, in the
future I will be more careful in
interviewing and quoting people
for the school paper.
The purpose of writing the
editorial was not to suit my taste
as I am not interested in giving
myself an ego boost by seeing
my opinion published. I'll admit
it is exciting to be a "big" school
newspaper writer, but the
purpose of the editorial was to
try and show the student body
what was happening to their
school unity. I didn't know it
was such a touchy subject.
Maybe Pat will consider the
whole issue and realize that
sophomore initiation is really
nothing to get excited about.
Rick Stanek
Feature Editor
Rogue News
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