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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1971)
Committee report cites tenure myths by Bart Becker A report by a special faculty committee on tenure, delivered to the Faculty Senate Tuesday, explains the purpose of tenure, explodes several "myths" concerning tenure, and makes some recommendations as to what steps the Senate should take to preserve tenure.. The report suggested until the subcommittee currently reviewing the by-laws of the Board of Regents relating to tenure has reported its recommendations, no formal action by the Senate is necessary. "We do believe," the report says, "that members of the Senate should, in the interim, familiarize themselves with the present rules and procedures regarding tenure at this University. "Should steps be taken to seriously modify tenure, and in turn destroy academic freedom, this Senate should be in a position to make its views known." The report explains the primary purpose of tenure is "to protect academic freedom." It is the academic freedom guaranteed by tenure that "allows a faculty member to teach the truth as he perceives it; it fosters a spirit of free inquiry and investigation; it allows a faculty member to espouse unpopular causes." Furthermore, the report states, tenure protects faculty members from the "capricious actions" of administrators, allows faculty to resist pressures that "night result in a distortion of the truth" and "assures that students will be exposed to all facets of sensitive issues." In addition, tenure stabilizes the employment situation for faculty members and "may even help to attract superior persons to teaching." The report also attacked several "myths" concerning tenure in an cttempt to clarify the situation. Tenured persons may be terminated for a cause, the report states. This insures that incompetent and poor teachers are not protected by tenure. Furthermore it "simply is not true" that tenure is unique to the teaching profession. Federal judges have life-time tenure. "It seems no accident or quirk of fate," the report continues, "That almost all the recent courageous judgments made in civil rights cases have Memorial stadium. . . Last Monday the Regents asked another possible expansion of the 67,000-seat facility. Saturday morning in the Nebraska Union to discuss plans on the Lincoln campus. come from federal judges who have tenure." Neither does tenure free a faculty member from his accountability to "students, parents, peers, his chairman, his dean, other administrators, the Board of Regents and the people of Nebraska." The report also notes it is not true that the U. S. Constitution provides adequate protection for academic freedom. The committee cites a recent Utah report on tenure which notes society demands that the University assume the responsibility for examination and appraisal of new ideas, accepted values, established theories and traditional practices. "The uninhibited exploration of ideas cannot exist in an atmosphere of intimidation or potential reprisal against ideas that are bold, innovative, challenging and unpopular," the UNL report says. "A University cannot do what society demands of it if its faculty is constrained to seek the safety of silence or the ambiguity of indecision." The report also asserts that tenure is not freely awarded after a short term of service. Rather, it states, tenure is awarded only after a long period of service during which time the individual is evaluated. The committee was composed of Harvey S. Perlman, Law; T. E. Hartung, Poultry Science: Vernon F. Snow, History; Bernice Slote, English; Samuel B. Treves, Geology; and George E. Rejda, Economics. The four "most formal" actions which the UNL faculty has taken on its own are also presented. (1) "At least since 1965, a committee of faculty and administrators have worked on a code of procedures which would insure a fair and effective method of removing incompetent professors. That code was approved by the Senate but has not been acted upon by the Board of Regents." (2) "In May of 1970, the Board of Regents directed the faculty to prepare by November of that year a statement of faculty responsibilities. The faculty of all three campuses approved a Turn to page 9. C9 r i rr....j m FRIDAY) SEPTEMBER CSL discusses drug use by Carol Strasser The Council on Student Life Thursday tabled until next week a motion to establish a board to deal with drug usage on campus, especially in the area of drug education and treatment programs. The board would be appointed by the chancellor and would include representatives from Student Health, Student Affairs, Housing, Counseling Center, campus ministries, the College of Pharmacy and students with specific knowledge of drug usage and culture. The board motion would enact one of the recommendations of a drug report from CSL's ad hoc Coordinating Committee on Drugs. The report was completed last spring but was never acted on by CSL. Two authors of the report, CSL member John Humlicek and Edward B. Roche, assistant professor of pharmacy, are currently working on a drug policy statement. The drug committee, charged with "assessing how various campus and community agencies respond to the drug problem in general," found that "interaction between campus agencies apparently does not exist to any great, or even desirable, extent." The committee traced the source of this lack of cooperation to little inter agency communication and uncertainty of specific University policy The report calls for a re-statement of University policy, as it appears in the campus Handbook, to distinguish between types and amounts of drugs involved, to deal with the areas of selling for a feasibility study on The Regents will meet for the athletic complex vv 17, 1971 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL. 95, NO. 10) rather than use of drugs and to direct efforts toward controlling the purveyors of illicit drugs. The policy re-statement should also take into account the finding that "the threat of suspension in all cases militates against staff and agencies becoming meaningfully involved in a helpful relationship with drug users." The committee's report used the results of a survey by Robert Brown of the Counseling Center last spring which showed that 30 per cent of students at UNL have tried drugs generally and that the availability of drugs is not a problem for drug users. Brown found that sources of help now center off-campus and that most students believe the University should be involved in drug education programs. Also at Thursday's meeting, Chairman Franklin E. Eldridge informed Council members that he has sent a letter to interim Chancellor C. Peter Magrath requesting an informal meeting with the Board of Regents to discuss the student guest rights proposal. The Regents rejected the Underwood warns of Lincoln VD explosion by Tom Hartford There is a venereal disease "explosion" in Lincoln, Lincoln-Lancaster Health Director George Underwood warned recently. He said gonorrhea is especially on the upswing, according to records at the health department's free Monday and Friday 1:30 p.m. clinics. Underwood thinks increased use of the pill is the reason for the epidemic. Venereal disease is present all over the world, and Nebraska is one of the number of places where it's epidemic. Last year alone over 3.700 cases were reported in Nebraska, an increase of 230 per cent since 1966. About 38 per cent of the cases reported last year were in an age group from 20 to 24 years old. VD affects more Americans each year than measles, whooping cough, encephalitis, hepatitis and tuberculosis combined. The infection may be hidden or obvious, but unless treated it may produce blindness, paralysis, insanity, heart failure, sterility, or any combination of these physical problems. The two most common venereal diseases are gonorrhea and syphilis, in that order. K55 coed visitation proposal last July. In the letter Eldrige stated that "to serve the best interests of all" CSL should discuss informally with the Regents "possible alternatives or compromises that would be acceptable to the Board." Eldridge was instructed by the Council to send a letter to ASUN Pres. Steve Fowler stating CSL's opposition to a proposal by Regent Robert Prokop which would withdraw fraternities from CSL control. Prokops's proposal will, be affected by the University Governance Committee's revision of the Regent's by-laws , and Fowler is chairman of the student sub-committee. In other action, the Council approved the appointments of George Tuck, professor of photography in the School of Journalism, and Hugh Luke, associate professor of English, to the Student Publications Board, a subcommittee of CSL. Two final appointments to CSL this week were Harry Canon, interim assistant dean of student development services, and Hal Smith, interim assistant dean for student development programs. Both are transmitted almost exclusively by sexual intercourse. The usual discharge produced by gonorrhea in its early stages has given rise to at least four common terms: "gleet," "the drip," "the whites," and "morning dew or "morning drop." The oldest and most familiar term, "clap." comes from the French word for brothel ("clapoir"). Gonorrhea, unlike syphilis, will not spread to any part of the body other than the genital region, unless left untreated. It usually enters the body through the delicate membranes of the sex organs and infects lower skin tissues, bringing on massive inflamation. The inflamation gives rise to the pussy discharges common in the early stages of the disease. In men the discharge begins two to six days after exposure to the disease, and is accompanied by a painful inflamation of the urethral canal. The yellow discharge is thick initially but later becomes watery. The symptoms frequently disappear in two to three weeks, but if neglected the infection spreads to the Turn to page 12.