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Painful process
He has been referred to as an intellectual giant, a
cooperative member of planning and working teams.
Someone has said that he is an excellent and willing
participant in .workshops and projects. Another
individual referred to him as a genius in agricultural
economics.
The man spoken of is Bert Evans, a tenured
associate professor in the department of agricultural
economics at UNL. He has recently- charged his
department and college with discrimination against
him in matters of salary, promotion, consultantship
and other considerations.
In reply to Evans' allegations, the accused UNL
faculty and administration say his record includes
poor working relationships with other members of
the staff, a lack of loyalty to the department of
agricultural economics and to the University and
below average performance in his job assignments.
Evans is asking that his salary be upped from $13,400
to $19,000 per year, in addition to being promoted
to full professor.
. The answer to the charges and counter charges lies
now in the hands of the faculty academic freedom
and tenure committee. They will be providing
recommendations pertaining to Evans' charges in the
near future.
Rarely do cases appear before the academic
freedom and tenure at all, let alone of this serious
nature. Most decisions of this nature are made at the
department and college level. Allegedly Evans has
tried to bring the discrepancies,, as he sees them, before
the faculty of his department and the administration
of his college. If there had been a response
satisfactory to Evans, then it is certain that the
faculty committee now hearing the case would not
have been called. ,
It is extremely disconcerting that both sides of the
case are so polarized. The arguments brought by the
plaintiff are serious indeed. Defense arguments are
equally as vindictive. Would that both sides be correct
in their assessments and observations, something is
seriously amiss within the system.
Most of the defense arguments involve some sort
of scholarly tradition. Phrases like "loyalty to the
department" and "deterioration in job assignments"
seem subject to rebuttal solely on the grounds of
timeliness. Either of those charges might also be
countered with charges of administrative
insufficiency.
Evans certainly has an outstanding academic
background. The great American giant in the field of
economics, John Kenneth Galbraith, supervised
Evans' doctoral dissertation while Evans was pursuing
his advanced degree at Harvard.
It remains to be see what the final disposition of
the case will be. One possible outcome may hopefully
be a reevaluation of departmental and college
practices in dealing with faculty conflict. Sometimes,
due process can be a painful one for both sides..
When conflict of this magnitude reaches a high
level of the institution it is regrettable. The University
and both sides involved can only lose.
Barry Pilger
...if could be the LAST November.
Letters appear In the Daily Nebraska!! at the editor's
discretion. A letter's appearance is based on Its timeliness,
originality, coherence and Interest. All letters must be
accompanied by the writer's true name, but may be
submitted for publication under a pen name or Initials. Use
of such letters will be determined by the editor. Brevity is
encouraged. All letters are subject to condensation and
editing.
Huh?
Dear editor:
It seems we "can't swallow the lie that somehow
Vietnam invaded Vietnam, or that the U.S. is not
seeking a purely military victory by defoliating the
people of Vietnam. No, some things just won't go
down, as they say.
McGovern should be elected if there is a great
Moratorium To End The War in November on
election day. It should be the final moratorium, so
big that it can be seen by the flyboys on the moon. I
am convinced that if the peaceful assembly of
millions and millions and millions of Americans for
peace comes off in November, then it is practically
certain that McGovern will take the reins of
government and maybe world disarmament can begin.
May 4th is the second anniversary of the Kent
State and Jackson State martyrdoms. After that came
the martyrs of Attica and countless dead in Southeast
. Asia. The bombing is relentless. It is the lasi violent
agony of the death of the imperialist USA. The world
of the future is being born and the ideas of war are
dying.
CM. Dalrymple
Bengali in Bangladesh
Dear editor:
What does it mean to be a Bengali in Bangladesh?
It means hunger, disease and death. A Dacca
University girl was raped and kept in military
barracks till she was pregnant at which time she was
driven out into the hostile streets of Dacca. Now
what does she do? Due to religious taboos, she cannot
be admitted into her family. So she is awaiting
abortion at a clinic in Dacca.
Does it not make you indignant? It surely does.
But you can do more than than. You can help.
Through your contribution, you can render relief
to millions of Bengalis. Your dollar, which will be
channeled into relief operations through Red Cross or
Oxfem, can save the father of a large family from
! dying from cholera. It can make his children feel that
there are people in America who care.
Please send your check (payable to Emergency
Relief Fund) to Kathy Luhe, 929 S. 15th, Lincoln.
Contact her at 477-1421, if you are willing to render
your helping hand in Bangladesh relief operation.
B.K. Nirmal
Summer pals
Dear editor:
From my observation as an "orientee" last
summer, the student orientation program is an
overblown, overcostly, overglorified tour of the
campus. I believe using $17,000 of student fee money
is a travesty of student pocketbooks which this
University could well do without.
However, another occurence which is overblown is
the so-called "controversy" over the selection of
summer hosts. When you come for orientation, you
talk to your counselor or the dean if you want to
know specifics. Inherently the tour guide can only
function as an instant "pal" who is clean, cheerful,
brave and reverent. Besides being cheerful, the hosts
should also know about student organizations and
social life so they can answer deep questions such as,
"What's campus life really like?"
These are exactly the people who were chosen. . .
real "gunners." Gunners who belong to 1 5 groups on
campus.
That minority students are not represented only
indicated that their gunners were too busy gunning
somewhere else. Signs were up all over campus
announcing the interviews.
The current "controversy" (which seems to have a
very narrow base of support) smells like sour grapes
to me. And (as usual) the worse smell is coming from .
ASUN.
A Host is a Host
Ironic issue
Dear editor:
When Sen. George McGovern began his
presidential campaign over a year ago he was
criticized as a "one issue candidate", that issue being
the war in Vietnam. Despite this criticism he
continued to speak against the war because the war
continued.
Over the weekend the Hanoi-Haiphong area of
North Vietnam was the victim of American B-S2
raids. McGovern has called Nixon's actions in the
bombing reckless and said, "It is ironic that four
years ago the same man who pleaded to end this war
is now commanding the Air Force to bomb North
Vietnam."
Mary Kris Jensen
PAGE 4
THE DAJLY NEBRASKAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 20. 1972
