Newspaper Page Text
rrn 2 8 1878
THE RED AND BLACK
VOLUME K4, NUMBER 82
Georgia's only collegiate daily newspaper
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. ATHENS. GEORGIA 30602
TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 28. 1978
STAFF DEMANDS REINSTATEMENT
Press’ transfer draws protest
reassignment was delivered to University
Vice Piesident for Academic Affairs
Virginia Trotter on Monday afternoon
PRESS WAS notified Friday afternoon
that he was to be transferred to the
Griffin Experiment Station, effective
Monday. Feb. 27
Library officials say Press' transfer is
the result of a reorganization of the
library's structure, made necessary
because of impending automation ai the
library
Library employees, however, see the
action as a move to get rid of Press, the
only one of six assistant directors to
speak out against the library administra
tion.
• We believe that this transfer is an act
of political harassment, an attack on
academic freedom, and a violation of one
of our most basic rights, the freedom of
speech." the resolution passed at
Monday's meeting stated
"TO THE library staff. Dr. Press has
always represented the best in profes
sional librarianship and humane, just
administration In an environment
characterized by low morale and fear,
the staff has had only one senior library
administrator to turn towards for sound
advice and correct decisions.
"He (Press) is. we are sure, being
penalized for his criticism of poor
administration and for his unwillingness
to stifle the criticism of other members
of the library staff.'' the resolution
stated.
In a letter prepared to be sent to The
Chronicle of Higher Education. The
Library Journal, the American Library
Association. The Atlanta Constitution, the
Association of Research Libraries.
University President Fred C. Davison
and the Board of Regents, the staff
association states the situation in the
library “has now deteriorated to an
intolerable level that forces us to speak
out and seek your help.''
The letter states that the University-
administration has done nothing con
structive to solve the problems within the
library, despite a full scale administra
tive review of the libraries last summer
"THE LIBRARIES staff can wait no
longer.'' the letter states “Working
conditions in the libraries are miserable,
the environment in the libraries is
characterized by fear and turmoil, and
certain staff members are clearly being
harassed and intimidated for their
criticism of these conditions.
"An important institution, along with
the people who work in it. is being
destroyed." the letter adds
The letter stresses the members of the
staff association are asking for outside
help in solving the problems of the
University library because they feel the
University administration will not take
positive steps to alleviate the problems,
despite the fact that they feel “the
University of Georgia administration has
a large amount of evidence of gross
personnel mismanagement and exploita
tion. extremely low staff morale, and job
discrimination in the University
libraries."
BY LIBRARY STAFF AND OBSERVER
Dr. Leroy Ervin discusses issues
By PATRICIA TEMPLETON
Staff writer
The reassignment of a top University
library official to a branch library in
Griffin has brought forth a storm of
criticism against both the University and
library administration from library
employees.
Protest to the transfer of Dr. Richard
Press, the library's assistant director of
collection development, reached a climax
Monday afternoon at a meeting of the
University Library Staff Association.
The association passed a series of
resolutions condemning Press' transfer
and calling for his immediate reinstate
ment as assistant director for collection
development, and approved the sending
of a letter from the staff association to
organizations outside the University
requesting help in remedying the
problems in the library.
In addition, a petition signed by 71
library employees protesting Press'
Release of committee’s report demanded
By PATRICIA TEMPLETON
and TOM BARTON
Pressure for the release of the report of
an investigation of the University
libraries mounted yesterday as organi
zations from both within and without the
University demanded the contents of the
report be made public.
In a resolution passed yesterday
^ afternoon by the University Library Staff
Association, the association demanded
“the administrative review report be
made public and its recommendations
j acted upon immediately."
Also yesterday. The Athens Observer, a
weekly Athens newspaper, filed a
complaint In Clarke County Superior
t Court against Vice President for
Academic Affairs Virginia Trotter, over
the release of the committee report.
The report in question is the results
4 and recommendations of the adminis
trative review committee, appointed by
the University administration last
summer to investigate problems within
the libraries, the scene of charges of sex
discrimination, poor management and
questionable treatment of employees.
\ COMMITTEE of administrators and
faculty members conducted the investi
gation by interviewing more than half of
the library’s employees on various
aspects of library practices.
The final report on the committee's
interviews was given on Sept. 9 to
chairman of the committee, and then
Acting Vice President for Academic
Affairs Merle Prunty. Prunty then made
a report to University President Fred C.
Davison and to Trotter. The contents of
the report and its recommendations have
never been made public.
And now University officials are
denying that the report ever existed In a
letter dated Feb. 22. Trotter informed
Observer reporter John Toon that the
committee records were not “public
records.” and that the committee's
observations and conclusions were made
by Prunty in "an oral report" to Davison
and herself.
"Consequently. there is no report in the
usual sense dealing with the activities of
this committee." Trotter wrote to Toon
She added that the committee records
were not of the type required by a state
official to keep, nor Were the reports
“created to serve as a memorial of
official transactions for public refer
ence
• \LS«». IT is quite unlikely lhal the
release of certain of this material would
jmpardize ‘individual liberty’ interests of
the type protected by the Due Process
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
Trotter said
In an interview with The Red and
Black earlier this quarter Trotter said
she had "read the committee's report"
and said she would reach a decision on
the library situation soon.
She also told numerous library
employees that she had “read the
committee report "
However, in a telephone interview last
night. Trotter said what she was
referring to when she said "report" was
actually the notes committee members
took during the investigation
"THERE REALLY isn’t a report What
l read was the notes that everybody took,
just a summary of the interviews.”
Trotter said
Prunty also said yesterday he had
made “oral reports" to Davison and
Trotter “This is quite customary." he
said.
However, members of the committee
contacted yesterday said although they
had not seen a final written copy of the
report they had "definitely received the
impression" that Prunty planned to make
a written report of the committee’s
findings and recommendations.
The Observer’s request is being made
under the provisions of the Georgia Open
Records Act. which states that public
records not expressly closed by law are
open to state citizens
THE SUIT calls for Trotter "to show
cause" for her actions in a court hearing
to be set in not less than 10 days from
today and not to exceed 30 days
The resolution passed by the Library
Staff Association demands the report be
made public.
The association also voted the
Executive Committee of the association
to seek access to the committee report,
documents which include Davison's
response to the report, and "all other
reports and recommendations" made by
Prunty and Trotter “based on or
See REPORT, p 2
Members of the library Staff Associa-
Association worked until late last night,
xeroxing copies of news articles which
have appeared on the library and
preparing the letters to be sent to the
different agencies.
According to one member of the Staff
Association, members of the association
feared the University administration
would apply pressure on the Staff
Association not to send the letters. "We
wanted to get them mailed before the
University administration had time to
react." the association member said
When told about the letters and
resolutions passed at the Staff Associa
tion meeting Trotter said. "For a group
that really wants to do something for the
University this sounds interesting.”
"1 really don’t think that pressure from
the outside is what solves problems
within the institution
"We ‘the University administration)
have been trying in as many ways as we
can to do this in such a way that we will
solve the problems in the library
Certainly by going to all these outside
agencies this is not going to help It's just
going to make the problems worse.”
Trotter said
See LIBRARY, p. 2
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Racing tradition
Photo by DAN CROFT
It was Soap Box Derby time last weekend and from all
reports the racing was enjoyed by all who came out to
partake of the fun, whether they raced or just watched The
weather contributed to a pleasant setting by providing one of
the first truly springlike weekends of the year No matter
what the weather, the dedication to their sport displayed by
these two enterprising fellows would have insured their
participation, especially after the racers took so long to
build
SGA changes up for student vote today
By BILL KRUEGER
Staff writer
Students will vote on proposed changes
to the student government constitution in
a referendum today. If passed, one of the
amendments will change the structure of
the executive branch.
The first amendment proposes to
change the executive branch from a
president, executive vice-president, and
administrative vice-president to a presi
dent and one vice-president
The second amendment proposes the
president be given the right to choose a
representative to the SGA elections
committee In the past, the executive
vice president has served on the
committee
The second amendment gives the
president the power to choose his own
cabinet and to preside over the cabinet
meetings. The executive vice-president
now presides at cabinet meetings
THE THIRD amendment proposes to
drop the prerequisite that the president
and treasurer of the Student Senate first
serve a full term «one year) as senator
According to the current requirement
the president and treasurer of the senate
are now serving illegally
Voting will be from 9 to 4 at five
locations The polling places are Bolton.
Memorial. Psychology-Journalism Plaza.
Main Library, and Graduate Studies
Students will be required to show ID's
and fee cards to vote.
“It is necessary to get these motions
out for a vote on Tuesday because on
Wednesday petitions will go out for
students interested in running for student
government offices This way we will
know whether there will be one or two
vice-presidents." Sen. Glen Vey (AicS)
said
“W'e really want to see a lot of students
turn out to vote on the referendum."
Debbie Barnes, elections committee
chairman, said.
THE THREE amendments to be voted
on today were passed for the second time
by the senate February 22 To get an
amendment to the constitution it must be
passed at two consecutive senate
meetings and get a majority vote of the
students voting during a referendum
At that meeting Vey presented the
motions for amending the constitution
Vey also moved to amend the constitution
to give the newly formed vice-
presidential post duty of presiding over
the senate This motion was defeated in
two consecutive senate meetings
The new vice-president's position has
no defined role as of yet. but the duties of
the vice-president will be determined
before the April 13 SGA election,
according to Vey
Vey made another motion to amend the
constitution with a change in the
representation of students by senators.
The proposal would change represen
tation from one senator for every 400
students as it is now to one senator for
every 600 students. This motion was also
defeated in two consecutive meetings of
the senate
SGA has distributed no publicity about
the referendum, according to Bill Key.
Senate public relations committee
member "Our timing was hurried up
because we just decided last Wednesday
to have the referendum this Tuesday," he
siM
"People (senators) just haven’t taken
the time to put up posters I’ll bet we
have a poor voter turnout." Key said
In case of rain the voting will be
postponed to another day, he said.
Foreign students encounter different lifestyle
By USA JONES
and LAURA RUMSEY
It is a typical day at the University and
most students do little to deviate from
their normal activities They attend
classes, meet with their friends and
maybe make social plans for the evening
But for the 530 students from foreign
countries at the University, a “typical”
day requires many adjustments The
absence of various cultural interests,
differences in social attitudes and
language barriers often makes life
difficult for the foreigner
According to one foreign student,
meeting friends is difficult “It’s easy to
meet people on the first level but it is
very difficult to reach them beyond
that," Sigrid Hahn a senior from
Germany, said.
Several international students said the
language and subsequent problems with
a broken accent have presented problems
in forming relationships Despite the fact
moat are able to converse fluently
conversation and interaction are some
times limited
"IF AMERICAN students won’t talk to
us. how will they know that we are able
to speak English fluently." Yap Peng, a
sophomore from China, said "I think
students should give us more of a
chance "
But many international students are
apparently pleased with the friendly
nature of students at the University.
“People here are easier to talk with."
Bonnie Steward, a freshman from
England, said “They're a bit gushy. but
not in a bad way.”
Christine Vantorre. a third-year
student from France, said she enjoys the
slow-paced easy-going manner of stu
dents here
The social scene in America has meant
major adjustments for many foreign
students.
NTOW KWARENA of Ghana, said he
had been used to a livelier setting
overseas. “Here, it’s hard for my wife
and me to bring out ourselves at
parties." he said
An emphasis on beer at college parties
poses another dilemma After having
been raised on the superior German
beers. Hahn had a difficult time getting
used to domestic brands "I don’t see
how Americans drink the stuff in such
quantities." she said
For Nagano Masaomi. the fickleness of
women in America is sharply contrasted
to his native country of Japan "Women
go from one man to another quite rapidly
here,” he observed
Masaomi. a journalism graduate
student, also believes that social small
talk often replaces politeness in America
"If I introduce my date to a friend in
Japan, she will speak only briefly to the
person as a matter of politeness to me.”
he said. •
STEWARD SAID the English social
scon- is more formal than the casual
relationships oiten exhibited in America
She saiu there is less emphasis on class
differentiation in Ameri* - I she is able
to associate with a larger variety of
individuals here
Another adjustment for international
students is getting accustomed to
American food Although Athens is
equipped with a variety of specialty-
restaurants. certain dishes serving as
reminders of the homeland are largely
unavailable
Kwabena said he misses plantain, a
palm oil dish from Africa Steward said
mayonnaise is a completely new
phenomenon because the English use
butter instead
Americans also don’t sit over their
meals like the English. Steward said "It
was a shock for me to see people eat
quickly and then leap out of their chairs
like they had to put out a fire "
Most international students have
adjusted to the fast-food restaurant
chains that dominate the American
scene Vantorre said she enjoys dining
out because she spends less time and
money than she would in France
Scr STUDENTS, p. S
Language barriers can cause difficulty for foreign students