Newspaper Page Text
THE RED AND BLACK
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Geoigia community
Athens, Go. Vol. 90, No. 48 Wednesday, Jon. 19, 1983 News 543-1809 Advertising 543-1791
Job-hunting prois may shun UGA
By CINDY GEORGE
Rrd and Black Senior Reporter
The proposed changes in the University
System's tenure policy could discourage
qualified professors from seeking jobs with the
University, Paul Kelly, president of the local
chapter of the American Association of Univer
sity Professors said Tuesday.
“If I were contemplating taking a position
with a university, and one was the University of
Georgia and one was another university, I
would opt for the other university if I had heard
that the University of Georgia was considering
altering its tenure policy,” Kelly said.
Concern over the changes proposed by the
Board of Regents has also caused controversy
among current University faculty members -
controversy that has led the Arts and Sciences
Faculty Senate to investigate the matter, he
said.
Because of widespread concern about the
large number of tenured professors in the
system, the regents formed an ad hoc commit
tee to review the tenure policy. Changes recom
mended by the committee last November in
cluded the creation of non-tenured positions and
dismissal of tenured faculty whose jobs had
become obsolete The regents have delayed ac
tion on the recommendations until March
Vice President for Academic Affairs Virginia
Trotter, a member of the regents committee,
said she did not feel the proposed tenure
changes had affected the University’s ability to
attract qualified teachers
"Many qualified people are interested if we
have any openings." Trotter said. “I don't
believe the tenure factor is affecting people's
desire to move or not to move.
“There may be an isolated case where we are
having a problem attracting faculty in a certain
area, but it's not because of the tenure situa
tion." she added.
But according to James Campbell, an assis
tant professor of political science, even talking
about tenure changes can hurt the University.
"Generally, even the discussion of modifying
the tenure system within a specific university
system ..will have a detrimental effect on the
university's ability to attract and keep qualified
faculty," Campbell said.
Both Kelly and Campbell said the addition of
non-tenured positions would discourage young
professors from coming to the University
“It certainly would be a factor if I were a
young person looking for a job,” Kelly said
The addition of the non-tenured positions
would create a kind of inferior, "second-rate"
class of professors, Campbell said.
In response to the attention being given to the
tenure issue, the Arts and Science Faculty
Senate has formed its own ad hoc committee to
study the regents' proposed changes
The A & S Senate ad hoc committee has
prepared a questionnaire designed to "discern
the overall perception of tenure changes" by
faculty members, said committee head Robert
Hodson, associate professor of microbiology
"We want to educate the faculty here at the
University (about the proposals)," Hodson said
The questionnaire will go before the senate at
its meeting next week and, if approved, will be
distributed to members of the A & S faculty.
Another controversial change recommended
by the regents' committee was the dismissal of
tenured professors because of "program
modification." Under the policy change, if a
change in a program caused a professor's posi
tion to become obsolete, that professor could be
dismissed whether he was tenured or not
“We are very concerned about this,” Kelly
said "The institution has the responsibility for
retraining the individual and fitting him or her
into some other program An individual is en
titled to this consideration "
Nursing homes await budget vote
Medicaid recipients
could have gloomy juture
Second of two parts
By MELISSA JORDAN
Krd and Blark Staff Writer
The atmosphere inside the gold-
domed building will be as chilling as
the winter gales blowing down Capitol
Avenue. In the next few weeks
Georgia legislators may make a
decision which, in the opinion of an
Athens nursing-home operator could
shorten the lives of 37,492 Georgia
nursing-home patients.
The legislators must decide
whether to approve a proposed *5.4
million hike in the state’s payments to
nursing-home operators under
Medicaid.
Coy Williamson, administrator of
Grandview Care Center In Athens,
predicted a dire future for Medicaid-
supported nursing home patients if
the increase were not approved.
“A lot (of nursing-home patients)
won’t live as long because they won't
get the care that they need,”
Williamson said.
Nursing-home operators claim that
without the increase they won’t be
able to maintain the staff necessary
for quality care. Their rates for
patient care have not been adjusted
for inflation in two years.
George Hunt, executive vice
president of the politically powerful
Georgia Health Care Association, a
private group of nursing-home
operators, said he foresaw serious
problems if reimbursement rates
were not increased.
"You'll see more employee layoffs,
declines in patient care and shifts
threatening to walk out," he said
“It's a very critical economic
situation.”
So critical, in fact, that many
nursing-home operators fear they
may have to adopt discriminatory
admissions requirements to stay
afloat financially.
“We may have to try and entice
more private patients," Williamson
said. “We can charge what we want
to, and set our rates for them."
Eighty-five percent of Grandview's
current patients are supported by
Medicaid.
In addition to the proposed reim
bursement hike, the GHCA has also
lobbied for changes in educational-
loan requirements that would benefit
its members.
Some professional-oriented loans
can be paid back by the student’s
working in a professional career one
year for each *1,000 of the loan. While
nursing and dental assistants can take
part in the program, the state does not
define nursing-home work as a health
care profession.
Kathy Wharton, administrator of
Athens' Cedar Hill Nursing Home and
a member of the GHCA governmental
programs committee, said she
thought the system was unfair.
During 1981-82, 68 University
students in the schools of pharmacy
and veterinary medicine — students
studying drug dispensation and
animal medicine but not those
studying gerontology and elderly
health care — received *102,000 in
educational loans from the state.
But the real problem remains the
reimbursement rate.
The state currently reimburses
Athens nursing homes at daily per-
patient rates significantly lower 'han
rates paid to hospitals for regular
patients As reported in part one of
this series, Grandview receives *26 39
per patient per day in Medicaid
reimbursement, while Athens
General receives *130 per patient
each day.
A major critic of the current system
is Democratic state Sen. Haul Broun
of Athens, the Senate Appropriations
Committee chairman from 1973 to
1982 He also served on a committee
that studied the Medicaid program.
“It's just not right to give one group
increases when other groups are
suffering so much," Broun told an
Atlanta newspaper last week
Please See NURSING, Page 2
Channel 34 ready to air in summer
The two companies that have applied to the
FCC for licenses ‘are negotiating to form one
corporation that would apply.’
—Worth McDougald
By JEFFREY JOWDY
Rrd and Black ConlrllNitlng Writer
Athens' first commercial television
station may be broadcasting by sum
mer's end, following nearly two years
of uncertainty.
Channel 34, a full-power station with
a 70- to 80-mile broadcast radius, will go
on the air soon after any agreement is
reached between the two companies
applying for the operating license,
according to Larry Bernstein, the
Federal Communications Commission
lawyer assigned to the case
Sunbelt Television of Athens and the
Georgia Mountain Corporation of
Atlanta both applied for an FCC license
to operate Athens' only commercial
Students may get more
spaces from nearby lot
By BOB KEYES
and MIKE TIDWELL
H-.l and Hlark Sufi Writtn
Despite student concern over the pro
posed construction of a multi level
parking deck next to Myers Hall.
University officials say the structure
will indirectly prove beneficial to
students in Myers Community.
The parking deck, to be built on an ex
isting student lot next to Myers, is plan
ned to be restricted to University
employees and visitors This provision,
which will eliminate more than a hun
dred student parking places, has pro
mpted the Myers Hall Council to protest
the proposal.
But University Campus Planning
Director Dave Lunde said the protests
are unfounded because the proposed
construction, when completed, will
open up a considerable number of
spaces in nearby lots that are now used
television station and are currently
negotiating a merger of their separate
applications
Both companies originally dropped
their applications for separate low-
power stations to compete for the full-
power commercial station because only
one license for the Athens area is
by faculty and staff
"I really don't think they have a very
strong argument," Lunde said Tues
day "All we’re doing is asking them
(students) to walk a little bit further
from where they park (now).”
Parking Services Director James
Tardy echoed Lunde's sentiments
“I feel like too much is being made of
the thing right now,” he said “I don t
really think it's as bad as some might
believe it is.”
Both Lunde and Tardy said once the
deck is completed students will actually
have more spaces available than they
have now.
Employees and faculty who now park
in lots immediately surrounding Myers
community will be able to use the deck,
which, as proposed, will hold about 600
vehicles. The spaces freed by that
change will then probably go to
students, Tardy said.
The current Myers lot contains
enough spaces for 285 cars, and when
the deck is finished 182 of these spaces
will remain for student use Students
will also be able to park in the 285-space
available. Now the companies are
merging their requests.
"They are negotiating to form one
corporation that would apply," said
journalism Professor Worth Mc
Dougald
McDougald, who has advised Sunbelt
Television on the technical aspects of
Georgia Center lot across from the Col
iseum when the deck is completed
Lunde and Tardy both said the real
paVking crunch will hit students when
deck construction begins Resident
parking will then be moved to the Col
iseum lot, which is the closest available
parking area, Lunde said
"They'll have to give for one year,"
he said, adding that construction will
probably take less than a year
Because construction is still a long
while off - possibly as much as five
years - officials have not decided how
to solve parking problems that will
arise from it. "When the time comes
we'll make the change, " Tardy said.
Myers Hall Council member Brett
Holder, who met Tuesday with Lunde to
discuss the deck, said his group would
discuss what actions it would take, if
any, at its next meeting Sunday night
Lunde said Tuesday he would talk
with the council soon to discuss the deck
and future parking problems
its application, said chances were
"favorable” the two stations would
merge and receive the FCC license
"We are talking to them (Georgia
Mountain),” said Sunbelt President
Claude Williams.
Williams said although he hoped for a
quick agreement, he would remain
cautious about the outcome of the talks
If the two companies reach an
agreement, "The commission will
move very rapidly,” McDougald said.
"As far as I know the case is either
done or ending, but I'm not sure,"
Bernstein said "If settled,
hypothetically — depending on how
much construction they have — they
could be on the air in six months."
The FCC has set no hearing date to
choose between the two competing
applications, said FCC spokeswoman
Mary Bell Garcia.
Although the two firms are
negotiating, Williams said he felt
neither would drop its individual ap
plication unless an agreement was
reached
"I don't think either of us intends to
drop pursuit of our efforts to obtain a
construction permit." Williams said
Though Sunbelt and Georgia
Mountain abandoned their low power
applications, they left behind a host of
competitors for what may be an
unlimited number of Athens low power
stations The only limitation on the
number of such stations is that they
can't interfere with the broadcast
signals of existing stations, McDougald
said
Faced with a full-power competitor,
however, many low-power applicants
might withdraw, McDougald said
Please See CHANNEL 34. Page 2
Lunde: Deck won’t upset parking
Slimmer wages
put hardships
on many students
By SUSAN LACCETTI
Rrd and Black Senior Reporter
Keeping track of how much money is
left in the piggy bank is quite a
challenge for University freshman
Philip Beshara
Beshara, 18, like most University
students is helping to bear the financial
burden of attending college.
And when spring break rolls around,
Beshara anticipates he will once again
have to look for a summer job if he
wants to continue his education
“My parents can’t afford to pay for
the total cost of going here each year, so
they expect me to make about *1,500
each summer," Beshara said.
Student Financial Aid Director Kay
Tripp says all students receiving aid
are expected to contribute to the cost of
education through summer earnings
But this year it may he tougher for
some University students to earn those
summer dollars.
Reagan administration officials said
last week the president is planning to
introduce legislation that would allow
employers to pay 18- and 19-year-olds
$2.50 per hours instead of the current
minimum wage, *3.35 per hour, for
summer employment
The legislation is designed to reduce
unemployment by giving employers the
opportunity to hire more young people,
because they could pay lower salaries
"It's totally unfair,” Beshara said,
"that would be like back in the old days
and there were no labor laws.
"It was ridiculous back then when
kids had to work long hours for little
pay," he said
Tripp said he would not be in favor of
the legislation should it come before
Congress
“It would be unfair to say we expect a
student to earn a certain amount when
they would be making less money," he
said
University policy states that students
receiving financial aid should earn
about *900 each summer tc contribute
to their education
Tripp said the Financial Aid Office
would not be able to compensate for the
difference the law would cause by
providing students with additional
grants or awards
Of the 2,905 freshmen, who are most
likely to be affected, 22 percent get
financial aid
Beshara said if he weren't able to
earn enough money this summer he
might have to work two jobs.
Acting Economics Department Head
Hiroaki Hayakawa said lifting the
minimum wage was a good idea
overall, but unemployment would
hardly be affected by the measure
"With the economy as it is, this would
not do much," he said. "It would just be
a drop in the bucket."
Usually with lower wage
requirements, employers would hire
more people in the summer, Hayakawa
said But, he said, because of the
recession, the demand for labor has
shifted.
"Business sales are sluggish and
even with the wage rate sensitivity I
don't know to what extent they would
hire," Hayakawa said.
Bill Bennett, district director of the
Human Resources Youth Services
Division, said he thought students
would prefer lower wages over
unemployment
I^ast summer, unemployment among
16- to 21 -year-olds rose as high as 21.9
percent in June
The legislation would be beneficial to
some students because of the possibility
of more summer jobs, said Ray
Easterlin, coordinator for
cooperative/experimental education.
"They may not be able to save much
money, but they will have more op
portunities at jobs and to obtain ex
perience that is related to their major,”
he said.
Beshara disagreed “People don't
hire more employees than they need
apd I doubt it will be easier to find a
job," he said.
Beshara said he thought the impact
would not be as great if the minimum
wage were lowered for those under 18.
"Eighteen- and 19-year-olds are
going to college while younger kids just
need the money for a car," he said.
Beshara said, because he has four
other brothers, his parents would not be
able to come up with the difference if
the minimum wage did drop
"It's tough now, but I guess I'd have
to find a way to live even more
cheaply," he said.
Judge steps down from
Blaubergs’ sex case
By TOMMY SIMS
Red and Blark Nralar Reporter
Maija Blaubergs could be graduated
from the University law school and able
to argue her own case by the time her
sex discrimination suit against the
University finally comes to US.
District Court.
The latest snag in the case came at a
Jan 10 hearing when U S. District
Judge Wilbur Owens announced he was
excusing himself from all University
cases for personal reasons
Owens refused to specify his reason
for stepping down from the case, but a
law clerk in his Macon office, who
requested anonymity, said Owens
feared a possible conflict of interest
resulting from his son's acceptance to
the University's law school
Owens stepped down before making a
final decision on whether to grant the
case class-action status at the Jan. 10
hearing A new hearing date won't be
set until a new judge took over the case
That judge has not yet beer, selected
Blaubergs. who filed suit against the
University in May 1979 on the grounds
that she was denied tenure because of
her sex, is still hopeful about the case,
according to her lawyer, Drew Mar
shall.
"I wouldn't say that she has lost any
enthusiasm," Marshall said, "but at
some point I think she's realized that
she needs to get on with the rest of her
life."
With the case entering its fourth year
next quarter, Marshall said he was
getting a bit impatient
“I’m disappointed that it’s been
hanging so long Unfortunately, the
lawyers don't decide when the cases get
heard."
Marshall said the last hearing was to
determine class action status. If class
action is ruled, all women who worked
on the University facultv since 1977
would be represented by Blaubergs'
complaints and affected by the final
decision
He said denial of class-action status
would only be a setback "as far as
benefiting individuals other than
Blaubergs."
Owens said the hearing was post
poned from its original December date
because of a backlog of cases
