trojan
Volume XCI Number 28	University of Southern California Tuesday February 23, 1982
Ousted library school professor disputes “premature” tenure vote
Feminist scholar promotes status of women in society
Handbook as ‘the regular procedure for doing things’ have not been followed.
“When a professor feels that so-called procedural defects have biased a dean’s decision to terminate his contract, his only course of action is to go to an appeals panel and ask the administration to override the dean’s decision,” said a professor, who said he has witnessed various proceedings within the Appeals Panel of the President's Advisory Council.
“The panels are meant to deal with these defects, but the administration has remained vague about what they consider procedural defects and therefore it has become an arbitrary. vague and non-uniform matter of interpretation." he said.
“It’s all very fine to lay down the three criteria that justify a panel's recommendations. but it's how these criteria are interpreted that counts in the long run,” the professor said.
“The definitions are fine as long as they are interpreted in a uniform way. Under the circumstances of which Dunn's decision was made the administration obviously used a very narrow definition of procedural defects,” he said. Doris Dunn, a former assistant professor of Library and Information Management, interpreted “procedural defects” in a far different manner than the administration when President James H. Zumberge accepted a departmental decision to fire
her.
Confusion over the criterion which deem department decisions acceptable or non-accept-able have raised questions about the decision made within the School of Library and Information Management and the viability of the university's appeals process.
A retired head of the School of Library and Information Management described Dunn as a victim of political foul-plav. adding that the decision to fire Dunn was unfounded.
Dunn, who was fired after 1 1/2 years on the basis of “inactivity in the field of research,” entered the program one semester before Dean Roger Greer replaced the school's former dean.
“Shortly after Dunn entered the school, she was considered a very promising assistant professor in both research -and teaching," said a well-informed former administrator who asked not to be identified.
“She also had a Ph.D. in chemistry and a connection with the medical library and you just don't get many people with these qualities to come into our field."
In addition to Dunn's qualifications. the former administrator said that the department judged her research performance after a grossly premature period of only 11/2 years.
“As an assistant professor on tenure tract, the accepted probationary period is a minimum of three years and usually (Continued on page 3)
By Brenda Wong
Staff Writer
During her many successful years as an attorney and author, Nancy Reeves has done much to promote the status of women in society. Oddly enough, it was a man who inspired her to pursue this work.
“I wanted to be a female (Sir) Francis Bacon,” Reeves said in an interview Monday afternoon. “I wanted to be a Francis with an ‘e.' ”
She offered observations about her life and society as a preview to remarks she will make on campus Thursday. Reeves will speak on "Where Do We Go From Here?” at noon in the Student Activities Center.
Reeves' salon — she doesn't call it a lecture — will be one of many programs sponsored by the Study of Women and Men in Society department this month.
Reeves is an affiliated scholar with the Study of Women and Men in Society.
Reeves said she was influenced by Novum Organum. a book written by Bacon, which documented the knowledge known at that time.
“I thought I could do the same thing. I thought that when I had studied enough, I would try to write a Nov'um Organum. People asked me if I’m finished (with this book). I tell them, ‘I’m not finished yet. There has been a data ov'erload in the interval.’ ’’ Reeves said
jokingly.
It was because of Bacon that she was determined to know as much science as possible. “He studied the laws of nature,” she said.
With a degree in physics/chemistry. Reeves later decided to enroll in law school because she felt she ought to know more about the laws of society. Reeves practiced private law in New York and California before she changed her profession to become an author.
The affiliate scholar became interested in feminism when she read a book by Vera Brittain, an English writer. Reeves said she pursued the subject by reading the sources listed in Brittain’s books.
From her reading she realized that “the definition of person was by sex instead of by an individual. I couldn’t understand the logic of it. When I raised some of these questions to people I knew in school, they said, ’Don’t you know we’ve got the vote?’ I still wasn’t quite satisfied with that approach.
“That became my secret search. I decided not to tell anybody about it because I was mocked.”
Her secret search included finding out why women were defined by sex and not by their abilities as were men. She also wondered why this definition persisted for so many years.
She began to notice the many little
Staff photo by Jon Soo Hoo
SEEING EVE PERSON — With the help of her guide. Kevin McCormick, Tisha is able to enjoy all the things dogs with sight enjoy. As her expression suggests, she and McCormick delighted in the recent warm spell in Los Angeles.
DEATH CREATES VOID
By Charla Foster
Staff Writer
According to the administration’s new law of governance, a department head can evaluate. promote and fire university pro*"ssors as long as the action remains free of procedural defects, improper or illegal discrimination or unexpected new facts.
Although a professor may use these criteria to appeal a dean's decision, the definitions of procedural defects, discrimination and new facts are vague and therefore difficult for a professor to prove when his dismissal is at stake.
When a dean's decision making process contains defects at the department level, it means that those tenure procedures that are listed in the Faculty
New engineering dean sought
Marc Igler
Staff Writer
The School of Engineering will begin this week the process of filling the deanship left vacant by the death of Zohrab A. Kaprielian. University administrators said Monday that the selection process could take more than a year.
A search committee, composed primarily of engineering faculty, should be selected by the end of this week, and will conduct a nationwide survey of qualified individuals, said Cornelius Pings, vice president of Academic Affairs.
Kaprielian, who had been dean of the School of Engineering since 1970, suffered a fatal heart attack on Dec. 30 of last year.
The search committee, which will soon place advertisements in various educational publications and trade journals, will be looking for ap-
plicants with “substantial administrative experience and distinguished scholarly achievements,” Pings said.
“The selection process will be done very carefully. We want to get the best person available for the job.” Pings said, adding that there is a good possibility that the position could be filled by one of the current faculty members.
He said the application process alone could take up to six months, and a year could pass before a final selection is made.
“I suspect that dozens or even hundreds of names and resumes will be brought before the committee, so the whole thing could take quite a while. It’s going to be very difficult to find an individual who can fill Dr. Kaprielian's shoes,” Pings said.
(Continued on page 14)
discrepancies between the treatment of women and others in society. She w'anted to know, for example, why women beyond the age of 21 were supported by their husbands while children past 21 were not.
“On the one hand, I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, going to
school, on the other hand. I .had my search," the feminist said.
Although she had friends in the community, some of her closest friends were those dead authors she met through reading, she said. “I would meet them on the bridge of time.
(Continued on page 7)
FERVENT FEMINIST - Nancv Reeves, an affiliate scholar with the Study of Women and Men in Society, was influenced by Sir Francis Bacon and Vera Brittain in the choices of her careers, she said. Reeves will speak Thursday at noon in the Student Activities Center on "Where Do We Go From Here?"
Staff i' •!«» by Jessuii Friedhant