[volume Ixv, number 69 jfriday, february 9, 1973
Daily S§S Troian
university of southern California los angeles, California
Women say USC hiring policy unfair
By A1 Freisleben
associate city editor
Several members of the Commis sion to Study the status of Women questioned Thursday the “good faith effort ofthe university” to make progress toward achieving equal employment opportunities for women.
Members of the group declining photographs or attribution of any kind in this article because of reprisals they allege the university has made against outspoken faculty and staff members. They especially took issue with a statement made in December of 1971 by President John Hubbard calling for vice-presidents, deans and department heads “to end sex discrimination at all levels voluntarily, rather than wait until we are forced to take action.”
The disillusioned members main-
tained that the university has persisted in following hiring practices, called the ‘old boy system,’ that insure that only men who are white, Protestant and over 50 will be hired for the top teaching and administrative posts on campus.
By this system, the group said, positions are filled by having administrators and faculty assigned to search for people to fill vacancies or new positions call around among their peers to find candidates, thus perpetuating a discriminatory system of hiring.
In addition, the group maintained that the women’s commission, appointed in October of 1971 by President Hubbard to advise him on topics such as hiring and advancement, has been frustrated in its attempts to bring about change.
A prime point in their argument is the treatment of their report submitted to President Hubbard over the summer. The report, consisting of the findings of the commission’s four subcommittees, all of which had been approved by the full membership of the commission, was given to President Hubbard’s representative with the understanding that this action constituted official submission.
Late Thursday afternoon, Phillips Copeland, executive assistant to President. Hubbard, said that a complete presentation has not been received.
Copeland admitted that copies of the subcommittee reports had been accepted, butthathe understood that Barbara Shell, commission chairman and director of equal opportunity employment for the university, was preparing a complete report to be submitted in the near future.
Members of the commission interviewed by the Daily Trojan plainly frustrated in their dealings with the university’s administration, maintained that throughout the entire ordeal Shell has been no help. The group maintained that Shell has repeatedly declined to show them proposals made by the university to conform to federal nondiscrimination guidelines, has kept the university community out of commission meetings, had adjourned meetings at crucial points, and has even made a formal proposal to have the commission disband itself.
They also said that the commission meets infrequently if ever, pointing to the fact that only two meetings have been held this academic year. When Shell made the proposal to disband, they said, the membership countered by instructing her to obtain from President Hubbard a clarification of the commission’s “purpose, structure, and life.”
All of the women interviewed believed that the commission could serve the university in an ongoing fashion, principally because a third of the employees at USC are women,
and need a line of communication to the administration, which the commission ostensibly is. They also expressed dismay at the fact that only one student serves on the commission, when issues such as discrimination in graduate admissions and student aid exist.
But perhaps the biggest source of irritation lies with the university’s insistence on keeping unapproved proposals for equal opportunity secret. Those interviewed Thursday described the situation as similar or rivaling contortions of logic found in black humor novels such as Catch-22.
The system works something like this: a department tells the university just how far they can go toward equality in hiring and advancement in the coming year, and the university sends this to the government for examination.
The department can’t begin to implement the proposals until they are returned because the university declines to release them. It sometimes takes more than a year to have a proposal returned.
By that time a new proposal is due, and should start from the progress made since the last proposal was submitted. But since the last proposal has not been released, plans contained in it cannot be implemented.
Since 1970, no proposal has been openly distributed by the university.
Student hospitalized, another injured in off-campus assaults
By A1 Flores
associate editor
Two recent assaults near campus have resulted in the hospitalization of one student and injury to the other.
Donald Werner of Arcadia was walking down Hoover street at 10:30 a.m. with a female companion when he was hit in the back with a rock.
“The victim continued on for a few feet,” said John Lechner, head of Campus Security, and Parking Operations, “and then was hit with
another rock. The victim turned around and said, ‘What the hell did you do that for?’ and was subsequently attacked.”
The noise attracted the attention of a nearby campus security officer, and the suspect was arrested and turned over to LAPD. No motive is known at this time.
Warner was treated at the Student Health Center for lacerations and swelling of the mouth and left cheek. He was unavailable for comment.
Security head says crime activity lower on campus
There has generally been a drop in crime activity at the university, especially during the past month, said John Lechner, head of Campus Security and Parking Operations.
“Violent crimes have gone down numerically,” said Lechner. He said violent crimes—including robberies and assaults—are continuing to decrease in the campus area.
Lechner cited the 1972 crime statistics as evidence for his claimed decrease in crime. Although a report for the month of January has yet to be compiled, Lechner says, “It was very quiet.”
Lechner cited a number of possible reasons for the recent decrease in crime. “There are many reasons, not the least of which is that people are too busy sweeping basements to go out and pick cars,” he said. “If it’s raining, the people who want to mug some victims tend not to be out walking around,” he added.
Lechner said other causes of the decrease include the beginning of semester break, commencement and finals. “There aren’t as many students around campus,” he said.
Lechner said the safety of the campus itself, as contrasted with the surrounding area, is reflected through the 1972 crime chart.
Lechner said the main statistical crime is miscellaneous burglaries, of which there were 507 during 1972. He said fewer students are being assaulted than ever before.
“The rate of assaults is continuing to decrease,” Lechner said. “It probably has to do with the university moving its perimeter all the way to Vermont Avenue Nonstudents are easily recognizable and picked out on campus.”
Statistics show that the Row and the Exposition Park area tend to be the centers of the crime activity.
“The suspect was not a student,” said Lechner. “He claimed that he was visiting the United States on a passport, but he spoke with no accent.”
A university coed is recovering in California Hospital after being stabbed by a man who broke into her 30th Street apartment Tuesday.
The coed, a graduate student in geology, awoke at 3 a.m. Wednesday and found the intruder standing beside her with a knife.
Her faculty advisor, who declined to be identified, visited her in the hospital and gave the following account: “She struggled with him and started screaming and then he stabbed her. When a next door neighbor tried to break through the door to come to her aid, he dove through a closed window.”
The victim, whose name is being withheld at her request, suffered stab wounds in the back and was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Hope Street Hospital. She is reported to be resting comfortably.
Dance said that two descriptions were given of the possible suspect, but that they were conflicting.
“She was aware of the dangers of the USC area,” her faculty advisor said. “She would always have an escort at nightand would makesure that her windows and doors were locked.”
However, Dance said the entrance to the ground floor apartment where the victim lives alone was made through an unlocked window.”
DT photo by Barry Brown
Project Small Fry
With a mass of balloons and kids, Alpha Phi Omega fraternity worked with the YWCA to promote “Project Small Fry” in cooperation with the Community Day Care Center at Tommy Trojan on Thursday.
The fraternity is primarily oriented to service projects such as Troy Camp, Helpline and Harmony Center.
Arlene Saltzman. a sophomore in education and presi-
dent of the YWCA (pictured here), said the YWCA is also mainly service oriented and is affiliated with the Womens’ Alliance.
Alpha Phi Omega will hold a membership meeting on Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Student Activities Center.
Information about the YWCA can be obtained at the Community Student Center at 857 W. 36th PI. or by phoning 746-2307 or 746-6439.