University faces sex discrimination charges
Unfair pay classification claimed
By Holly Houston
Associate Focus Editor
The first sex discrimination case brought against the university to come to trial began hearings yesterday before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Joanne Purcell, former visiting assistant instructor of the Department of Spanish x Portuguese, charged that the department discriminated against her because she is a woman. The case, Purcell vs. University of Southern California, was filed in 1980, two years after she left the university in 1978.
The counsel for the university and David H. Malone, dean of Humanities, would not comment on the case while it was still in litigation.
Purcell was hired by the department for the fall semester of 1974 as a visiting assistant professor. Before the spring semester of that year, Purcell was contacted by Theodore A. Sackett, former department chairman and now associate professor, and asked to sign a contract which would change her position in the department.
Her contract for the spring of 1975 lowered her to the rank of instructor thereby lowering her salary. No explanation was given for the change of contract except her lack of Ph.D. status, Purcell said.
"The department has hired men without Ph.D's at the visiting assistant professor position," Purcell said.
"The average salary for the position of visiting assistant professor was $13,000 to S14,000 minimum when I received $10,700. The men working in mv position received the average salary and worked six to nine hours a week when I was working 15 hours," Purcell said.
Sackett promised Purcell permanent funding for the position of assistant professor for the fall of 1976 once she agreed to increase Portuguese department enrollment. He also promised to apply her time in the department to tenure when she was appointed to the position, she said.
"I doubled then tripled the enrollment in the department in a year and established the Portuguese / Brazilian Stud-
ies, the second in the country," Purcell said. "I organized two symposiums during the first year. The fall symposium was statewide and the symposium in the spring was on a national level. 1 also organized the department's summer program abroad in 1975."
In December, 1975 Purcell received a letter of termination from Sackett. She was told it w<J5 a normal procedure to close her visiting assistant instructor position and open up the slot for an assistant professor. Purcell said Sackett held a meeting in December with the faculty to review her work in the department.
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POLICE CRACKDOWN EXPECTED
Student alcohol arrests rise
By Eric Vincent
Staff Writer
An increase in the arrests ol minors for the purchase or possession of alcoholic beverages has prompted police to warn students that such arrests will give the students a criminal record.
Lt. Paul Estrada of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Division vice squad said these university students should know that, although not a major offense, the arrest gives them a criminal record and may make it difficult to obtain jobs in the future.
Webb Tower residents petition against freshmen
Residents of Webb Tower are circulating a petition protesting a new housing plan which would allow freshmen to live in the building. They will present this petition to President James Zumberge during a meeting today.
In the past the building has been restricted to upperclassmen and graduate students. The students feel that the quiet atmosphere would be disrupted if freshmen were allowed to live there.
Gigi Galardi, Mark Porter, Bridget Neman and David Kliger, residents in the building, drew up the petition. They have collected more than 200 signatures so far, or a little over half the building's residents.
Galardi, a junior, said, "We chose to live here because it is quiet and easier to study- We don't think the freshmen will benefit by living in such a facility in their first year at school."
Response to the petition has been favorable, and the students hope to get the signatures of almost everyone in the building. "Only three people have refused to sign the petition," Galardi said.
Three weeks ago, vice squad officers arrested nine students at the 901 Club, a restaurant/bar located near the university. One of the individuals was 17 years old, while the others were 18 and 19, Estrada said.
The arrests were made in response to citizen complaints that minors were consuming alcoholic beverages at the 901 Club.
When asked why he had not checked the students for identification before serving them, the proprietor said this was the doorman's responsibility. The doorman said he had checked the identification of all those who entered. In addition to the restaurant, some local liquor stores have been the source of problems.
One store, Trojan Liquor Market, is in danger of losing its liquor license for selling liquor to minors, Estrada said.
Recently, a student entered a local liquor store and purchased $160 worth of liquor saying it was for a fraternity. (Continued on page 3)
Journalists criticize recent media election coverage
By Ezell Gray, Jr.
Staff W’riter
Noted journalist, David Halberstam called the past presidential election melancholy, while his colleague, Harrison E. Salisbury, said he was appalled at the media coverage.
Halberstam and Salisbury, along with Fred MacNeil and Jim Lehrer were the recipients of the 21st Annual Distinguished Achievement Awards Wednesday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The awards were presented by the School of Journalism Alumni Association.
In an exclusive interview, the four prominent journalist's offered their views on the recent presidential campaign.
Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize winner for his coverage of the Vietnam war, essentially felt the coverage was fair to all three candidates, but it lacked thoughtfulness. "It was a trivilization of the news."
Author of the current best seller The Powers That Be and The Best and the Brightest, Halberstam spoke of television and said its power has increased tremendously in the last 20 years. He said, however, that "it is not T.V. which has adapted to politics, it is politics which has adapted to T.V."
"Campaigns are covered for two reasons. One, the likelihood of victory, and the other, for the originality of the candidates' ideas," Halberstam said.
Salisbury, who is considered the "Dean of Foreign Correspondents," in addition to being a Pulitzer Prize winner and columnist for the New York Times, felt the press was following the ball while covering the campaign and did not scrutinize it
(Continued on page 5)
Staff photos by Katy Smith
Awesome Blazes — Bonfire, band, football players, confetti and a mass of cheering, screaming students made Trojan spirit come alive last night at the annual rally before the USC vs. UCLA football game
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Volume LXXXIX. Number 46 University of Southern California Friday, November 21, 1980