Does university balance professionalism, quality of liberal arts education?
By Sharon Kilmer
The names and department affiliations of those interviewed have been withheld by request.
At stake: The "quality of undergraduate education/'
The conflict: Should USC be.. .a university that stresses professionalism; a university that accents learning; a university that honors superior teaching; a university that demands quantitative research? Or, can it be all of these?
In the eyes of rriany faculty here, this conflict is enhanced by yet another goal: to make USC the "Harvard of the West" or the "Stanford of the South." Some, in fact, see this as the root of the problem.
"USC has always been a little rah rah. . •it has never been an intellectual center of Southern California," one professor said. "We are not a Stanford or a Berkeley and we never will be," he said. "They have ten times the money, ten times the resources and ten times the prestige. We could beat them in the quality of undergraduate education offered, but they (the administration) won't let us."
To the faculty, the Stanfords and the Harvards have always balanced professionalism and quality liberal arts education. The problem, it seems, is that USC can not do the same.
The feeling that the university promotes
research at the expense of teaching has been expressed by many faculty in various departments of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (LAS).
"We’re all producing madly here," one professor said. 'Teaching is only a minor part. . .we won't be able to stay in education if we don't publish."
•
"Any good department chairman will tell a new instructor to forget teaching and
publish. Otherwise you're doing the guy a great disservice. If a new PhD wants to teach and gets too interested in it, his publishing will suffer and he won't be around in five years."
Student evaluations are a sham. If a teacher publishes enough, he will get promoted regardless of bad student evaluations. . .some of the worst teachers get promoted."
"Half of the full professors in our department wouldn't be here if they were promoted on a teaching basis," one professor said.
(continued on ftagc 2)
Volume LXXVI, Number 56
Task forces to study aid, staffing, recruiting
By Teresa Watanabe
Staff Writer
Two task forces have been commissioned to gather information and data concerning problems of minorities in the student recruitment and admissions process, financial aid and university staffing.
The groups were formed in response to black and chicano student demands for a university commitment to minority students and faculty.
One task force, coordinated by Robert Biller, chairman of the Council of Deans, will collect information on admissions, financial aid and Century II funding. The other, coordinated by John LeBlanc, president of the Faculty Senate, and Thomas Kilgore of special community affairs, will deal with minority faculty tenure.
The entire group will meet Monday to discuss findings and to consider the minority students' demands.
Representatives of the Associated Black Students of Southern California and MEChA demanded a public commitment from the university president to guarantee recruitment and retention of underprivileged students, and to establish a minority affairs division. The groups also demanded a guarantee of a task force to serve minority interests in the Toward Century II program, and of active recruitment of tenured minority faculty in all university departments.
The students again called for the dismissal of jay Berger, director of the Office of Admissions, and James Jones, director of Student Administrative Services.
(continued on page 7)
Departments receive $2 million in endowments from Associates
trojan
University of Southern California
Wednesday. May 9, 1979
Senate sets goals for next term
By Shari Cookson
Assistant City Editor
The Student Senate elected Scott Brown as undergraduate vice-chairman and Paula Tripp as undergraduate representative Tuesday.
Senators Dennis Alfieri, Collete Benton, Irma Castro, Monica Townsend, Paula Tripp and Mary Wand were elected to serve on the President's Advisory Council along with Brown and Jeff Gates, who is the Student Senate chairman.
In her concluding remarks, Suzanne Nora, outgoing senate chairman, told the new senate they should dare to be different.
"Condemn the mediocrity at the university and defy the complacency that exists," she said.
Speaking for the first time as chairman, Gates said the senate's goal is a united student body behind
student issues, and the channeling of this strength into the forces of change.
Gates delineated the issues the senate would be involved in next year:
•	The development of communication networks between student organizations on a decentralized campus.
•	The improvement of the currently "atrocious" student facilities.
•	Constant surveillance of financial aid processing, housing, parking policy and food services.
•	The initiation of a student corporation to provide student service such as a typing service and a record exchange.
•	"Safe and sane" facilities for registration.
•	A land and fiscal commitment by the administ-
(conhnued on )Hiyc 8)
By John Frith
Staff Writer
The university Associates have donated more than $2 million since October in a program to provide university departments and divisions with endowed chairs and professorships, according to recent figures.
'The associates have said to any dean who will say yes, 'We'd like to help you raise your endowment,' " said Roger Olson, assistant vice-president for university affairs.
Of the 23 schools or departments participating in the program, 14 have received some funds as of April 23.
As might be expected, business administration, the Law Center and engineering head the list. Donors have contributed $488,264 to business, $152,500 to the Law Center and $140,000 to engineering.
As might also be expected, athletics is fourth on the list, with donations totalling $132,500.
Donations may not continue at this pace, however, since the number of new life memberships quadrupled during the last six months of 1978. More persons became associates during this period to avoid an increase in
membership fees from $10,000 to $15,000.
An endowed chair means a department has raised over $1 million to pay for a professor's salary, a few teaching assistants and a secretary, said George Pabst, Jr., director of the associates.
Salaries are paid from yearly interest on the $1 million investment.
"That's the concept of a chair — an endowment which will produce income yearly and pay for salary," Pabst said.
An endowed professorship involves less money than an endowed chair, generally in the six figure range.
When a person becomes a life member or an endowed member (and donates ($25,000, up from $20,000), that money goes to the school or division the donor requests.
The donor may divide his gift between no more than two schools, Pabst said.
The concept of donating money to specific areas is a comparatively recent one, Pabst said.
"Associates' money was traditionally only unrestricted (that is, it went into a general fund con-
trolled by the president)," Pabst said.
"Then President Hubbard suggested an associates' chair to be rotated throughout the university, and when that $1 million goal was met, a $1 million endowment for the library of (the College of) Letters, Arts and Sciences was started," he said.
When that goal was met last October the current program was launched.
Pabst said the goals of the departments varied.
"Certain ones aren't going to expect as much support as others — they don't have enough alums with income levels to join as life members," Pabst noted.
Dentistry, gerontology and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences each have received $80,000, while $79,500 is earmarked for marine and coastal studies.
Only $75,000 has been given to the School of Medicine. Education has received $65,000, pharmacy $50,000, performing arts $35,000, urban planning $15,000 and student affairs $10,000.
(continued on page 7)
DT photo by John Klug
MEPS—Flying in from France Tuesday, two coneheads foraged the campus for mass quantities of beer and chicken embryos. The pair, like their Saturday Night Live counterparts, are looking forward to a summer vacation on the moons of Meepzor.