sg the University ot Texas at San Antonio Community
Volume 8, No. 7 April 23, 1987
Newsline
OmniOtd hy Stad* L. Qtm/ autt VfiiUr
Professor sues over tenure
STONY BROOK - Emest Dube, a South African professor at the State Uaivaraity of New York at Stony Bnttk, has "announced plans to sue the school over its rrfusal to grant him tenure.
The case has touched off heated exchanges between minority leaders and prompted a two-day student occupation of the ad¬ ministration building.
Dube, an African National Congreas spokasnuui who waa jailed under raarthnd for four years, has drawn the fire of New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and leaders of the Jewish community for stating in the classroom that Monism is a form of racism.
Students smoke- tK>mb president over controversial tenure decision
STONY BROOK - Suny ChanceUor Oifton Wharton subsequently denied Dube tenure despite recommendations from four faculty com¬ mittees.
In response, SUNY Stony Brook studenU staged a protest in the cwridor outside president John Marburger's locked office. The con¬ flict escalated when protesters bashed holes in the walls and smoke- bombnd the office, and police sealed off the buikling. A sleep-in the cooridor and the main libary ensued, with fratonities and sororities donating food and blankets to the proteaters. The incident wound down when Marburger met with student leaders, but no resolution was reached No disciplinaiy action haa yet been taken.
In the aftermath of the takeover, atudanU and faculty have stag^ ed numerous forums and taach-ins on the issue, and Dube has in¬ dicated he plans to file a discrimination suit some time next month.
Former professor appeais to Arizoncluiireiiie Qgiiirt
. ARIZONA-IMsniisaed from Northern Arizona University in 1*64 because the university disapfMroved of his teaching methods, Denny Carley, a former assistant professor, has lost his appeal to an Arizona appeals court and is being forced to pay $6000 in legal fees incurred by tbe action. In the suit, Mr. Carley challenged the univer¬ sity's reliance on student evaluations which criticized him for a "business-like" teaching style. He said lie would appeal to the SUto Supreme Court.
Students mass against government
MADRID - Protests aimed at prevmting govemment reforms from promoting science over the humanities erupted in a demonstration last week in Madrid and involved more than 2,000 university and high achool studenU. This and several smaller demonstrations were organized by the StudenU' Movement, an organization active in earlier strikes by secondary-school students.
Pascual Diaz, an economics major at Madrid's Complutense University and a leader of the Sti^utont's Movement, said that the protests were sUged to increase the studenU' participation in univer¬ sity decision making.
Wyoming offers pre-paid tuition
WYOMING - is now offering parenU pre-paid tuition certificates for their children that may be used for four years of tuition at a public university, for two years of tuition at a community coUege or for a combination of the two when the children come of age. If, after purchasing the certificate at a rate that would vary with the children's present ages, the children decide not to attend college in the sUte, their parmts would be able to receive a refund.
Professor leaves UTSA to pursue academic career
by Sally Jean Peck
Assistant News Editor
As part of the tenure-granting process, a candidate's work is sent to other scholars in his/her field for review. All of those who reviewed i.he work of Dr. Richard Young were impressed with his scholar¬ ship, craftsmanship, and the overall importance of his research.
in direct conflict with the goal of providing a solid education for (UTSAs) StudenU."
Young believes this because the "theory of the productive in¬ terplay of teaching and research (primarily publishing) sounds wonderful and may apply to universities such as Harvard and Stanford, but it is a pathological fanUsy when applied to the reali¬ ty of UTSA. "
"Any university in the nation would be fortunate to have him as a faculty member."
Dr. Edward S. Greenberg
His current book in progress en¬ titled Black Poverty as a Problem of Historical Sociology is due out within the next year or two.
As one of the reviewers predicted, "Young is going to be one of the stars of the discipline in the coming years and an impor¬ tant influence in reopening the discussion of race relations in political science. Any university in the nation would be fortunate to have him as a faculty member," It won't be UTSA,
Young will be leaving UTSA after this summer for Seattle Univeristy. He is leaving UTSA because its administraiton denied him tenure on March 29, 1986 because of his lack of publication, rather than performed research.
According to Young, the ad¬ ministration's denial of tenure to him is not atypical and "reflects the perverse priorities of this in¬ stitution." Since 1980, the Divi¬ sion of Social and Policy Sciences has lost eleven tenured or tenure- track faculty members; "only one has been granted tenure in a department of ten," Young steted.
Young believes that "the first priority of a state-supported university is to educate the students." Young added, "What excited me about teaching at UT¬ SA was the opportunity to in¬ tellectually enrich people who would have otherwise had no chance to attend college."
In addition. Young sees "the current emphasis on publication
Young added, "UTSA is not adequately funded to be a teaching university let. alone a research university."
Young pointed to California as an example of functional stete- supported higher education. Their system is two-leveled. Schools are designated as either research or teaching-oriented and ad¬ ministered accordingly. Funds are committed to both levels and "each-does it job well," Young ad-' ded.
Young concluded, "It's not an accident that California economy is the healthiest in the nation. The educational philosophy has been thought out, the appropriate resources have been allocated for public education, and the system is premised on a realistic understending of what can and should be done."
Young stated that UTSA's "big ten aspirations," stringent tenure policy, and under financ¬ ing create impossible demands on the faculty.
"Publication has become a bureaucratic imperative Ad¬ ministrators have made uieir careers on the basis of the quanti¬ ty of publications churned-out by UTSA personnel. A number have recently used UTSA as a stepping stone to university presidencies." according to Young.
The quality of publication and the quality of teaching count for little, "Teaching doesn't matter in terms of tenure and the junior faculty all know it." Young add-
Aiter eight ycarb ot dedication to UTSA btudentb. Dr. Richard Young ib heading tor Seattle University.
,ed, "Two factors do ma' Ler: publication and rapport with those who make the tenure deci¬ sion."
In Young's beUef, there needs to be "more than one route to tenure." The tenure process needs to reward a greater variety of teachers. Those who do narrow research and are mediocre teachers, those who are dynamic, stimulating, and well-informed, and those who take on serious topics of research that do not lead to rapid publication all have roles to play and should be rewarded for their efforts." he believes.
According to Young, students need all three types of teachers to achieve a well-rounded education. The interplay between them would be ideal.
However, teachers avoid long- term, serious research topics to gain tenure, "It has only been within the past twenty years that 'pubUsh or perish' has become a norm at non-elite mstitutions ol
higher learning. What it has done is to destroy American in¬ telligentsia. Intellectuals are be¬ ing replaced with narrow technocrats, " Young stated.
"I think the roje of college teachers is to prepare their students to play constructive social roles when they graduate. College teachers should be worry¬ ing about an American public, philosophy," Young believes. He added that the administrative im¬ perative on publication creates faculty who are unable themselves and unable to prepare their students to grapple with tough issues.
Young has invited Dr. Richard Gambitta to meet him in public debate. Gambitta, who chaired the faculty committee which voted to deny Young tenure, has also been a spokesman on educa¬ tional philosophy. Gambitta has not yet responded to Young's in¬ vitation.
Nicaraguan student shares experiences of revolution
by Alexandra Bemdt
SUff Writer	
Nicaraguan student Josefina Bonilla was hosted by the UTSA student organization, Mecha, as she presented a speech to the UT¬ SA conununity April 14 in the University Center, Bonilla is visiting the United States in order to share her experiences as a student before and after the Nicaraguan revolution.
Bonilla began her speech with a brief history of her homeland. She stated, "A dictatorship is characterized by a minority possessing the majority of the wealth and power." The needs of the lower echelons of society are ignored. "For example, before the SandinisUs came to power, 75% of the country dwellers were il¬ literate. Illiteracy among the women was as high as 95%. After
the revolution there were 20,000 dead, 10,000 orphans, and 250,000 displaced stated Bonilla.
With such grave statistics there was much work to be done after the Sandinista victory in 1979, Bonilla explained that much of his work was undertaken by brigades of students and pro¬ fessors. Concentrating on il¬ literacy, brigades spend months at a time in remote areas of Nicaragua teaching the people how to read and write. Health is another concern, and extensive work is being done in this area as well. Bonilla, a medical student, has contributed in both areas.
"The Contra war began in 1981, bringing many difficulties to the daily life in Nicaragua. In addi¬ tion to that spare parts are dif¬ ficult to. get. This is due to em- bargos enforced against Nicarague. Imagine if a factor:
that produces powdered milk, has a machine that is broken. If the part needed can not be found, then the entire company must be closed. This has grave implica¬ tions for the people working in the factory as well as the con¬ sumers," said Bonilla.
When asked if she had any pro¬ blems acquiring a visa, Bonilla sighed and nodded her head. "The American embassy asked for a complete itinerary, and exactly who 1 would be in contact with. It is difficult to answer specific questions about how one is going to spend an entire month. The Americans would never really refuse to give me a visa, but what they did was to delay giving me one. They would tell me that my forms were incomplete. As a result, I am only able to spend two weeks here instead of four," Bonilla continued to say that her_
trip to the United States has been very interesting. She found especially interesting the American media's portrayal of the conflict in Nicaragua. "The articles try to make the revolu¬ tion not human. They talk about the revolution and statistics - not about the people,"
Bonilla added, "Nicaraguans will never be hostile to Americans visiting Nicaragua, just because they are Americans. We want Americans to come and ex¬ perience our lifestyle so they can understand and judge for themselves. Although there are troubles in my country the people are not sad. We have hope - and we all share the conviction that we don't want the past to repeat itself. We don't want war. What we want is to develop our country in the way that we have chosen."
Josefina Bonilla, a Nicaraguan student, in Nicaragua.
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speaks out on the situation