ustxtxb_obs_1991_11_02_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

T II TEXAS b H server A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and .the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of human-kind as the foundation of democracy: we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them we do not necessarily imply that we agree with them because this is a journal of free voices. SINCE 1954 Publisher: Ronnie Dugger Editor: David Armstrong Managing Editor: Brett Campbell Associate Editor: James Cullen Copy Editors: Roxanne Bogucka, Amy Root Mexico City Correspondent: Barbara Belejack Capitol Correspondent: Lisbethtipari Editorial Intern: Roddy de la Garza Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, Warren Burnett, Jo Clifton, Terry FitzPatrick, Gregg Franzwa, James Harrington, Bill Helmer, Ellen Hosmer, Steven Kellman, Michael King, Mary Lenz, Tom McClellan, Bryce Milligan, Greg Moses, Debbie Nathan, Gary Pomerantz, Lawrence Walsh. Editorial Advisory Board: David Anderson, Austin; Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, Kerrville; Chandler Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Cambridge, Mass; Bob Eckhardt, Washington, D.C.; Sissy Farenthold, Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, Cambridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Ivins, Austin; Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Oxford, Miss.; Kaye Northcott, Austin; James Presley, Texarkana; Susan Schwartz, Galveston; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. Contributing Photographers: Bill Albrecht, Vic Hinterlang, Alan Pogue. Contributing Artists: Eric Avery, Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, Beth Epstein, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin Kreneck, Michael Krone, Carlos Lowry, Ben Sargent, Dan Thibodeau, Gail Woods, Matt Wuerker. Managing Publisher: Cliff Olofson Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom Executive Assistant: Gail Woods Special Projects Director: Bill Simmons Development Consultant: Frances Barton SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year S27. two years $48. three years $69. Full-time students $15 per year. Back issues $3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on Road, Ann Arbor. MI 48 106. Any current subscriber who finds the price a burden should say so at renewal time: no one need forgo reading the Observer simply because of the cost. biweekly except for a three-week interval between issues in January and July \(25 Texas. November 2, 1991. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THETEXAS OBSERVER. 307 West 7th Street. Austin, Texas 78701. A Member of the Association of AAR. Alternative Newsweeklies Thanks for UT Reporting As a former student of Elizabeth Fernea, I thank you for publicizing the recent events surrounding the change of directors at UT’s Middle Eastern Studies Center.[“Illiberal Arts,” TO, 9/6/91.] Elizabeth Fernea is a gifted scholar and teacher whose fine international reputation is richly deserved. Hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students have gained from her not only an assortment of historical facts and details of sociology but deeper insights into what it means to be human. I was shocked and dismayed to learn from your’ article that she was not appointed director of the MES Center, in view of her obvious and overwhelming qualifications. Mary O’Grady Dallas Benevolent King As a subscriber and supporter for over 40 years, I am more than ever convinced for the need to have a publication such as the Texas Observer. I was therefore disappointed in the way the Observer weakened its credibility by virtue of its editorials in the September 6 \(Vol. Vol. 83, no. acting clean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. For the record, let us note the following facts: Dr. King did not receive a “raise.” The salary increase of roughly $21,000 represents the differential in moving from a nine-month academic to a 12-month administrative salary. This is standard procedure and does not represent a raise. Dr. King will also receive the same 2 percent increase as every other employee at the university. The Department of English. The old Governance Committee of the Department of English had 10 people on it; the new committee has 28 members. It is really hard to argue that the old way was “more representative,” especially with its provision for voting in secret. The new. Governance Committee structure has already made considerable progress in dealing with the pressing problems of the department. This seems to me more democratic, rather than the autocratic dictatorial nature in which you described Dr. King. Incidentally, when King placed the Department of Government in receivership some years ago, the subsequent reorganization resulted in the department achieving marked improvement in its national standing. The hiring of minority faculty: In a memo dated July, 23. from Dean King to all UT de.partments, he stated: “I insist that you continue your efforts to recruit minority faculty. The College of Liberal Arts did very well in 1991 in recruitment of minority faculty. I want this to continue. Because faculty recruitment will in general be constrained,you will have a greater amount of time to plan your recruitment strategies. I want you to use that time to focus on minority recruitment.” This statement is certainly at variance with the contents of your editorial. The American Association of University by certain faculty members of the Department of English to investigate the proposed English 306 course last year. The relevant AAUP committee voted not to do so. The Search Committee. As a faculty member, King was nominated and then elected by secret ballot of the voting members of the Liberal Arts faculty to serve on the Search Committee. He was not appointed to the search committee by President Cunningham as stated in your editorial. In addition, King was also elected to chair the Search Committee. Contrary to your editorial, the funding for the Women Studies Program is the same as last year. The College of Liberal Arts and indeed the university as a whole is fortunate that Dr. King could be prevailed upon to return to the College of Liberal Arts as acting dean. As all executive officers, King has the right and the duty to select those persons whom in his judgement can best administer the departments and programs. Throughout the years, I have been impressed with Bob King’s honesty. If he makes a mistake, he will admit it. Ira Iscoe, PhD Ashbel Smith Professor of Psychology Director, Institute of Human Development and Family Studies University of Texas at Austin Editor’s note: The UT English Department did not choose to change the form of government that its members had evolved over the years Dean Robert King foisted a new see Dialogue page 23 DIALOGUE 2 .-Ocromirt87 -4-99-1 . 13D.1