Western Front - 1977 January 14

              WESTERN front FRIDAY, JANUARY 14,1977 VOL. 69 NO. 19
12% 'Inadequate'
by BETH BARRETT
A 12 per cent pay increase
sounds good unless you are a
Western faculty member. If you
are, it may seem like a raise
that has long been deserved,
yet still is unsatisfactory.
"It's totally inadequate,"
James L. Talbot, vice president
for academic affairs, said.
"This increase wouldn't even
make up for the cost of living
raises we've missed over the
last few years," Maurice Foisy,
president of the local American
Federation of Teachers (AFT),
added.
Faculty members of state
supported colleges and univer­sities
do not get automatic cost
of living raises because in­creases
are decided by the
legislature.
Each legislative session has
its own ideas on how schools
such as Western should be
funded. Two years ago faculty
salaries were increased 12 per
cent. Last year they were
raised 5 per cent.
"These figures don't really
tell the story, though," Foisy
said. Raises were partially
eaten up by the increased cost
of medical insurance.
"Sometimes they didn't even
materialize," he added. For
instance, if a school increased
its salaries, the state decreased
that school's cost of living
raises.
The results are that faculty
members may be able to stay
within shooting distance of
rising expenses, but cannot
make any true financial gains.
"Central Washington State
College recently- conducted a
survey among its faculty mem­bers,"
Foisy said. "40 per cent
of the faculty said that even
with cost of living increases,
their buying power had drop­ped
between 5 and 8 per cent."
Central's salaries are higher
-than Western's.
If the figures show that
Western's salaries are still
chasing inflation with some
success, another piece of in­formation
changes Western's
situation from the typical.
A survey was conducted in
seven states with economies
similar to Washington's. Last
year, salaries at state support­ed
colleges and universities in
those states were 13.3 per cent
higher than Western's.
This means that Western's
salaries must be increased 13.3
per cent to catch up to the other
seven states, 5.7 per cent to
meet the projected cost of living
increases for 1977-1978 and
some undetermined per cent to
make up for the missed raises
in past years.
"This is why the Council of
Presidents recommended a sal­ary
increase of 14 per cent and
allowed Western to ask for a 19
per cent increase," Talbot
said.
The extra 5 per cent increase
proposed for Western is a
result of its unique position as
the lowest salaried state col­lege
in Washington. Central's
salaries are 8.2 per cent higher
than Western's.
In 1976, 53 per cent of
Western's faculty answered an
AFT survey saying they would
leave Western if an opportunity
arose. Seventy-eight per cent of
those faculty members listed
low salaries as a major source
of dissatisfaction.
"One answer to the problem
is collective bargaining," Foisy
said. "Where bargaining has
taken place, for example, in the
community colleges, the gains
have been substantial."
However, if the governor's 12
per cent increase is approved,
it would leave many problems
unsolved.
Healthcare: the natural way
by SANDY CATT
Tincture of seaweed, tea,
health food and a warm atti­tude
are among alternative
health care treatments avail­able
around Bellingham.
More people are seeking a
different kind of medical treat­ment
according to Dr. V.
Joseph Wessels Jr., a naturo­pathic
physician. "People are a
lot smarter these days. They
haven't been getting any an­swers
(from regular treatment)
and they want to do things for
themselves," Wessels said.
The potential lower cost of
natural health care may be
another reason people are
turning to other health meth­ods.
-
The Northwestern Clinic of
Naturopathic Medicine, staffed
by Drs. G.A. Buhr and V.
Joseph Wessels Jr., specializes
in chronic illnesses. Buhr said
their treatments do not include
injuries requiring stitches or
surgery.
The clinic's diagnostic meth­od
is the same as other physi­cians.
They examine the pa­tient,
make a case history and
do lab tests. They do not use
x-rays.
Illnesses are treated with
natural matter; vitamins, herbs
and homoeopathic tinctures de­rived
from minerals, animals
and plants. Buhr said natural
medicines are compatible with
the body and produce fewer
side effects than most man-made
medications.
"We try to work with the
body's natural processes in­stead
of against them," Buhr
said. Among homoeopathic sub­stances
used are those derived
from seaweed, snake venom,
upland cranberry, beef liver
and roasted sponge.
After the acute illness has
been treated, the doctors deal
with diet study and sometimes
direct the patient to a more
nutritious and healthful life-
Munro replaces
trustee Comfort
A Western graduate and
former Associated Students
president has been appointed
to the Board of Trustees by
Governor Dan Evans. Ralph
Munro will replace trustee
Patrick Comfort, who resigned
last month as a result of the
recently enacted public disclos­ure
law.
Munro has been in state
government since 1969, and
until recently was a member of
Evans' staff. At Thursday's
Board of Trustee meeting, Col­lege
President Paul Olscamp
welcomed Munro to the college,
commending him for his work in
the area of minority rights.
Munro did not attend ' the
meeting.
A member of Western's
alumni association, he now
manages a Seattle-based cater­ing
company and lives on
Bainbridge Island. He served
as AS president during the
mid-sixties.
style. Buhr said they deal with
the whole person, not just the
illness. He said he believes
attitude has a lot to do with a
person's health. The doctors
often discuss attitudes and
emotions with patients.
The clinic alternately heats
and cools patients' bodies, uses
ultra sound massage (to in­crease
bone healing) and body
irrigation (to clear the body of
wastes) as therapy.
Naturopathic doctors empha­size
they are trying to work
with the health community.
They've had a few problems but
the clinic is growing at a
reasonable rate, the doctors
said.
Buhr said homoeopathic
treatment is controversial be­cause
such small amounts of
medicine are used. The cure
can't be proven scientifically,
only clinically, Buhr said.
The clinic treats a wide
spectrum of illnesses and age
groups, people who have had
bad experiences with the medi­cal
profession and who want a
more natural treatment, ac­cording
to Buhr. He said they
refer patients to other medical
care when necessary.
Dr. S.R. Boynton, a local
physician and surgeon, dis­penses
vitamin supplements
and homoeopathic remedies as-side
from regular cures. Boyn-ton's
receptionist said of pa­tients'
desires for natural medi­cation,
"It seems as though
there are more people inclined
this way." She said the more
natural medicines don't cost
less than standard remedies.
See related story Page 2.
inside...
Out-to-Lunch columnist Dan Smith returns with a memo
detailing the Carter cabinet selection process. Smith and his
lunch have subsequently been sealed in a cabinet until further
need. See Page 4.
Brown: Study unethical
by JOHN NELSON
Charges that Timothy Doug­las,
associate dean of students,
violated professional and ethi'*
cal standards in conducting a
"secret" study of students in
so-called "remedial" classes
have been made by a Western
English instructor.
According to English profes­sor
R. D. Brown, in a Dec. 1,
1976 memo to William O'Neil,
academic vice president, Doug­las
participated in the "covert
gathering of information ...
comparing WPCT (Washington
Pre-College Test) scores to en­rollments
in 'remedial' cour­ses."
Brown is currently on sab­batical
in Texas and is unavail­able
for comment.
Douglas acknowledged stu­dents
and faculty were not in­formed,
but denied any wrong­doing,
saying it was only "very
simple data-collection," de­signed
to help students.
"I see it as distinct from an
evaluative kind of thing," he
said. "To call it research, I
think, is unfair."
The study was made to deter­mine
if "students who were
lower in achievement as meas­ured
by WPCT scores were
actually making use of skill-building
resources," Douglas
said.
He did this by checking the
WPCT scores of students en­rolled
in Psychology 197, Lib­rary
Science 125 and English
297a. He found mostly "higher- ,
level" students were in these
classes.
He said students and faculty
will be informed in the future.
Douglas doubted whether bis
explanation would satisfy
Brown.
It was a mistake not to in­form
teachers and students,
according to Ed Kaplan, a his­tory
professor who taught the
Library Science 125 course.
"You ought not to be 'muck­ing
around' with students' rec­ords
even if you're not intend­ing
to misuse them," he said.
Douglas said if any students
had any concerns about the
research, he was willing to talk
with them.
"I don't want students to
think there is all kinds of ne­farious
research going on be­hind
their backs," he said.
'Secret'
study?
English Professor R. D.
Brown's memo to William
O'Neil, academic vice presi­dent,
about the "covert gather­ing
of information" in "remed­ial"-
classes by Associate Dean
of Students Timothy Douglas is
news to many — including
O'Neil himself.
O'Neil said in a telephone
interview Jan. 10 that he never
received the memo. "As far as I
know, it doesn't exist," he said.
Copies of the memo were sent
to Dorothy Crow, a counselor,
James Davis, dean, college of
arts and sciences, Roland De-
Lorme, history department
chairman, Douglas, Peter
Elich, psychology department
chairman, Ed Kaplan, history
instructor and Edward Larson,
English department chairman.