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Show Affirmative Action helpful in solving racial inequality By Scott Hoffman Signpost staff writer Barry Gomberg, equal opportunity and affirmative action officer at Weber State University, opened Thursday's Issues Forum titled "Affirmative Action: Fair Play or Reverse Discrimination?"" Affirmative action is designed to erase inequities, yet value the differences," Gomberg told the audience.He said that, in general, affirmative action is well received and practiced by organizations because of the recognized value of diversity, but there are those exceptions to the rule (usually identif iedby previous lawsuits) which require government intervention in the form of mandated hiring percentages of minorities. "The threatof affirmative action mandates is usually a scare tactic rather than a reality," he said. Refering to WSU he said, "Ideally, we should have a program set up which would promote diversity in race and gender equality." Gary Godfrey, assistantpro-fessor of foreign languages at WSU, expanded on this theme by saying, "The Constitution prohibits discrimination in this country, even though it was ignored with regards to the slavery of days-gone-by." He said that we need the full cooperation of everyone in our society in order to succeed. "Today, equal opportunity fi 0 0 Mia does not guarantee equal results because of the diversity of individuals," he said. The question was asked, "How do we guarantee equal opportunity in jobs at WSU?" Godfrey replied, "We do a good job and are improving constantly." He said that you have to understand the screening process to be able to appreciate just how successful that process is. "We select our faculty from applicants nationwide, but we select our groundskeepers from local applicants, and there is an obvious difference in standards which are evaluated," Godfrey said. Government mandates, or too much management, tends to close opportunities to talented people of all races and genders. "Sometimes this undermines the quality of education by placing undue pressure on administrators to hire less qualified people in order to present the proper image. This is one of the problems with affirmative action," he said. Daily Oliver, professor of honors and integrated studies, said, "Qualifications are more important than race or gender and should be the determining factor for each opportunity." He emphasized this point by adding, "One of the biggest problems is definition of 'equality.' The term is used to define opportunities, not results." "In education, an equal learning environment is crucial, and sometimes the government must intervene. There must be equal G GD 0 it V. - M- ; W f1 ) participa tion opportuni ties for new groups and individuals. Everyone must play by a standardized set of rules, which provides a level playing field," he said. Oliver gave a small history lesson about some events which led to affirmative action, but then he reiterated that affirmative action is designed to provide opportunities to minorities who are qualified. "WSU is in the top 20 universities for not graduating black athletes," he said. This statement prompted a retort from an audience member who said, "Education is an individual responsibility and should not be held against the school." Oliver responded by saying he has repeatedly told the "people who bring these statistics up that, a black athlete has a better chance of becoming a nuclear physicist than becoming a professional athlete." Gomberg said, "The key term for affirmative action is 'qualified'. Proper affirmative action will increase an individual or organization's quality by identifying weaknesses to be improved." "Segregation hurts every-one,"hesaid. "Predictions now show that by the year 2000, 40 percent of the work force will be women. Affirmative action is the breaking of a monopoly, and thus creates a hostile environment in some cases," he said. CD CP 0 1 J """"" 1 , f : ! ' r. ;. ' i r?t - : ft- . Down the home stretch David Gebben, the first place finisher, heads towards the finish line. The race started and finished at Wildcat Theater. Polluted WSU duckpond raises eyebrows, concerns By Mark Forsberg Signpost managing editor Although many of Weber State University's employees and students do not attribute much importance to the duck pond, it was a center of attention last year for students of the art department. James McBeth, chairman of the art department, recounted several art projects which put the university's duck pond in a controversial light, much to the chagrin of the university. When students were given an assignment to build sculptures site-specific to the duck pond, they were warned by the building and grounds department to steer clear of the water. The result: several students put an environmental spin on their sculptures. "We were told by the building and grounds department that we shouldn't be in the water because it's so polluted," he said. McBeth said one display piece called for several people dressed in chemical cleanup suits to perform a ballet in the pond. Another project, which the school did not allow, would have used two long sheets of black plastic to steer viewers to a two-way mirror facing the pond. Facts about pollution were printed on the mirror. "That didn't go over big with the campus," he said. David Maxson, director of the physical plant, said the pond is safe as long as people stay out of the water. "We have signs posted to keep them out, but people keep tea ring them down," he said. Maxson said the pond is a necessary catch basin for the runoff from the parking lots. It also takes water from the east side of Harrison Boulevard. "If a gas station on Harrison has a spill it can end up in the pond," he said. "It's really a retention pond. People just keep calling it the duck pond." Maxson explained the reasoning behind the pond: "We have so much black-top, the rainwater doesn't seep into the ground. The duck pond keeps the sewer systems downtown from getting flooded." Large pieces of matter, oil and other substances that collect in the bottom of the pond are cleaned out on a yearly basis, he said. Maxson said the ducks were not endangered by the substances that entered the duck pond from the parking lots. He said almost all of the dead ducks people reported were injured or drowned by other ducks during mating season. |