e
Vol. XL VIII, No. 17 The U of L Studeat New.p.,er Januar~ 28, 1977
Slavin places Sociology
into academic receivership
By RICK YETTER .
The sociology department has been
placed In a state of "academic
receivership" by Dr. A. J. Slavin, UofL's
de an of Arts and Sciences. The
"receivership" became effective
November 8, 1976.
Slavin has the authority to take this
action under Article 3.5, section 3.5.2 of
the Redbook, the official governing
ins tru men t of the University of
Louisville.
Slavin informed sociology faculty
members of his decision during a meeting
on November 4. The following day,
Slavin sent to e:tch member of the
Men arrested
in break-in
sociology faculty a letter indicating his
reasons for placing the department in a
state of "receivership."
An attachment to Slavin ~s letter
entitled "Receivership - A Design for the
Department of Sociology," established
new procedures under which the
department is supposed to operate
efficiently.
In a telephone interview this week,
Slavin said, "I thought there existed a
situation in that department, of sufficient
complexity and difficulty, that there was
serious danger that damage would be
done to the department if some
intervention were not made."
Questioned about the specific nature
of the "situation," Slavin said, "I don't
think it would be appropriate to discuss
details because, in some sense, the
matters at issue could properly be called
personnel mc.tters . . . "
at Davidson
By TOM MURRAY
U [[ "Slavin's "receivership" framework
J.~ a 0 consists of 17 points, many dealing with
the duties and functions of the personnel,
undergraduate, graduate, · learning
Two men were arrested last Saturday,
January 22, by Public Safety officers in
Davidson Hall.
Richard Johnson , 18, of 636 S. 15 St.,
was arrested at 4:10 p.m. while allegedly
breaking into a vending machine. The
arresting officers were Sgt. James Harper
and officer Alexander.
"A white Ford ... came about 10 till
5," said Guill~rmo Ratmiroff, a Speed
School student, "and stopped in front of
Miller Hall. (The officer) came out with a
walkie talkie in his hand.
"When he got to the door , he put his
walkie talkie away, and took out his gun.
He opened the door with his key and
entered." At that time another U of L
patrol car pulled up.
A search of the building revealed a
suspected accomplice to Johnson, Fred­rick
L. Davidson, 18 of 3226 Del Park Dr.
Davidson was arrested "within an hour"
after Johnson.
resources and executive committees. All
committee assignments of facl:llty are
made by Slavin. Also, he determines what
function a faculty member has on a
committee.
The executive committee consists of
the chairpersons of the personnel,
undergraduate and graduate committees
and Slavin (or ills representative), wh~
serves as president of the executive.
committee. All action taken by other
committees are subject to the approval of
the executive committee.
Uf_lder the terms of "receivership," the
dean may veto any action taken by the
sociology department. If an action is
vetoed, the dean shall submit "a clear
statement explaining the veto and
recommit the matter for further
consideration."
Slavin said, "The essence of the
receivership is to make sur~ that every
PhOtograph by Mike Heitz
Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity members constructed this huge snowman outside the
Humanities Building Tuesday.
matter that belonged to the faculty,
whether it's curriculum, personnel, or
whatever might be a legitimate part of the
department's business, arise from the
faculty, is treated by committee or
committees of the faculty and is
p'r e sen ted to the full faculty for
decision."
Asked if factionalism existed in the
sociology department, Slavin said he
didn't think so. "What the real state of
any situation )n a department is, in the
most fundamental way, I think is very
difficult to know unless you are a
member of the department living with it
on a daily basis," he said.
Slavin said he thinks, however, there
exists among the sociology faculty
"legitimate differences of view about the
academic character of the department,
the nature of work, and the ambitions
and goals of the department. These affect
relationships between people as does any
serious disagreement among people."
"There comes a point in a situation
such as that, where it may be difficult to
resolve the disagreements within the
(continued on page 3)
Both men were turned over to the
Louisville Police Department and charged
with Third Degree Criminal Trespass and
Burglary. They were held in the Jefferson
County jail. University drops meal plan proposal
Neither Johnson nor Davidson are
students. The arresting officer, Harper,
said on the police report that they had
" no reason to be on campus."
On the day of the arrest, U of L's
Public Safety refused to comment and
referred inquiry to the Public Relations
Office (PRO). Arrest information was
obtained through the city's Technical
Service Bureau.
At this writing both Johnson and
Davidson have been released pending
trial.
Daniel Keller, director of Public
Safety, was "not at liberty to say" how
the suspects were found and apprehended
when contacted on Tuesday. Keller
continued to say "there are. a rash of
these problems (vending machine break­-
ins) over the past four months."
By ALAN KINSELLA
The university administration has with­drawn
the proposed mandatory meal plan
from consideration for the 1977-78
academic year. The plan would have
forced all incoming freshman dormitory
students and others to participate in a
prepaid meal plan.
· The decision came after Bill Davidson,
assistant executive vice president for
operations, sent a letter to William
Ekstrom, executive vice president, saying
that he and Gary Shingler, director of
food services, decided that the success of
the food service does not rely on the
mandatory meal plan.
Also, the student senate voted Tuesday
to not approve the plan (see story p:O).
The plan could still be proposed next
fall. According to Stephan Phelps, presi­dent
of the Student Government Associ­ation,
it isn't likely to pass. "By winning
once, the odds are in the students' favor
of stopping it again,:' Phelps said.
Phelps said that he has kept the Board
of Trustees from taking action on the
meal plan since a meeting on November
19, 1976. At that meeting he told the
board that the ould not even consider the
plan until needed freezer space could be
promised.
"They can't serve quality food or an
abundance of it unless they have the
freezer space. Not only will the price go
up but the quality will go down - that's
an obvious fact," Phelps said.
Mark Williams, president of the .dorm
council, said, "I'm happy (about the
decision). The student attitude was
basically for the plan - just not for the
mandatory part. If they could work
something out they might have a better
chance." Williams had recently met with
Davidson, Shingler and the dorm council
to discuss the plan.
The meal plan was proposed last June,
but was delayed because it had not been
approved by the Board of Trustees.
Under the plan, students would be
offered five different choices ranging
from $325 to $584 per semester.
The plan would not have affected the
SUB grill in he Student Center, and
participants in the meal plan would have
been allowed to use the SUB.