1971_01 The Daily Collegian January 1971

              PRESENTS REPORT
Chittick asks FSC Executive
Committee for investigation
DR. ROGER CHITTICK and DR. EUGENE ZUMWALT
Daily
Collegian
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1971
By JohnJetferles
Collegian Staff Write
i barrage of e
eredto the Executive Committee yesterday by Dr.
Roger Chittick brought the usually routine meeting to a near
shouting duel as Dr. Norman Baxter and Dr. JamesFlkesdlrected
verbal Jabs at Chittick and Dr.
Eugene Zumwalt, whohadaccompanied him to the meeting.
The five and one-half page
memorandum and proposal, compiled by Dr. Chittick. covered the
relationship between the Fresno
State College English Department
and the Baxter Administration
since Baxter's appointment as
president last July.
Leading off the memorandum
was a letter sent to Baxter by the
English Department shortly after
his appointment. The letter acknowledged deteriorated relations between the FSC Administration (under Dr. Karl Falk) and
the English Department, and called for a meeUng t
Ions to discuss the 'nature of
present problems and ways in
:h we may work together to
at least, alleviate
four following letters from the
English Department.
. The fifth letter, received by
Baxter one week prior to the demotion of Zumwalt and Chittick
as English Department heads,
was answered by a brief phone
call from Baxter':Zumwalt.The
context of that call was a negative
answer to Zumwalt's request for
a meeting, but at this time Baxter allegedly gave as his reason
the assertion that Zumwalt had
called Dr. Doris Falk (wife of
Dr. Karl Falk) 'a despicable woman* and that he (Baxter) would
not meet with Zumwalt until he
had apologized to her.
Following this report in the
Chittick read a
Barbara Varley resigns as chairman of
graduate department of Social Work
Dr. Barbar
u. ofttn
e School of Social W
I   Dr.   '
1 ofSoclalWork.hasre
r chairmanship andwll
full-time teaching In th
spring semester.
Dr. Varley's resignation, a
utgrowth of recent controvers
surrounding faculty firings lnth
school, was given to Acting Aea
Dr. Varley requested to be re
snded   t
fol-
e Professors
f Social Work Edward Dutton,
rvlng Ruhl, John O'Neill and
n Social Work
Dr. Thomas Brigham, dean of
> professors be retained. His decision was revers
ed In three of the four cases recently by the college administration which terminated Dutton effective the end ofthesprlngsem-
one-year terminal contracts.
O'Nell was retained.
Fresno State College President Dr. Norman A. Baxter refused to accept Dr. Varley's resignation at the time, slating,
"You shouldn't change horses in
the middle of a crisis.*
In her letter of resignation, Dr.
Varley said, *I am repeating my
request since all efforts which
have been made, both within the
school and by the use of an out-
ltlon as chair
Dr. Varley has had no further
comment on her resignation.
She Is a tenured professor of
social work.  She came to FSC In
an associate professor at Florida
State University. Prior to that
she taught at the University of
Utah, where she also received her
B.A. In sociology and herM.Ailn
social work. She received her
doctoral degree from Western
Reserve University.
Schorllng   said   Dr.  Varley's
reply to the charge he had Insulted Dr. Doris Falk. Zumwalt's
memo to Baxter contained the
Une, *I have never called professor (Doris) Falk a despicable
At that point, Flkes, silting
across the room from Chittick,
said in a loud tone, 'That's a lie!*
Chlttlck's report touched on the
selection, over the obJecUon of
many faculty members, of Dr.
Ralph C. Rea as dean of the
School of Humanities. The report
covered almost all the English
Department controversies leading up to the demotion of Zurti-
walt and ChltUck, Including the
alleged deviation from currlcu-
i In which an "obscene" poem
,   the  ■
La Mesa Directiva hits
La Raza Studies plan
The report ofthe reinstatement
of La Raza Studies program at
Fresno State College has been received with apprehension by La
Mesa Dlerctlva de Fresno, aChl-
c.mo student community organl-
.\ It hough it has adopted a "wait
aad see" approach to see what
status the college eventually
gives La Raza, a cochalrman of
the organization said there five
posed by FSC President Dr. Norman A. Baxter last week.
Baxter announced La Raza will
.' reinstated In full next semes-
r *ith nine faculty members
aching 15 courses for a total
!« units of credit.
I* ildltlon to each three-unit
Wrss, Independent study CiSJM-
*1  by  designated classes,
Baxter said.
Baxter canceled the Ethnic Stu-
5  program  one week before
current term began U'l Sip-
il>er,  saying the college was
unable to recruit "qualified* faculty.
frank Qulntana, community
Chairman of La Mesa, says the
organization Is still concerned
about the status La Raza will
have on campus.
In a prepared statement, La
Mesa says, 'The objectives and
long-range plan for the La Raza
Studies program have not been
clearly nor adequately defined
(by the college). The present
program does not have a stated
purpose. The skills and knowledge to be taught have not been
purposefully planned."
The organization, created In
June to evaluate educaUonal programs, especially for Chlcanos,
also says lt Is "doubtful* that
Ralph Vigil, acting coordinator
for La Raza, can turn the program  Into  a strong and lasUng
La Mesa also asserts that the
proposed La Raza faculty 'consists of a loose composite of borrowed faculty from other departments." It charges that the primary teaching obUgaUons of the
faculty will belong to other departments.
■As such, the La Raza Studies
program Is of secondary Importance to the majority of the Instructors. The communication,
commitment, and unity needsd
(ConUnued on Paxe 3, CoL 2)
Out of this report, ChltUck has
called for action to be taken In
order to cjear up the controversy
surrounding the demotions     of
is necessary to establish an outside. Impartial review panel to
Investigate and make recommendations on the performance of
Drs. Eugene Zumwalt and Roger
ChltUck as Chairman and Assistant Chairman respectively of
the EngUsh Department at Fresno
State College.
•We propose, further, that this
panel be (composed of) distinguished professors In Departments -of EngUsh not connected
with the California SUte College
'We propose finally that In order to assure fairness and objectivity this panel be selected by an
established national organization
In the field of EngUsh-the Modern Language Association, tor
example.*
After ChltUck had concluded
his presentation of the report,
he passed out copies to the members of the ExecuUve Committee and the gallery. As he approached Baxter, he (Baxter) began shaking his head back and
forth. Baxter looked at Zumwalt
and said, "Put lt down In your
notes. Gene, that I won't accept
his!*
Later yesterday afternoon, the
CoUegian contacted Zumwalt. He
said, «I think Dr. Baxter's outburst was shocking and it seems
simply Incredible to me that he
would, refuse the copy offered to
him since he Is a member of the
ExecuUve Committee and will be
expected to participate In the discussion of this Item when lt comes
up on the agenda."
Chittick also spoke to the Collegian after the meeting, mainly
reiterating the points of his report. He did however call the
Idea of spies In classes 'abhorrent*, and said that he beUeved
that If a panel of unbiased persons
were to evaluate himself and
Zumwalt, he thought the outcome
State College Trustees, the Chancellor (Glenn S. Dumke), and possibly even the State Legislature.*
Baxter and Flkes were not
available for comment following
the meeUng.
Chico profs
express concern
over demotions
The Department of History at
Chlco State CoUege has passed a
resolution expressing 'concern"
over the manner In which Fresno
State College President Dr.Nor*
man A. Baxter removed Engllah
Department Chairman Dr. Eugene Zumwalt. »V
The resolution, which was
passed Dec. 11, deplores Baxter's "refusal to comment on or
explain his action,* and calls lor
a full, 'impartial and Independent
lnvestlgat'on of tbe Fresno State
College administraUon by an appropriate body."
•The Department of History «T
Chlco SUte CoUege affirms Its
democratic belief that no higher
administration official should remove a department chairman who
has the confidence of a majority
of his colleagues,"
AVANT GARDE jazz muslolan Tim Buckley will perform at 3 pan.
today in the College Union Lounge. Buckley, a svell-lftiovm folk
singer and songwriter, recently adopted the Jazz style. The-performance is sponsored *y the College Union Fine Arts Committee.
Dumke, Baxter aod Zumwalt.