Volume 6 Issue 9
"Growing with a growing commun!ty."
October 19,_1 g83
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? .
Salary Gate: •
- By and By, Maybe But Not This Time
Curt Wright is grist for MSC rumor mill
by Susan Skorupa The white haired woman in sensible walking shoes came to Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant on Saturday morning to save the world. A west wind unfurled her hand painted banner which proclaimed "Spirit of Peace" in bright, glowing letters against a sky blue background. "We have to save the world for the next generation," she said. A veteran of peace demonstrations , the grandmother of six spent nearly seven years protesting the war in Vietnam. "Look around you," she said, gesturing with one hand toward the Flatiron. "How can anyone want to destroy this?" The Encirclement of Rocky Flats brought together all the elements of the Colorado peace community - from the Vietnamera grandmother to the pink haired new-waver in tight, pegged pants. They stretched their homemade signs across the barbed wire fence,. ("No more bombs-Come stop Rocky . Flats") and took each other's hands trying to complete the circle.
by Carson Reed and K~ren Ziebell
•· .
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Spurred by rumors that MSC Vice President of Business and Finance Curt Wright is about to be axed because of past discrepancies in administrative salary increases, members of his office have circulated a "statement of support" petition among faculty and administration this past week. The petition was presented to President Fontera by MSC Treasurer Charles Norick and Associate Vice President for Business and Finance James Vanderhye last Friday afternoon. Norick said the petition was signed by 160 faculty, administrators, and staff. During the meeting "Dr. Fontera told us that he supported Wright," Vanderhye said. Since the ultimate hiring and firing of MSC personnel is·under the direct jurisdiction and control of Fontera, the question remains: why, specifically, is Wright currently under fire, and from whom? · The controversy first erupted on September 12, when an article in the Rocky Mountain News said that
Fontera said the petition ivas nothing more than a response to rumors "that just aren't true. ,. salary data compiled by Wright for use by the Trustees of the Consortium of State Colleges showed salaries higher than actually earned for some administrators, resulting in inflated salary adjustments. In addition to the increasedpercentage adjustments reported by the News, the higher figures were retained in administrators' base salaries, resulting in "hidden raises" much targer than the increases shown on the report to the Trustees. Wright told the Rocky Mountain News' that the adjustments were made as part of a program to reach "target salaries" similar to those of administrators at other schools, and that the Trustees were aware of the procedure. The procedure was investiga~ed continued on page 3
continued on page 5
Young and old linked arms at Rocky Flats on Saturday to protest the nuclear arms race photo by Jack Affleck
Parking Forum -Debate Generates
Heat, but No
~ight
by Michael Ocrant
MegaCampus Part H
pages
Steinem at Auraria '
page
1~
Questions concerning AHEC's parking revenues were put forth by MSC Student President Brendan Kelly in an AHEC Parking Committee open forum on Wednesday. AHEC Director of Administrative Services Raul Gomez challenged Kelly's figures in a tenminute · exchange over parking· revenues. Gomez said the figures used by Kelly in an MSC Government report printed in The Metropolitan were inaccurate. After several exchanges between Kelly and Gomez, Kelly said he would check the figures further. Gome2 invited him to check directly with his office for information and chided Kelly for not doing so earlier. About 25 people, including student government representatives and the members of the Parking Committee attended the meeting. continued on page 3
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