Volume 7
@P~litan
Issue 10
October 2"f, 1 !J84
Two Resign Student_R~ps.·
Charges ResurfJlS!
Senator 'Bill Visits
·Professor's Credentials Challenged
~Scrutinized by Nonna Restivo
©The Metropolitan 1984
Reporter, The Metropolitan
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by Rose Jackson and Kevin Vaughan
Memb_ers of ASMSC found ineligible to hold their student government positions by the Office of Student Affairs can appeal the decision to the judicial board on Wednesday, October 24. • Two levels.of student government are ~ currently under scrutiny by the board, .., which is the judicial branch of ASMSC. The Senate h~ reviewed its own members (about 22) and found several are not attending meetings regularly. The board must decide if the charges are valid. Other members of student .,,. government not included in the Senate are under review for current GPA standing, insufficient course load, total semester hours completed, and degree status. The board must be certain that members of student government are fulfilling their constitutional • requirements. Jane Wrenshall, student -body treasurer, was cited for being nondegree seeking. She later declared a , major and the charges were dropped. "It creates a great deal of animosity," she said. "We work hard and take a lot ~ of time. Rarely do other students see the effort we put into student government." Two senate membe~s have resigned to date. One couldn't attend meetings regularly due to a conflicting class • schedule. The other member had to
Reporter, Editor, The Metropolitan
'It creates a great deal of animosity. We work hard and take a lo_t of time. Rarely · do other students see the • effort we ·put in"to Student Government' ·-Ja~e Wrenshall work during that time slot. Two remaining members cited for ineligibility will appeal their charges to the board Wednesday. According to Dave Sytherland, vice president of ASMSC, impeachment proceedings are not a cut and dried affair. .. . ! "Proceedings may go on for quite a while. People may have good reasons for missing~ meetings and then the judicial qoard can throw out the charges." · The board operates just like a court in that it hears and then deliberates a • particula> case. The board's procedures for legal proceedings are supposed to be reviewed by the state attorney generals office. But, according to Sutherland, the attorney's advice is not always relevant. "You can accept or reject his legal advice. Whatever the board's original
Senator Bill Armstrong ~opped in Denver last Friday and met w.ith students at the Auraria campus. J\rmstrong was on a statewide campaign swing during which time he met with college students from all around Colorado. Armstrong, a Republican, is in the midst of a heated race with Lt. Governor Nancy Dick. -Photo by J.M. Bailey
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-Page 12 ·
A long-simmering internal conflict in the MSC economics department over alleged discrepancies in the academic "credentials of a· faculty member has burst into the open. At the center of the controversy is Peter Hofer, assistant professor of economics at MSC. Hofer's problems began in February, 1981, when he was the target of a report calling for his immediaJe dismissal and challenging his competency as an e9ucator. When contacted by phone Monday ' night by The Metropolitan, Hofer termed the 146-page report an_d its allegations a "witch hunt," and "a mat, ter for litigation and lawyers." The Metropolitan first learned of the discontent in the department after several students confirmed that an MSC economics professor, Dr. Ralph Burns, had .advised his class on September 25 not to take any courses taught by Hofer. . The Metropolitan then .learned tha1 on February 27, 1981, Dr. Gerald Stone, head of the MSC econom1cs department, compiled the report calling for Hofer's immediate dismissal and submitted it to Dr. Richard Pasternak, deau of the school of business; Dr. Stanley S-underwirth, then-acting president for academic affairs; and then MSC President Donald Mcintyre. According to a copy of the Stone report made av.ailable to The Metropolitan, Stone requested Hofer's dismissal based on Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 23-10-210, on the grounds of " ... incompetency, or other good and just cause... " According to a copy of the Stone report, the alleged discrepancies occurred in three areas- academic credentials, · employment gained through alleged misrepresentation, and alleged unethical academic behavior. Hofer has taught in the MSC economics department since 1968 and has been a tenured faculty member since 1971. He was recommended for hire by then chairman of the economics department Morton Ohlson, a friend with whom he had studied at the University of Colorado in the late 1950s, sources told The Metropolitan. When Ohlson stepped down as chairman of the department preceeding the 1972-1973 school term, Hofer taught under Chair Edythe Miller, wife of Hofer's present attorney, Martin Miller. According to the 1969-1970 and cont. on page 3
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