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fights retirement Prof a i to reti Reprinted from Augi/?! 4 OamecocK ByMARGUERi'fE A. RYAN Editor-in-Chief One of the USC professors fighting . the mandatory retirement at 65, who was scheduled to retire this summer, is returning this fall, after all. Biology professor Wade T. Batson was told he had to retire this summer, in accordance with the Faculty Manual, and he and another professor scheduled to retire next year filed suit against the university. The other professor, Paul Blackstock, 64, is a professor in the Department of Government and International Studies. BECAUSE BATSON'S retirement was imminent, his attorney, Victoria Eslinger, also asked for an injunction on university action to retire him. At a hearing Aug. 4 before U. S. District Judge Robert Hemphill, the university agreed to let Batson fpflph thic full Ho coSrl ho Koo ordered books and scheduled classes. The two professors' suit argues that the university is violating their constitutional rights, by requiring retirement earlier than other state agencies do, and breaching contracts under which they were hired. When Batson and Blackstock came to the university, mandatory retirement age was 70, but since then the university administration has lowered the age twice~to 68 in 1967 and to 65 in 1974. Batson has been in the biology department for Column Retirem Reprinted from August 4 Gamecock By LLOYD WOODS Associate Editor Retirement. It seems to many. We students tend not t we have just finding a job en about. But many people wh< that mystical age of 40 thii great deal it seems. Most wi retire early, though a few vi the end of their productive liv most of those who manage* gladly accepted retirement, so today. j Many people today who an who have passed that age, d retire. They feel they can sti! great deal to their jobs. Th derstand why one day at ag considered productive eleme and then the next day at 65 denly and mysteriously bu working population. A number of professor! questioned the need for their 65 in the past but it was riot ! that two professors, one 65, J !J 1 A ? ?t. A. VX ?*?_ J- I ueciueu 10 ngni. urs. waae I Paul W. Blackstock have against the university chi school's right to force them t Dr. Batson, 65, a biology p supposed to retire July 1, but I Bowed jrn 25 years and Blackstock in GINT for 18 years. Batson said he assumed the retirement age effective when he joined the university would be applied to him. "1 wasn't prepared for the real shock I got when the administration informed me that I was to retire." He said the provost called him and asked how he felt about next year, referring to Batson's retirement. That was the first he knew of his retirement this year, Batson said. HE COULD not say if he would have challenged the 65 retirement age if that had been the cutoff age when he came to the university. "It's hard to say what I would do under other circumstances." He argued- that he would be prepared to teach as well as last year or the year before. "I believe I would be a better teacher." Teaching is his life, he said. Blackstock was not available for comment. Attorney for Batson and Blackstock, Victoria Eslinger, said the two professors are challenging the administration's power to lower retirement age and apply the current retirement age, as described in the faculty manual, to those who came to the university under different conditions. However, Phillip M. Grier, university counsel, said the facultv manual is not equivalent to a contract. It does incorporate most of the terms of employment for faculty, he said. He also said the administration has the authority to cHange retirement age. ent linnet has given him ar settled. Dr. Bla< and internationa be a goal of forced to retire 0 think of it as contend that wh ough to worry 50s the retirer ) have passed retirement age i nk about it a They feel that ish they could effect when they ew the day as one affecting thi es. In the past Both of these J to reach 65 teach as long as but this is not be forced to reti longer teach bee; 1 nearly 65, or reasons. Age is 10 not want to determining reti 11 contribute a worn out at 40 ani ey cannot un- Should they be fo e m iney are government dole nts of society, i have never n they are sud- what I have h rdens on the qualified to kee experience that I 5 here have to continue teacl retirement at courses the first until recently Blackstock appe the other 64, than most of hi: T. Batson and there seems to filed a suit ment that he doc allenging the terrible waste tc o retire at 65. Look at it this v rofessor, was 65 one day, barrii the university want to be treat WHEN A person is hired by the university, he signs a contract and is referred to the manual for terms of employment. Because the manual is not a contract, it may be changed by administrative and board of trustPPR artinn anH faculty ijiust abide by current university policies, regardless of policies followed when faculty members were hired. The suit brought by Batson and Blackstock alleges that the > i extension until the suit is ikstock, 64, a government 1 studies professor, will be next summer. The men en they were hired in the nent age was 70. The tfas lowered in 1974 to 65. the retirement policy in r were hired should be the sir retirement now. men should be allowed to they want to. They should re only when they can no ! ause of physical or mental ; a ridiculous factor for rement. Some people are d are no longer productive. reed to retire and go on the !? I net Dr. Batson, but, from eard, he is more than p teaching. I know from Dr. Blackstock is qualified hing, as I took one of his summer session. At 64 Dr. ars to have more enprcrv - s students. As a teacher be nothing about govern>s not know. It would be a force him to retire. vay. We are all going to be ig early death. How do you ed at 65? ! ^ university is enforcing the 65 retirement age so younger persons can be hired at lower salaries. Batson's salary is more than $27,000 and Blackstock's is more than $21,000. When Batson and Blackstock came to USC, there was no faculty manual, which started publication in 1962. President William H Patterson, dean of administration oeiore iwz, saia a Dasic statement of principles of employment was sent around to professors, which the manual has since replaced, but Patterson said he did not remember if it contained retirement age stipulations. ESLINGEK SAID the hearing today will decide whether the case will be heard in federal or state court. She said the case would be settled more quickly in federal uuui i, in a minimum ui iwo years. Otherwise, she said, it could take as much as five years. Grier, however, said he does not think the university will be sued by other faculty members concerning retirement age. Neuman Connor, Jr., chairman of the welfare committee of the faculty senate for the past two years, said no faculty has asked the committee to consider retirement age. And Stephen Ackerman, chairman of the faculty senate until Aug. 15, said he did not remember any faculty member's bringing objections to retirement age to the senate's attention. Ackerman said when a faculty member enters the university he is advised to look at the faculty manual, which contained "information concerning University regulations and procedures considered to be of particular interest" to faculty, the manual says in its foreward. The manual contains information on administrative and faculty organization, on university regulations and policies, research, benefits and privileges, facilities and services and by-laws and standing rules of the faculty senate. RETIREMENT AGE is included 1 [ in "benefits and privileges," and according to the manual, "Changes providing additional rights, privileges and benefits shall apply to faculty members employed prior to the promulgation of such changes." The changes in retirement ages were made for "various administrative reasons," Grier said. However, Ackerman said faculty cts>Aunu: i-uctuges win noi oe appuea retroactively if they are to the faculty's detriment. M. Lynn McCauley, professor in the Department of Theatre and Speech and president of the local' chapter of the American Association of University Professors, agreed with this view of retroactive application of faculty manual policies. Manual policies should be binding if changes made are to the advantage of faculty members, he said. But when the university ceases to do that, it is "no longer operating in good faith," he added. UK SAII) the local chapter of the AAUP has not received any official complaints from faculty concerning retirement age. He does not expect the suit brought by Batson and Blackstock, successful or not, to encourage other professors in similar situations to bring suit, he said. He explained that USC faculty is ici<tuveiy conservative. r or this reason, plus the tight national job market for university professors, most professors are reluctant "to rock the boat. They're holding on to what they've got." Grier said the administration can change retirement age, but the S.C. Attorney Attorney General's office issued an opinion in midNovember 1976 that the university administration could not do so if the age would be lower than that stipulated in the state's laws, Eslinger said. Grier said there was not much uniformity in retirement age among state agencies, but he See RETIREMENT, p. 20