Some OSU workers don’t get living wage

While I fully support the grad students’ efforts to acquire a better deal from OSU and applaud the increases that the faculty and staff will be receiving, I should like to point out that there is a segment of university employees who are living on the margins and are neither receiving increases in wages nor any benefits whatsoever, now or prospectively.

They do not even receive a living wage.

They are the adjunct professors.

These highly qualified and fully-credentialed men and women, the majority holding PhDs, labor on a piece-work basis. That is, they are paid by the course taught, although at less than half the rate regular professors receive for the same work.

They are expected to hold office hours without an office and to have course materials on-line and email access for students without having a computer available to them when on campus.

They have no medical, sick leave, vacation, dependent or retirement benefits. They live from intermittent, variable, and unreliable paycheck to paycheck.

The university also expects these professors to develop e-campus courses, of which the university then usurps ownership. A pretty sweet deal for the school.

It is shameful that academia has bought into this outsourcing/contractor model of business.

These employees are invisible and vulnerable. They could not speak out as I have without fear of losing even this minimal employment.

They are, however, indispensable to the operation of the university. These dedicated educators deserve better.

Martin R. Mulford, Corvallis

Keep Wilberger case off the front page

I would like to echo the sentiments of others who have written to the Gazette-Times asking that the coverage of the Brooke Wilberger case be less intense, and reporting dropped to page 6 rather than being front page news.

I note that on May 24 there were not one but two long front-page articles on the case, which managed to use the words “rape,” “sodomy” and “sexual abuse” more than once, plus sensational terms such as “blood-curdling” and “Satanism.”

That same day, there were two small front-page articles on local soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since the Wilberger case has already been covered repeatedly by the GT, the public’s need to know has already been addressed.

Repeated front-page coverage of Wilberger’s case can only serve to bring more pain to her family and friends and glorify a truly heinous crime.

In the future, how about changing your emphasis from the sensational by putting a small article on an inside page on the Wilberger case, and using the front page to tell us more about the local soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country.

Marybetts Sinclair, Corvallis

Eliminate commute by swapping jobs

I commuted from Corvallis to Albany for 27 years.

As I traveled the highways (highway 20 and 34, Interstate 5) I was among thousands of other cars commuting both directions.

In my schools there were always people who also lived in Corvallis and commuted.

It occurred to me that there were probably teachers in Corvallis who commuted from Albany.

What if we traded jobs? It would eliminate the commute, save gas, save money, save time, save hassle — in a word, it would be “peachy.”

So, if you commute, find a comparable business to yours in your home town and see if there is a person who matches what you do and then negotiate a trade.

Another level would be for someone to start a business (web site?) that allows people who commute to register and then matches them with compatible jobs in their home town.

Car pooling is another partial measure to use less fuel.

Kurt Gustafson, Corvallis

Dial-A-Bus service not for everyone

In response to Regina Berman’s letter “Better bus schedules would add riders” (May 29):

As the director for the Dial-A-Bus program some points of clarification need to be made:

Our program is operated primarily by volunteer drivers thus providing limitations to the availability of services.

Dial-A-Bus contracts with Benton County Special Transportation and with the City of Corvallis to provide the services that we do. However, we are a private non-profit program operated again primarily by volunteer drivers.

We operate transportation in Benton County as a “coordinated” system, which means:

If you can use Corvallis Transit System you should and would not qualify for Dial-A-Bus services. Corvallis Transit System is a cheaper mode of transportation for all.

In addition if you need more escort service we, Dial-A-Bus, would refer you onto Interfaith Caregivers who provide a service we do not.

Things the community could do to help increase services:

Become informed about transportation options and spread the word to folks who may need these services, not just because the price of gas is out of reach for many seniors who are on a fixed income.

Volunteer and drive someone happy.

Linda Elder, Corvallis

Letter writer’s quote was not quite right

In his May 29 letter, Leo de Vogel misquoted a line from the movie “All About Eve.”

The correct quote is: “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night” — not a bumpy ride.

Pam Wegner, Corvallis

Oil company profits linked to gas prices

I was amused to read a couple of letters from the ideological right blaming the Democrats for high gas prices because we care about the environment.

Had these folks been able to read the article in the same paper about how oil companies keep service station profits constant by manipulating the market, they might have begun to understand the connection between high prices and high profits.

Speculation is a big part of the problem, but the vertical integration of the oil business makes any semblence of competition or “market forces” determining the price at the pump impossible to believe.

The “players” are making as much money as they can in a cartel system.

I hope the ideological right continues to write stuff I would be considered mean to attribute to them.

It is so much easier to have them say it for themselves.

Don Caughey, Corvallis