English teachers must move to make room for paranormal studies

Thursday, Dec. 10, 1998 | 1:49 a.m.

The two groups have been sharing cramped quarters in the university's historic Houssels House, but university administrators recently ordered the English composition crew to move out by Dec. 20.

The Consciousness Studies Program, with a staff of three and a following of 98 students, plans to take over the space and invite in larger groups to discuss near-death experiences and other unearthly topics. About a dozen philosophy graduate students also will be moved into the Houssels House in the coming months.

One administrator said Wednesday the university is giving more room to the privately funded Consciousness Studies Program, which focuses on possible explanations for paranormal occurrences, to remain in good graces with its $3.7 million benefactor, local apartment complex developer Robert Bigelow.

"What I told (the English instructors) is when you have a program sponsored and paid for by a big donor, you're never going to take a chance and offend those people, if you don't have to," said Ken Hanlon, the university's associate vice president for academic budgeting.

English teachers, looking around Wednesday at their double-wide trailer's sagging ceiling and mismatched desks, are asking what has happened to UNLV's commitment to composition and the 2,500 students who take those classes each semester.

"What does moving the entire composition faculty into a trailer say about how writing is valued on campus, how teachers are valued and how the students are valued?" asked Susan Taylor, the university's director of composition.

Taylor has gathered more than 50 signatures on a letter sent last week to UNLV President Carol Harter protesting the planned move.

Harter had not responded to the letter by Wednesday, and she turned away questions about the issues raised by the English instructors.

"I don't know anything about it," she said. "I need to understand what has happened before I can talk about it."