Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 15, 1993, edition 1 / Page 4
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4 fThe Daily Tar Heel/Friday, Janaury 15, 1993 Judge rules dismissal of gay CIA employee permissible By Bruce Robinson StaffWrilen In a ruling applauded by some con servative groups and decried by gay rights organizations, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. upheld Tuesday a lower court’s decision that the Central Intelligence Agency’s 1982 dismissal of a homosexual spy was per Buy Used Textbooks At TARWEL iimim m mwMht TEXTBOOKS Comer of MaDette & Franklin •Free Mtmg at the Door •Official UNC Textbooks •School Supplies ' i 4 We Buy Back Books Year Round!! “Your Used Textbook Headquarters” EXTENDED HOURS 8:00 am-9:00 pm Mon.-Fri. 9:00 am-5:00 pm Sat. • 1:00 pm-6:00 pm Sun. For Your Convenience, Also Open l(F, 17 h &. /fl* j||pi| VJS^ missible. The decision stated that the CIA had legitimate concern regarding the agent’s “trustworthiness since he hid informa tion about his involvement in homo sexual activity despite suspecting or knowing that the agency considered such involvement to be a matter of security significance.” The spy, dubbed John Doe in the decision, entered the CIA in 1973 and was promoted to a t job as an electronics technician. Although he received excel lent ratings, he was fired in 1982 “in the interests of the United States” after dis closing he was gay to a CIA security official. Doe disclosed the information because he feared he would be fired. Doe appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, contending that he had been fired because of his homosexual ity. In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that if a CIA agent was denied equal protection and property rights under the Constitution, courts could then inter vene. The Doe case then was returned to the lower courts. After a lower court ruled in favor of Doe, U.S. Court of Appeals J udge David Sentelle reversed the decision. Sentelle wrote that Doe had not proven he was fired because of his homosexuality rather than “his clandestine and deliber ately concealed activity.” “Doe’s oft-expressed concern for the privacy of his partners has led the agency to conclude that he might well be sus ceptible to threats of exposure directed against his past, present or future homo sexual partners,” Sentelle wrote. David Christian, a media spokesman for the CIA, said the agency did not have a blanket policy of discrimination against homosexuals. “We do not reject, disqualify, or as sign people or make any other person nel decision on the basis of sexual ori entation,” he said. “We have homo sexuals on our work force.” However, gay-rights groups remain unconvinced of the ClA’s disclaimer that it did not discriminate. Gregory King, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, said discrimination still existed in the agency. “They have discriminated on the ba sis of sexual orientation in the past,” he said. King said he felt sexual orientation should not be a matter of discussion during the CIA selection process. “I don’t thihk the question should be asked,” he said. “Being gay isn’t some thing that constitutes a security risk.” However, some conservative groups feel homosexuals should not be allowed into sensitive positions in government. Peter Flaherty, chairman of the Con servative Campaign Fund, applauded the dismissal of the agent and said he was concerned that homosexuals would be less reliable agents. “I think it’s a bad policy to allow homosexuals in the CIA,” he said. “It’s one of the most sensitive areas of government.” Salaries cilities, research and public service. The most recent AAUP data for 1991 shows that full professors at UNC-CH receive salaries that are in the 60th percentile of major U.S. research uni versities. While that total is about aver age, it does represent a significant drop from 1981, when University professors were in the top 20th percentile. The most dramatic drop in rank is in assistant professor salaries. In 1981, assistant professors at the University ranked in the top 20th percentile. The 1991 report ranked UNC assistant pro fessor salaries in the 80th percentile, well below average. The National Academy of Sciences also recently compared UNC-CH with 30 other institutions nationwide in teach ing, research and public service facili ties. The academy found that UNC sala ries rank near the bottom. Full profes sors are the 25th-worst-paid in the na tion, associate professors are eight from the bottom, and assistant professors are at the bottom, according to the report. John Hood, research director of the PLANAHEAD!^|pj The World Traveller Books & Maps 400S.ElliottM BWMNMI c s Ir/Pn 1 j j I Open 7 Days! ■ Catalog Pants $lO-95 17 Rugby Shirts $795 # Flannel Boxers Come take advantage of these 1 incredibly low prices. yuTS The Rack j I Off Price. In Style. i at the old Nowell’s location in University Mall, Chapel Hill • 967-7041 J New Store Hours: Mon.-Fri„ 10 am-9 pm • Sat, 10 am -6pm • Sun., 1-5 pm I Flaherty said homosexual CIA agents could compromise national security because they were more likely to be targeted by some groups. “If you’ll forgive the pun, it’s a place where we should have straight arrows,” he said. “They could be more subject to blackmail.” . Flaherty also said homosexuals should not be allowed government jobs because they placed a great burden on taxpayers who must fund the employ ees’ health care. “I’m very concerned about homosexuals in government jobs because if they catch AIDS, the taxpay ers will have to pay for their health care,” he said. Christian said that the ClA’s policy towards homosexuals had evolved since the 1970 sand that the current policy had been in place since the mid-1980s. Sexual orientation is discussed in background checks on all prospective CIA employees, Christian said. The checks include a long statement on per sonal history, an interview and a poly graph test. “In the course of that rather extensive process, most everything comes out. “Sexual orientation doesn’t matter, but sexual conduct does if there is any thing in a person’s conduct that would render that person subject to coercion or exploitation ... to expose secrets or have adverse information disclosed,” he said. Although Doe was fired for clandes tine behavior, Christian said the initial failure to disclose homosexuality would not lead to dismissal in every circum stance. King said that he was disappointed with the decision but that he believed any discrimination would end under the Clinton administration. from page 1 Locke Foundation, said the Locke re port reflected the cost of living in its analysis, as opposed to other reports, which consider salaries only. “We took the salaries of all the pro fessors nationwide and adjusted them as if these professors were living in North Carolina,” he said. Taking straight salary figures with out considering the cost of living in certain areas makes other reports less accurate, Hood said. Professors else where get paid more because their cost of living is higher, he said. Richard Soloway, chairman of the UNC department of history, said the salary averages quoted in the Locke report were grossly overestimated. At least nine of the full professors in the history department are being paid less than $50,000 a year, Soloway said.. The Board of Governors has pro posed a 6-percent faculty pay increase this year effective in July and another 6- percent pay increase effective in July 1994. The General Assembly, which convenes Jan. 27, will consider the pro posed increase sometime this session.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 15, 1993, edition 1
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