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	Vol.7, No 40, November 8, 1999
	Discrimination policy revised to benefit veterans By Daniel Oliveira Daily Forty-Niner Responding to complaints made by members of a campus veterans group, the university has rewritten its nondiscrimination policy to guarantee affirmative-action benefits for military veterans. The revised policy, found in the Cal State Long Beach 1999-2000 Catalog, says the university does not discriminate against veterans in admission, employment and educational procedures. "We are acknowledging our commitment and obligation legally to provide affirmative-action benefits for them," said Armando Contreras, executive assistant to CSULB President Robert Maxson. The updated policy is the result of a boiling dispute between the CSULB Veterans Group and the university. The group, comprised of campus veterans, filed two complaints with the U.S. Department of Labor, stating CSULB is not complying with the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. The act awards affirmative-action benefits in employment for Vietnam-era and disabled veterans. The Labor Department is investigating the university for fraud and discrimination against veterans. Walter Moore, a Vietnam-era veteran and professor of communicative disorders, said one of the reasons he felt discriminated against was because he found out the College of Health and Human Services hired a person to a tenure-track position without advertising the job opening. Donald Lauda, the college's dean, said the woman was hired through a special affirmative-action program that did not require advertisement. He could not recall the specific program. "We followed the procedures of the university," Lauda said. "Everything was done under the policy. There wasn't a violation." The 1974 veterans act says an employer must list all job openings with the local employment office. The office, then, must give Vietnam-era veterans priority in referral to these openings. Moore said he met a few times with Contreras and Barbara Franklin, acting director of CSULB's Equity and Diversity office, to discuss the past incident and the act's regulations. "It was apparent that they [Contreras and Franklin] did not know anything about the regulations," Moore said. Contreras said he admitted the university lacked a clear nondiscrimination policy for veterans. But now, with the revised policy, he said CSULB has an institutional commitment to the veterans in training and recruitment. "The majority of our affirmative-action programs are geared toward employment opportunity," Contreras said. He said some veterans have already taken advantage of the training programs sponsored by the university.   "We basically give people better skills, so they become better qualified for other jobs," Contreras said, referring to the programs.  "That's what affirmative action means." The conflict between the veterans and CSULB administration began in 1995. Raymond Renaud, a Vietnam-era veteran and CSULB equipment technician, filed a class-action noncompliance complaint against the university with the Labor Department for failing to give veterans certain benefits. It later turned into a discrimination complaint in 1996. The department ruled against the veterans and later denied their appeal. Moore filed another noncompliance complaint in 1998. This time, the Labor Department accepted the complaint and reopened the previous case. Now, it is investigating both cases together, according to Woody Gilliland, the acting regional director of the Federal Contract Compliance Programs office.		Discrimination policy revised to benefit veterans   Voice registration glitches bite CSULB   State investigates university practices   Car strikes student   Professor wins state award   Tech company relocates to L.B.   CSU grants funds to address remedial classes Free high school press   Concert success despite low attendance 'The Insider' absorbs audience with direction Two-way player rushes, tackles his way to hall Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.