Wild Justice | Page 3

and the judge, and the testimony in her defense

is ignored.
"WILD JUSTICE chronicles the outrages of one woman's experience
with an engaging mix of humor and indignation. The use of fictitious
names underscores how the problems are systemic and not merely
rooted in the particular persons involved in this `witch hunt'. I hope it
will be widely read-- both for its own sake and to encourage the kind of
struggle that redirects higher education to serve the people and social
justice, however wild!"
Professor Willard Miller, University of Vermont.
COPYRIGHT PAGE
Published by T'Wanda Books, P.O.B. 1227, Peralta, NM 87042
Copyright @ 1993 by Ruth M. Sprague
Cover artist: David O'Vitt
1. Publisher's Cataloging In Publication Data
2. Sprague, Ruth M.
3. Wild Justice
4. 1. Fiction. 2. Sex discrimination. 3. University policy and procedures.
4. Feminists.
5. LC#: 93-060721
6. ISBN 1-883889-05-7 Softcover

AUTHOR'S NOTE
It is no accident that women continue to earn less than men. Nowhere is
this more evident than in the testosterone temples of academia. Here,
the ceiling is made of plexiglass.
Although more women are allowed in the classrooms and even into the
board rooms, decisions are still made in the men's rooms.
More women obtain advanced degrees and achieve faculty positions,
but few are allowed into the highest administrative positions. Rather,
they are found in greatest numbers in the lower paying, most labor
intensive positions.
Civil Rights laws connecting compliance with federal grants are
blatantly ignored or creatively circumvented by many institutes of
higher learning. The courts and the EEOC, weakened to the point of
extinction by the regressive administrations of the eighties, are about as
effective as warm spit in enforcing compliance.
Using the double edged sword of coercion and harassment, these

institutions of "higher learning" continue to maintain their status quo.
This book portrays a few of the artifices they employ. Characters,
descriptions and locations are fictional, created from the right side of
the author's brain.

DEDICATION

In fondest memory of
LEAH RUTH DENTON,
this book is dedicated to all
WOMANKIND AND HER SUPPORTERS
who refuse to accept the definitions and limitations
imposed by ancient conquerors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D., a native Vermonter known to hundreds of her
former students as Dr. Ruth, is retired after many years teaching
nursing and medical students.
She has published several scientific papers, teaching tutorials and one
novel, VERMONT TALES FOR FOOLS AND OTHER LOVERS.

"Revenge is a kind of wild justice." --Francis Bacon

WILD JUSTICE
by
Ruth M. Sprague

Foreplay
"You can't be serious," exclaimed Diana Trenchant, leaning toward the
man sitting behind the desk. "Incredible! Why on earth would I want to
fill out and turn in student feedback forms in my own course? All of
my semester student evaluations have been excellent."
Dr. Lyle Stone, Chairman of the Nutrition, Embryology and Radiology
Department, relished the power of his position as fervently as he

detested the acronym, NERD, that had been irreparably attached to it.
He passed a small pile of forms across his desk to Diana. "Obviously
you wanted to cause harm to the two other instructors in the course," he
replied smugly. His expression and demeanor suggested a small boy
torturing a bug and extracting the utmost enjoyment out of it.
"Harm them?" Dr. Trenchant laughed scornfully and sat back in her
chair scanning the evaluation forms. "You claim I wrote these five
which are derogatory toward them and the course. Five! Over two years
and hundreds of feedback forms? How could there be any harm
attributed to these particular forms when you know that both of those
instructors have consistently received derogatory evaluations from the
students since they started teaching the course?" Diana held the
offending papers out in demonstration toward Lyle, indignation
rampant in her gesture. Lyle ignored her question and picked up two
other papers from his desk which he handed to Diana saying accusingly,
"Besides those five, here are copies of two you also wrote concerning
the nutrition course. Together, these constitute repeated acts of
dishonesty which are grounds for termination for cause. "However. . ."
Lyle tried for a kindly expression and failed, "we are prepared to forget
these charges if you resign."
"Oh, that's the game, is it? No way. I'm going to talk to the faculty
ombudsman about this and find out what steps to take," returned Diana,
hotly, rising from her chair and starting toward the door.
"You can't." As Diana turned back to look at him, Lyle continued with
some desperation, "You have no recourse, no appeal. The entire
academic council have met and decided already on this course of action.
If you do not resign on your own, you will be terminated."
"But not without a hearing certainly--according to the faculty handbook.