Editor:

I would like to make it known that I found Dr. Mary Maher of the Theatre Arts Department to be a very unprofessional and disrespectful individual, in light of her actions today (April 24) after our meeting of the Asian American Cultural Association (AACA).

We have weekly meetings for AACA each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Harvill 210, and meetings usually run about an hour. For the last two meetings or so, Dr. Maher barged in near the end of the meetings and rudely attempted to kick us out of our meeting room, all the while claiming that the Theatre Arts department "owns this room and no one else should be using it." The first instance I witnessed her, I was mildly annoyed because she had a very hostile tone of voice and was not willing to listen to reason. We tried to calmly assure her that we were on our way out of the room, but she went on ranting and raving about "ownership of the room" and that "we had no right to be in there."

We were very civil towards her and tried to explain that we had paperwork from the administration that showed we had scheduled that room for use, but she responded in a very hostile manner. Needless to say, we left the room in a very calm, organized manner. But this second time that I witnessed her verbal barrage, I became very, very annoyed and angered by her attitude. We were having elections for next year and happened to run just a little bit longer than planned. But once we were done and people started to get up, Dr. Maher barged in once again with the words, "Okay, time to get out!" She then proceeded to threaten us with comments like, "We already talked about the room situation, and it's not going to happen next week because I'm going to lock the doors!"

Once again we tried to calmly tell her that we weren't going to be using that room next week, but she still responded to us in a very hostile manner. She kept complaining in a loud tone of voice, and we hurried out of the room. Once outside, we talked to our advisor, Cecilia Lou, assistant dean of Asian Pacific American Student Affairs, and decided that the best line of action to take would be to get Dr. Maher's name (we originally did not know it) and file a complaint with her department. I accompanied the president of AACA, Phillip Lim, back inside to talk to Dr. Maher. I asked Dr. Maher her name and she replied instantly with "I'll need to see your paperwork right now which says you can use this room," and she snatched it from the hands of Phillip Lim and replied that she was not going to give that paper back. We told her that we had previously given one of her students a copy of that room confirmation slip, but she still refused to return the paper. I remarked to her that the paper was my friend's property and that she had no right to take it from him, but she childishly replied, "I'm not going to give this back! I'm not going to give this back!"

I proceeded to inform our advisor of the situation and assistant dean Cecilia Lou entered the room and tried to talk to and calm Dr. Maher in a very civil manner. Dr. Maher continued her loud, aggravating tone of voice right into the face of assistant dean Lou, even though assistant dean Lou replied that she is part of the administration. When assistant dean Lou tried to ask for the room confirmation slip back, she still continued her childish barrage of "I'm not going to give it back! No, I'm not going to give it back!" Luckily, she allowed us to write down some of the information that was on that slip so that we could contact the appropriate university agencies. Once done copying down the information, she shooed us away with hand motions that are not unlike those an adult uses when shooing away young children.

What upsets me is the decorum by which Dr. Maher approached this situation. She talked to us in a condescending tone of voice and treated us as if we were little children. I found her attitude towards assistant dean Lou to be especially appalling considering that assistant dean Cecilia Lou is part of the administration. Her lack of civility and patience is something I would not expect of a professor, especially at an educational facility the level of the University of Arizona. She even commented that "my students have paid tuition, and you're running into their class time."

As a full-time student here at the university, I also pay tuition (out-of-state, no less) and do not find any circumstance which indicates that her students are any better than me or my fellow AACA members. AACA was recently recognized as an Outstanding Organization on campus, and I feel that AACA is totally undeserving of the treatment that Dr. Maher so eagerly gave to us. Dr. Maher displayed a total lack of respect for us as people, and I find her actions totally unacceptable under what should be expected of an educator (especially someone of Professor stature) in a higher-learning environment. I intend to file formal complaints with the Theatre Arts Department and any other university agencies I see fit, and also expect Dr. Maher to give AACA, Phillip Lim, and Cecilia Lou formal apologies. This type of behavior is not acceptable and I hope that no other educators on this campus share the same rude, condescending, impatient, disrespectful and hostile attitude that Dr. Mary Maher possesses.

Dennis Narciso
history senior