Goucher News:
- On April 28th, 1980, Goucher maintenance workers – which include maids, switchboard operators, groundskeepers, and post office personnel – go on strike for the first time in the institution’s history. Picketing the Goucher front gates, they demand a pay increase of $1.00 per hour or an increase of 87.5 cents and a prescription drug plan. Goucher maintains an offer of 75 cents per hour. A strike representative, Margaret Singleton, described how she needed to support herself and her three children on a $3.73 hourly wage. In May 1st edition of the Quindecim, Singleton stated: “I’ve given Goucher almost 12 years of what I call dedicated service…and they are telling me that I can’t have the 25 cents more that I need.”
- It was reported in the May 1st edition of the Quindecim, that a new Health Center Advisory Board was created to oversee the operation and effectiveness of the Goucher Student Health Center. In addition, it was reported that a new sick bay was constructed in Bacon Hall for sick students to stay overnight away from others.
World News:
- Siege of Iranian Embassy in UK ends as Special Air Service operatives and police storm the building (May 5th)
- World Health Organization announces eradication of smallpox (May 8th)
- Horror film “Friday the 13th ” is released (May 9th)
- Race riot brakes out in Miami, Florida following the acquittal of four white police officers in the wrongful death of black salesman Arthur McDuffie. The riot ends with 18 dead and 300 injured (May 18th)
