Ulam

Adam B. Ulam, professor of Government, is protesting the dismissal of a political science professor, a former student of his, from Central Washington University (CWU).

Ulam said yesterday he thought the firing did not endanger "academic freedom and integrity," as claimed by Stanley Rothman, a professor at Smith College. Instead, Ulam called it "a personal injustice."

CWU fired Charles I. Stastny two weeks ago for extending an absence from his classes without permission. Statsny, who received tenure from CWU in 1968, left for four days in early January to speak at the Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem. He had permission to be absent only two days.

"He was discharged for what on the surface seems to be trivial grounds," Ulam said yesterday, adding, "The facts against him are superficial."

Stastny received a masters degree in 1952 and a doctorate in government in 1968 from Harvard, where he was a student of Ulam's.

The National Committee for the Defense of Academic Rights and Stanley H. Hoffman, professor of Government, are also denouncing Stastny's dismissal.