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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1961)
Interview: Gayle Osburn Explains Release of Report A sample copy of the confi dential personal record report form circulated by ASUO Pres idential candidate, “Swede” Carlisle failed to push him into the general elections, but it did serve to arouse student inter est in the situaiton. THE GIRL, wno gave the form to Carlisle explained that she did it not particularly to support Carlisle, but simply to provide the information to the students. The giri, Gayle Osbum, sub mitted to an Emerald Editorial Board interview, and her com ments are reproduced here ver batim and in toto. Q.—Why did you release this personal record form? This area of "personal files” is one of the most unfair prac tices of the administration. I am strongly opposed to this practice for a number of rea sons. First, the persons making these judgments are not profes sional. Undergraduate dorm counselors and house presidents are not qualified to rate stu dents in areas where only psy chological tests and interpre tations have any validity. The people fQling in these “score” sheets may have a biased atti tude toward the student bceause of one incident. For instance, due to the large number of girls assigned to each house mother, the housemother could not possibly be qualified to knowledgeably rate a student. Perhaps her only contact with this student might have been when the student had gotten in to trouble. This one incident w-ould be the whole basis of her rating. THERE is only a short time that these ratings would have any validity. The records are kept for ten years, and maybe during his college experience the student lacked poise. Per haps two years later the appli cant for a job is very poised and self-assured, but the ref erence sent to his prospective employer states “lacks poise.” This could seriously hamper his chances of securing the po sition. THESE FILES are unfair because the studnet is not al lowed to see them. Now, stu dents are sentenced without knowing what they are guilty of and without an opportunity to present a defense. DEAN DuSHANE stated that the "report copy distributed ap plied to women students only.” If a similar report is not kept on men, I wonder why a rating sheet is filled out on women students every year she is on the campus? This discriminat ing practice is, itself, unfair. G.—Why did you gue this re port to Swede? Was it just a campaign gimmick? A.—No! I, and a score of others, had tried to accom plish something in this, and other areas, through the regu lar channels. We always ran into a brick wall of adminis trative pacifying devices. I felt the only way to open this is sue to the campus as a whole was through a media such as this. The senate failed in their attempts last spring and was palliated with such statements as Dean DuShane made. Swede’s platform promised action ra ther than just more discussion. Q.—What do you think about Dean DuShane’s statement that there was no secret about these personal files and reports? A.—This is similar to his previous statements on the matter. However, when these forms where given to the coun selors, they were instructed to keep these forms hidden and not to let the students see them. Also, the reaction of the stu dents when they saw the forms indicated that they had no pre vious knowledge of them. Q.—What Ih y o u r opinion ahoiit DuShane’s statement that these forms were used for roe ommendntlons only when it was for fhe betterment of the stu dent ? A. That's ridiculous! If pros pective employers knew' that the only information they would receive would be beneficial to the student, they wouldn't write for references. Also, if these personal rec ords are only going to be used for the benefit of the student, then he should assist in their maintenance. (J.—Do you mean that filet* should not be kept on the students? A. No. I think files are en tirely necessary; but, these files should contain concrete data such as grades, activities, and honors. They should also record serious infraction of the rules. These "personal records’’ and the other types of prying done by the University are un warranted. If the purpose of this rating sheet is to help with ref erences, then its existence is unjustified. In the first place employers should not expect a University of 8,000 enrollment to have objective and informed data on the personal life of a student that may have graduat ed year’s ago. And in the sec ond place, why would they be interested in the sex life of a student ? CERTAINLY records are nec essary. I object to maintenance of semi-permanent records on my personal habits which I am unable to see. Perhaps it’s too unrealistic to advocate the aban donment for such files at least under the present administra tion. But I do think that if this practice is continued the stu dents should be able to see the judgments passed on them and to voice a defense if necessary. Letters to the Editor Emerald Editor: In your Editorial Column yes terday, April 20th, you report ed ‘The Junior Prom lost close to $1,800 with a concert fea turing a jazz performer. The Sophomore Swing also lost very close to that figure.” I do not wish to express any opposition to the editorial, but I would like to correct this financial state ment. Our budget was approxi mately $3500 for the Sophomore Swing. This included $2000 for Andre Previn’s performance, $800 for Teddy Moore, plus about $700 for other expenses. Ticket sales amounted to $2600. This left us with a deficit of about $900, not the $1800 indi cated in your column. I doubt that we lost money simply be cause Mr. Previn is a jazz per former. Other factors involved were the Homecoming weekend two weeks prior and a game with the University of Wash ington in Seattle on the same evening. However, I do agree with you in that there are more popular programs available than jazz programs. Doug Greer, Sophomore Class President • * * Emerald Editor: In Thursday’s edition of the Emerald, Mr. Mongar made some statements in a letter to the editor which were, I feel, un fair to Air. Harris of the Ath letic Department. He suggests, in his letter, that the Union debate was scuttled because of Mr. Harris’ “fickleness.” This was certainly not the case. MR. HARRIS had been ap proached some weeks ago and asked if he would debate the negative side of the question, "This house, the Oregon Un ion, resolves that no student fees be used for a new stadium,” with a fellow faculty member. Mr. Harris agreed to partici pate in such a debate. When, two days before the proposed debate, he was informed that the committee had been un able to provide a faculty mem ber to debate the issue with him, Mr. Harris declined to take in the debate. I think it unfair to Mr. Har ris, who showed good faith throughout the chain of events, to blame him for the scuttling of the debate. As far as discus sing this issue with students, I think any student who has bo thered to visit Mr. Harris’ of fice will testify that they were treated with courtesy and giv en candid answer s to their ques tions. William C. Landers, Member of Oregon Union * * Emerald Editor: It is with sincere regret, loath ing our power and loathe to use it, that we turn to these means to remind you that there are still no bicycle ramps on cam pus. After an impassioned plea from one of our members (Em erald, April 5, Marianna Lon seth; did any candidate for the Senate make bicycle ramps a plank, as it were, of his plat form? NO. Did you write any supporting editdrials? NO. In fact, you produced a startling and dismaying example of hos tility in your editorial on Bicycle Safety Week. Stay off our side walks and we’ll stay off your street, you said. Gentlemen, we ask you, how can we get off the sidewalk without bicycle ramps? As pedestrians need steps, and automobiles need streets, so the bicycle needs ramps. RAMPS, gentlemen, are not new, nor radical. They are in great favor artistically — note the Guggenheim Museum. A ramp is constructed from sim ple asphalt, it requireth not white lines nor doth it need ban nisters. The man who invented the wheel was immediately fol lowed, nay probably preceded, by the man who invented the ramp. We have the wheels, where are the ramps? Consider, gentlemen, if Mt. Hood and The Sisters were to be revived, if their volcanic sourc es were again stirred, and they buried—perish the thought — this glorious campus under lava and ash; consider, visual ize if you can, anthropologists, (Continued on page 3) The Best of Bibler FOR T0Moe\ > PASS MORE WH6RE TW* «Df HAS A SENSE OF MUM**/ B. D. ScLer Professor Delineates Place Of Science in A University By B. T. KfIKKK I’mfeHHor and Head. I>cpurtment of Biology We cannot ignore the increas ing importance of Science in the world these days. On our own campus the general mens occasioned by the const ruction of two additions to the Science Building brings this importance more urgently to our attention. What does this construction and the academic development which underlies it mean to you as students? What does it mean to the University and to the State of Oregon ? THE SCIENCE departments here and I shall restrict my self to the natural sciences, physics, chemistry, biology, and geology- were reconstituted in 1941 after a period of about nine years in which the University offered only elementary and service courses in the sciences. The abortive effort to run a university without science, in spired by motives of economy during the Depression, had def initely failed. In the reconstitu tion the lines of division between the University and our sister institution at Corvallis were clearly defined by the State Board of Higher Education. The applied sciences — agri culture, forestry, fish and game management and engineering— were to stay at Corvallis; med icine and dentistry in Portland; and we are to concern ourselves here with basic science. In the science faculty we have no de sire to change this. All of us are interested in the search for scientific knowledge and in the teaching of the basic principles of science. We are perfectly hap py to leave the application of the results of our research to others. THE TIME of the faculty in the science departments is di vided more or less equally be tween two functions, teaching of regular university courses and research and informal graduate instruction. The science depart ments are all part of the Col lege of Liberal Arts and one of their responsibilities is part of the university’s attempt to provide a liberal education for students, who may seem to us sometimes quite determined to resist this attempt. In our large elementary courses we try— how effectively only you. the student*, can nay to provide an introduction to the facts and ideas of science Hnd some con cept of the way in which these facts and ideas are arrived at. The scientific method has been proved over the last three cen turies to be the most powerful tool ever invented for the ac quisition of knowledge about things and events. No one is ed ucated until he has some idea of the nature of this tool, its powers and limitations. The fate of humanity may well hang upon the uses to which the tool is put. YOU, a* citizen* and in many specialized capacities aa well, will be called upon to make de cisions which involve science in one way or another, and your daily lives will be influenced in creasingly by new scientific dis* coveries and applications. Lack of knowledge of science in the next 50 years may be ns seri ous in consequences as the in ability to read or write once was. Our second major task is the professional training of scien tists. For professional students, whether they move eventually into applied science, into teach ing, or into research, we must provide a range, depth and qual ity of specialized training at both undergraduate and post graduate levels sufficient to en (Continued on page 3) OREGON DAILY EMERALD The Oregon Daily Emerald in published four times in September and five days a week during the ach »! year, except dur ing examination and vacation periods, by the Student Public!.tiona Hoard of the University of Oregon. Entered as second class matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon, Subscription rates: $5 per year, (2 per term. Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of The Emerald and do not pre tend to represent the opinion of the ASUO or the University. JIM HOYT), Editor STEVE MI LEI KIN, Business Manager LARKY LYNCH, Managing Editor RON BUEL, News Editor TED MAHAR, Editorial Editor DAN PFAFF, Asst. Managing Editor KEITH POWELL, Associate Editor PETE DOWNS, AL HYNDING, LARRY KURTZ, Triumvirate BARBARA CHANTRY, Women’s Editor GAYLE CHARLES, Entertainment Editor EDITORIAL BOARD: Jim Boyd, Larry Lynch, Ron Duel, Ted Mahar, Keith Powell, Gayle Charles, Sue Hunter, Gayle Osburn, Dan Pfaff, Phil Cogswell, Virginia Anderson, Nic Nicholsen, Arlene Saunders, and J»m Fields.
