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.