Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1963)
Our Political Efforts Like a Capon Entering a Henhouse A student entering a political campaign is like a capon entering a henhouse. He has no chance of being effective, and he is naive if he doesn’t realize that he is lacking the crucial quality that will make him effec tive. Down through the annals of capon history, capons have learned to live with their deficiency. One hardly ever sees a capon strut into a henhouse these days with anything but the most Platonic ambitions. Our student political campaigns are fast acquiring their own annals of history. In 1960 and 1962, our student leaders worked with representatives of higher education and went before the legislature to plead our case. Both times they were met with polite ness and understanding, but no help. Our lobbyists stepped back, analyzed their fail ures, and decided they would be more effec tive if they could win “grass-root” support. The referendum vote taught us that even here we wrere doomed to failure. Yet, no one seems to realize the reason for this fail ure. In fact, incensed students are talking, some jokingly and some seriously, of carry ing on campaigns against anti-education leg islators in the next elections. Attorney General, Robert Y. Thornton, has ruled that it is legal for students to join a group like NSA or to carry on lobby ef forts so long as we do not apply political pressure to individual legislators. This is mockery at its finest. We cannot apply poli tical pressure because we don’t have any. Most of us cannot vote; and like the capon, the sooner we understand what our defi ciency is, the sooner we will understand our failures. Why don’t we have the vote? Why not?— it is in this context that the issue should be raised. The burden of proof ought to be placed with those who keep the eighteen to twenty-one year old from the polls. Voting is a right of a citizen. Being twen ty-one is the only condition that must be sat isfied to exercise this right. It is not based on intelligence quotients, tax contributions or who is to be influenced by electorate de cisions. The age condition for voting is ar birtrary—it is based on traditions followed since the middle ages, not on any scientific or philosophical reasoning. Though twenty-one is usually accepted as the age when we are expected to assume full responsibility for our actions and show maturity in our decisions, this is not in fact how the law treats us. Long before age twenty-one, we pay taxes, are obligated to serve in the armed forces and may be pun ished for criminal offenses. The argument runs—and this is without support of sociological or psychological studies—that the average high school grad uate, age eighteen, is not aware of issues, he does not have the ability, developed with experience, to make objective decisions. This is a great fallacy. As a high school graduate, the eighteen-year-old has just fin ished a class in “American Problems” or civics. He is aware of issues, of citizen res ponsibility, of governmental organization. The tragedy of the situation is that these high school graduates cannot express their interests. For those who do not go to col lege, there is a vacuum of responsibile poli tical activity. There are no organizations where the principles taught in high school can be exercised. These people must wait three years before they can take part in government and during that time apathy replaces awareness of problems and issues. Between high school and college, political inactivity rather than interest becomes the habit. This habit is too easily made, too easily repeated in later years. For lack of an opportunity to express it, political inter est is lost. Several states have an eighteen-year-old voting age. Our own Gov. Hatfield has sup ported, in years past, a lower voting age. Just recently, Ed Elders. State Represen tative from Eugene, praised the Young Re publicans at the Western Republican Con ference, saying that their activities showed that a review of the voting age is in order. We are missing a greater opportunity if we don’t capitalize on this support. Our Young Republicans and Young Democrats ought to get together and support a peti tion. as was done with NSA and the propo sition against the House Committee on Un American Activities, for an ASUO vote on lowering the voting age in Oregon to eight een. Then, with the access to power that YR and YD have, and with the support of the ASUO vote, we ought to go to the people of Oregon on initiative. Students from this campus made 20.000 visits in the Eugene-Springfield area in sup port of a Yes-vote on the tax referendum. On a $15 budget and with a five-member nu cleus committee, we raised over $3,000 for the Lane County United Appeal. In a short time, we raised $13,500 to support the tax program. it can De aone. j. rrancyi nowaru suc ceeded in getting enough petition signa tures with only the support of his Albany newspaper. We have access to thousands of alumni; people come to us throughout the year for football and basketball games, for conventions aftd other campus and cul tural entertainment. How easy it would be for Oregon students to cover cities and towns in the Willamette Valley. Going door to door on a Friday night, we could distrib ute pamphlets explaining the need for a re duced voting age and then return Saturday afternoon with petitions. With intra-college organization during the winter, we could bring an initiative vote to the public in the Oregon primaries. True, we would still be like the capon entering the henhouse. But whereas the capon can do nothing about his impotency, we would at least be approaching our deficiency at its cause. Students Developing Slave Mentality A “slpve mentality” is developing in stu dents because too many Americans define excellence solely in terms of academic and vocational success, a Stanford University educator warns. Prof. Nevitt Sanford, director of the In stitute for the Study of Human Problems, says students are made to believe they “must get good grades in school to get into a good college where they must work hard to go on to graduate school and success in life.” This, he says, is “turning husband against wife, wife against husband and the children against everybody.” In the best colleges the demands on stu dents haxe exceeded rational bounds, San ford said. The amount of assigned reading far exceeds' what anyone could do with in telligence, he believes. Recently, in a highly ranked university, the 50 top freshmen were interviewed. Not one had ever had a date, none was getting any satisfaction from his relations with fel low students, and some were suicidal. —The Washington Post Herblock f ck,rr^ \ “And So’s My Old Man!” Jitters To the Editor Freedom of Speech Emerald Editor: In answer to the letter by Mr. Donald McPherson, and the let ters of others, I hope that they haven’t been blinded by the shining “brilliance" of their cru sade to the extent that they fail to consider one other angle. Freedom of Speech, while one of our country’s great attributes, requires the same sportsmanlike and mature conduct that sports, business, and surely, politics to day require. Perhaps Mr Mc Pherson would cheer as an op posing football player with a broken neck was carried from the field or boo and hiss ... or hold up clever signs ... in a public debate as the opposition spoke their piece. I doubt he would . . . but 1 don’t know Yet this same good conduct and maturity ceases to exist when political leaders visit our campus. 1 don’t suggest that we kneel to their image or worship their words, let alone agree with all they say. They’re not gods . . . nor “Messiahs ” They're merely men . . . yet men who are try ing to preserve our Freedom of Speech, Mr. McPherson, no mat ter what our views. Perhaps they deserve a little respect. There are things . . . and political leaders ... I don’t like either. There are things I would use my Freedom of Speech to speak out against. But I’m sure that the way to win attention and sympathy to my cause is not to act like a ehlld, but to speak, agree and oppose maturely, as befitting a college student. I would expect the majority to agree. i. Craig Mathiesen Junior in Marketing Athletic Controversy Emerald Editor: The current controversy and discussion concerning a new football stadium for the Univer sity seems to show the distorted values of this “academic com munity.” What we should do is forget about building a new stadium, tear down Hayward Field and ask every student and alumnus to contribute five dol lars to build a new and ade quate library on the site. Hayward Field would be a perfect site for such a library because it is centrally located, near all the new university dor mitories and married students housing, and has adequate space for a large parking lot so that student will not get parking tickets every time they have to run up to the library to get a book out of the reserve room. Instead of hearing tirades about the “value” of football to this University, let’s hear a lit tle bit about the value of edu cation and research for a uni versity, and instead of keeping Hayward Field as a monument to superficiality let's build a new library there as a monu ment, a living, vibrant monu ment to education and knowl edge. Rill Devall Graduate in Sociology • • 0 Student Fees Emerald Editor: The editorial of October 14, on the subject of the referral by the faculty of the problem of student fees to an ad hoc committee, requires some an swer. One of the points of the editorial was that the faculty was inconsistent in assigning re sponsibility for student conduct to students as well as faculty while denying the same rights in the matter of student fees. I do not think the two cases are parallel The faculty (to gether with the President) is specifically given jurisdiction over matters of student conduct and discipline The faculty is thus in a position to legislate on the matter. Our action has, so far, resulted in a code and pro cedures which place far greater responsibility on students than before. In my opinion, this is an inevitable and praiseworthy development. On the other hand, the faculty has been given no jurisdiction whatsoever over the amount and distribution of student fees This matter Is in the hands of the State Board of Higher Educa tion. The effect of any faculty resolution on this matter is merely that of advise to the President from his faculty. The object of the motion was, and continues to be, that of express ing faculty views on the sub ject. Student views need to be expressed, vigorously, but di rectly to the President and not through the intermediary of a faculty committee. These comments notwith standing, I should like to con gratulate the Editor on the cali ber of his editorials. Clyde P. Patton Acting Dean OREGON DAILY EMERALD The Oregon Daily Emerald fa publiahed twice fn September anti five day* a *eek during the academia year, Gtc&pit during ex amination and vacation period# by the Stu dent PabHeatibOi Boatd of the University of Oregon. Entered a* aerond rlnaa matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Subscrip tlon ratea 15 per year; 12 per term. Opiniona expressed on the editorial page are thoae of the Emerald and do not pre tend to represent the opinion of the ASIJO or the Univeraity. EVF.RF.TTE DF.NNfS, Editor LARRY WILLIAMS, ftustneaa Manager JANET GOETZK, Munaging Editor JIM SPEER, Advertiaing Manager RON COWAN, New a Editor DOUG RACEN, Editorial Page Editor
