An Unproductive Senate
Plenty of Room On An Index Card
When the student Senate meets to
night ASUO President Phil Sherburne will
pass out three by five inch index cards to
the four chairmen of Senate committees.
Yes, three by five inch cards! We wondered
at first whether Sherburne was being face
tious or whether the activities of the Senate
committees has been so limited that they
can be described on little index cards. From
all indication Sherburne’s move realistical
ly assesses what has been an unproductive
Senate so far this year.
In the first meeting, only John Luvaas of
the Academic and Cultural Committee was
able to make a report. The other two meet
ings were dominated by constitution re
visions left over from last spring and par
liamentary procedure confusion.
It is true that the Senate and the presi
dent have been involved in the ballot meas
ure campaign effort and the campus has
been side-tracked by discrimination charg
es, the Republican Western Conferences
and the student court debate. Still we have
a right to expect more from our Senate
than we are getting. Chancellor Roy E.
Lieuallen has said he believes student lob
bying could be beneficial in the forthcom
ing special legislative session; yet in the
two Senate meetings since the ballot meas
ure election, the Senate has made no plans
to impress the legislature with student
needs.
A blanket criticism of the Senate would
not be fair. Merritt Fink, chairman of the
Student Relations and Communications
committee, has lost four members of his
committee leaving only Dick Rapp. Fink
and Rapp are investigating the usefulness
of an inter-dormitory council as a parallel
to IFC and Panhellenic and as a means of
channelling opinions and complaints. They
are also working on a white paper for fresh
men and new students explaining student
government organization.
Jim Thompson, University Administra
tion Committee chairman, has a full com
mittee, but he hasn’t had a meeting yet.
The committee plans to review compulsory
student fees and advise the Senate as to
their need in light of tuition increases. The
student has a right to expect more from
the member of this committee (Leahy, Gold
schmidt, Cormier, McDonald, and St. John).
An analysis of the new conduct code, a
determination of fraternity and sorority
pledging procedures—in theory and in
practice—and a Senate priority proposal on
admission requirements, marginal student
counseling and tuition increases are in or
der.
Ron Cowin s Student Government Com
mittee is also hampered by absences, leav
ing only Robertson, Soto-Seelig, and Mun
sen. They are working on proposals for
Senate visitations (hardly a new idea), the
new constitution committee and a Senate
library. However, they do not hold regular
meetings and have not had any formal
meeting in the last month.
John Luvaas’ Academic and Cultural
Committee has made more progress than
the others. The committee has initiated ac
tion for a dead period before finals, for
faculty and administration acceptance of
teacher evaluation forms and review of the
Campus Chest Drive. We would like to see
regular and open meetings of this commit
tee. Here, too, is the channel through which
NSA and Senate efforts should be coordin
ated.
In theory, the Senate ought to do the
major part of its work in committee and
bring to the Senate proposals and support
ing arguments. This is not being done.
Regular committee meetings are not being
held. What is the Senate doing? Tonight’s
agenda: old business, constitution decision;
new business, kangaroo court. If the
Senate continues to dwell on these insigni
ficant issues, they will have to dwell alone.
The campus certainly is not interested.
Law Students Proposal
A Good Contribution
Members of the Student Bar Association
stepped forward last week with an offer of
legal aid to students who appear before the
student court system. This is an expression
of confidence in the new student conduct
system in the most positive manner possi
ble. Student Bar Association President Wal
ter Grebe, a former ASUO president, has
made it clear that the role of the third year
law students who are offering their services
will be to help the defendent prepare and
present evidence.
The Student Bar Association’s offer is a
generous one. It means a good deal more
than a similar offer would from another
campus group. The academic pressures of
the Law School and the limited leisure time
which law students have underscores the
generosity of the offer. The law students
will join a number of other students who
are making extensive sacrifices on their
personal time to make the new code and
court system workable. We commend Walt
Grebe and the Student Bar Association.
Their offer is both timely and thoughtful.
Letters To the Editor
Everest Expedition
Emerald Editor:
Since last spring, when re
ports of the American Everest
Expedition began to appear in
the press, it has been rather
amusing to note the studied
avoidance on the part of the
EMERALD of mentioning the
fact that Dr. William F. Un
soeld is on leave from Oregon
State University. The most re
cent instance was in Dick Rich
ardson's article about Luther
Jerstad in your issue of October
24. There it was stated that Un
soeld was “also from Oregon.”
Don’t you think your associ
ate editor missed a newsworthy
situation? An assistant profes
sor of speech (Jerstad), on leave
from the University of Oregon,
and his climbing partner, were
to meet an assistant professor
of philosophy (Unsoeld), on
leave from Oregofi State, and
his climbing partner, on the
summit of Everest. All four got
there, but Jerstad and his com
panion were first up by an hour
and a half.
Now don’t tell me Richardson
didn’t know who Unsoeld was.
As a citizen of Oregon, I’m
proud of both Jerstad and Un
soeld.
A. L. Strand
Former President,
Oregon State
University
109A Commerce Bldg.
Corvallis, Oregon
* * *
Poll Clarification
Emerald Editor:
Having read in the Emerald
of October 30 that “Prof. Galen
Rarick of the School of Journal
ism maintains that the poll is
biased . . .”, I am of the opinion
that some clarification is need
ed.
As you know, the statement
refers to the Oregonian’s mail-in
poll concerning state taxes and
expenditures. The statement is
based on a story by Dave Sands
in the Emerald of October 29.
Reporter Sands solicited my
opinion of the Oregonian poll,
and his report is essentially cor
rect. (At the same time, the rc
port is true to what our critics
say is the tradition of American
journalism in that it lacks the
precision of qualification.) The
headline on the story is an ex
celled brief summation of what
I said. It read: “Room for Bias
in Poll Results.”
Now, obviously, there is quite
a difference between saying
there is “room for bias” and
saying a poll “is biased.” Frank
ly—and I may be betraying the
professorial profession in ad
mitting this—I am not omnis
cient. Consequently, I do not
know exactly what the people of
Oregon think about state taxes
and expenditures, so I cannot
say with certainty that the Ore
gonian’s poll is biased.
What I can say (and did) is
that as a technique of opinion
measurement, a mail-in news
paper or magazine ballot is high
ly susceptible to bias. This is
true for several reasons, one of
them being the self-selection of
respondents.
Furthermore, any time a re
(Continued on page 3)
Herblock
“Man, It Looks Like A Real Old-Fashioned
Hallowe'en”
Dorm Malcontent
Likes New Life
As a droopy-lidded senior
with the stooped shoulders and
cynical stare of my caste, 1 am
often asked, “How’s apartment
life’” “Great’’’ I always say.
And compared with my three
years in the University dormi
tories it’s the best kind of living
around here. .
Considering the current has
sle over rules, regulations, disci
pline, and jurisdiction, I am hap
py to be in a position to divorce
myself entirely from organized
living and the special chronic
problems that afflict women's dor
mitories.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that
I can stay completely apart from
the melee since I was one of the
revolution-inspired residents who
started it last spring. My efforts
have earned me so far the title
of "Dormitory Malcontent,” (be
stowed by an administrator who
apparently thought I should have
endured one more year of The
Life) as well as a feeling that
enough griping up the right
channels can cause quite a stir.
Now that I have been emancipat
ed from the dormitories and all
the rules that were supposed to
develop my moral character, I
can only hope that this transition
period will become stabilized by
the end of the year and that wom
en students will never again be
regarded as a pack of poten
tial unwed mothers who must be
protected from themselves and
the real world of the bjg city that
is Eugene.
Distaste Developed
My distate for communal liv
ing developed, naturally, in my
freshman year when I had four
roommates in a three-room suite
and 16 hours of courses to study
for.
We were all given the big pep
talk about group living being a
wonderful way to meet people
and adjust to other tempera
ments and how wonderful it was
to have a housemother who was
to be our “Mother away from
home.” (No kidding! She really
said that!) Since there was no
way out, I gritted my teeth, took
my turn at phone duty, ate my
dinner with 400 other people, and
avoided the Wednesday night des
serts that were supposed to “rest”
my mind.
My sophomore year was some
relief. I had just one roommate
to complicate my living hours,
and the housemother didn’t live
in my unit. The two counsellors
that did seemed to think I could
take care of myself, and they re
quested only that I keep closing
hours, avoid noise in the halls,
and attend compulsory dorm
meetings.
“Something Else”
My junior year was something
else. I had spent the summer
working on a local newspaper
and living in an apartment all
by myself. I suspected that mov
ing back into regimentation would
not be pleasant, but since I was
not old enough to stay off cam
pus once I had registered for
school, I prepared my mind for
the Old Commune. However, the
Old Commune seemed to have
taken on new ideas in subtle
ways.
The eager, bright-eyed coun
sellors explained that they were
responsible for all of us and they
hoped that we would never be so
unladylike as to wear curlers in
the wash rooms or come barefoot
to breakfast. We should also re
frain from entering the dormitory
with liquor upon our breaths,
they explained, and they hoped
that we would never entertain
strangers in our rooms. No ex
ceptions were made to closing
rules within the commune, for
such exceptions only would have
disrupted the general tone of the
inspiring experience of group
living. (In my freshman and
sophomore years students who
worked late or had some other
legitimate excuse simply called
the housemother, explained the
(Continued on page 3)
OREGON DAILY EMERALD
The Oregon Daily Emerald ia published
(wire in September and five day* a week
during the academic year, except during ex*
aminalion aud vacation period# by the Stu
dent Publication! Hoard of the University of
Oregon. Entered a# second class matter at
the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Subscrip
tion 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.
EVERETTE DENNIS, Editor
LARKY WILLIAMS, Business Manager
JANET GOETZE, Managing Editor
JIM SPEER, Advertising Munager
RON COWAN. News Editor
DOUG RAGEN, Editorial Page Editor
CATHY NEVILLE, Academic Affairs Editor
DICK RICHARDSON, Associate Editor
JIM KKAKE, Assistant Managing Editor
RAY MAST, Sports Editor
JOE BERGER, Assistant News Editor
GEORGE BICHAM. Photo Editor
CHUCK BEGGS. PHYLLIS LI VING,
STEVE GREEN, Associate News Editors
Editorial Hoard : Everette Drums, Ron Cow
an, Janet Goctzc, Doug Hagen, Dick Richard
son, Dave Sands, Jerry Utti, Ray Mast, Pam
Paslikowski, Guilty Neville, Put Holt, Simeon
Crow I her, Doug Combs, Joe Berger, Jim
Erake.