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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1963)
Greater Oregon Program No Budget, But Still Opportunity for St 'nice It was with a good deal of regret that we watched Greater Oregon, the Univer sity’s program for recruiting outstanding high school students, stricken from the budget. We’re afraid that Greater Oregon is only one of many budget cuts to come. Another recent example was the decision to discontinue the library journal Call Number, published by the University Lib rary. Greater Oregon was recently placed under the regular University operating budget and less than a week ago absolved all ties with the ASUO Senate which or iginally chartered the organization. In a day when University enrollment is increasing much faster than classroom space and teachers, it is difficult to justify Greater Oregon’s existence. Why do we need an organization recruiting students? Don’t we already have more students than we can handle? The answers to both ques tions obviously are in the affirmative, but Greater Oregon’s objective is to attract out standing high school students to the Uni versity and to make them aware of pro grams and opportunities, which are avail able here. Greater Oregon’s real problem is that it is impossible to gather any empir ical data to justify its existence. Question naires sent to students asking them if Greater Oregon in any way influenced their decision to come to the University really doesn’t give an accurate assessment. There is no way to find the correlation between the outstanding student and the positive questionnaire. There is no doubt, however, that Greater Oregon has served the Uni versity well in a public relations function. We are particularly encouraged by Great er Oregon Director Jim Lussier’s positive outlook on the program’s future. Lussier is still willing to organize high school vis itations during the Christmas vacations. We also believe that University Relations Di rector Jim Shea is realistic in his appraisal of next year’s anticipated enrollment. The demise of the Greater Oregon program probably will not have any impact on the University’s enrollment, but of course the organization's purpose was never to attract great numbers of students. One area on which the Greater Oregon program could concentrate is recruiting a wider variety of students who would be willing to give a brief talk at their former high school during vacations. Most of Great er Oregon’s present participants are former student body officers and individuals with primarily, a social orientation. Perhaps it would be possible to attract students of chemistry, physics, anthropology, philos ophy and other fields who are not inter ested in committee work, but are interested in promoting their department. This is an area which merits some thought. Greater Oregon should also be closely involved in a re-evaluation of the present orientation week for freshmen and present some recommendations in this area. We would like to see th? Duck Preview pro gram continued as it was handled last year. The concept of an academic day at the campus without overnight accommo dations and social emphasis was an impor tant improvement. We were sorry to see Greater Oregon's budget cut, but believe that there are still some areas in which the program could actively participate. Footnote That Oregon’s congressmen are concern ed about the anti-government, anti-spend ing attitude reflected in the results of the October 15th referendum vote is common knowledge. Our representatives have been analyzing the election to learn which fac tors were dominant in voting decisions. Senator Morse, a liberal Democrat and long-time supporter of our foreign aid pro gram, raised opposition last week to the majority Senate foreign aid budget, advo cating cuts in the loan fund. We can only speculate as to the reasons for our adroit Senator’s change of policy, but we have a strong suspicion that it was strongly in fluenced by his analysis of “grassroots” sentiment. Herblock Letters To the Editor Search for Students Emerald Editor: One likes to feel that the type of person admitted to a uni versity of this calibre is both responsible and trustworthy; that there is a certain element of probity among the student population. My faith in this matter will be restored when the person who “borrowed" my umbrella outside 366 Prince Campbell on a very damp day returns same. 1 am hopeful that this incident falls into the "prank'’ category, and accordingly no questions will be asked. Robert Dill, Instructor In Ancient History. • • • Defends Banquet Emerald Editor: There have been several com ments about the Student Union Awards Banquet in The Emer ald these past two weeks. The probable reason for choosing this particular budget item is the feeling that it would be hard to justify. On the contrary, there is no item in the Student Union Board’s budget that the board would have difficulty in justifying, particularly this budget item It is very seldom that we feel compelled to jus tify programs or administrative costs, but it seems as if this banquet needs clarifications, The Student Union Board and its program structure (Directo rate and Recreation Council) have approximately 300 stu dents involved in the presen tation of its programs These are not students working for two months before a big weekend, but rather students working day in and day out for the entire year The Student Union has a larger involvement than any other student organization and there is little or no glory in the work. They do not win elec tions or get their name in the paper. They take tickets at movies, (Continued on ptvjt 3) Alumni-land View—A Guest Editorial Adventures In Two Worlds Ken Metzler is the editor of the University’s alumni magazine, Old Oregon. We asked Mr. Metzler to write an article about the present climate in alumni-land. In recent months Metzler has been the target of caustic criticism from the good citizens of Lakeview who dis liked his article “Can Education Save Lakeview.” It was after this article that he was referred to as a “love thwarted adolescent” by one of his readers.—Ed. By KEN METZLER Editor, Old Oregon Some students think of the world of alumni as a kind of “Great Beyond,” thinly veiled by a curtain. Occa sionally the curtain is drawn aside, revealing brief glimpses of the world beyond; students occasionally come back to tell “what it’s like out there,” but by and large the student lives in his own world of classes and dates and dormitories and frosh snowballs. The world of the alumni is thought to be “out there” somewhere, and, like death, it is inevitable that the student shall eventually pass beyond the curtain. From the other side, that is, from the viewpoint of the alumnus, the curtain also exists to screen some of the enigmatic activities of the student world. As alumni editor, it is my job to occasionally try to interpret the student world to the alumni. This Emerald “Guest Editorial Chair,” then, offers an exciting challenge to throw the whole journalistic machinery into reverse. We alumni editors get together from time to time to discuss the problems of communicating with alumni. Often our discussion settles on a curious phenomenon. From the alumni side, the curtain is heavier—heavy enough, in fact, to be called a kind of communications wall. For years you, as students, have engaged in exciting, stimulating discussions with your professors. Your minds are grappling with the most abstract and intri cate of problems. Your professors are taking you on a tour that winds deep into the uncertain world of national and interna tional tensions, of history, literature, changing socio logical conditions. Often you trek unafraid through such stormy areas as international communism and nationalistic john birchism. Many of you are exploring this world on your own, though others of you, intellec tually more timid, are sticking pretty close to the pro fessors for fear of getting lost in the often-unmapped world of ideas. And soon you will cross the commencement plat from, into the Great Beyond. What then? A communications wall goes up, according to some of my fellow alumni editors. The person who only weeks before grappled with complex—even dangerous —ideas (ideas by their very nature are often danger ous), is now expected to settle back to a bland diet of football, class notes, tedious details of administration (affirmative details only, never controversial), and pla titudinous essays by professors and administrators about the advantages of, and the need for support of, higher education. As it turns out, this is not so much what the new alumnus wants as what his Alma Mater says he must have in the name of public relations and avoidance of controversy. Fortunately, the University of Oregon ad ministration has usually held a much more enlightened attitude about the role of the alumni, enabling us to present a more realistic editorial diet. So the above comments illustrate not so much the alumni as the administrative attitude on far too many campuses toward alumni. What about the alumni them selves? For the answer, let’s move back to student status. In my mind’s eye, I have pictured the student as boating down an intellectual river, working some with the oars, but mostly drifting with the mainstream of current. If the intellectual current runs fast, so does the student. Of course, the current varies considerably: placid pools interspersed with roaring, foaming rapids which require a spirit of adventure, and some skill, to navigate. There is always danger of spilling in the rapids or getting hung up on some of the pragmatic rocks, but that’s the chance you have to take. Graduation approaches. The current slackens, runs deeper. The water tastes a little bit salty. Up ahead, the student hears an ominous roar The sea. Life. The Great Beyond. The natural habitat of alumni. For a time, even after he has reached the edge of this sea, the new graduate is carried along by the river’s momentum. There is still a semblance of sweetness left in the water as the intellectual current of the river pushes miles to sea. But now the point approaches where the young graduate can no longer rely on the intellectual current of the river to move him along. He must start rowing for himself. Some will not bother. These are alumni who, upon graduation, have already read 95 per cent of the books they will ever read during their lives. They will drift like flotsam, and perhaps wash ashore to lie forever dormant like driftwood piled up on the beaches. But most will be caught by other currents and they will use the rowing techniques they picked up on the rivers to guide them along these currents. These are social, political and economic currents. For most alum ni, livelihood depends on steering oneself along some kind of course amid such sometimes-conflicting currents. But unlike the rigidly confined rivers, the currents of the sea are broad and imprecise. Within the context of the social and economic mainstreams, for example, there remains plenty of room for intellectual diversion ary tacks if the alumnus is willing to work the oars a little on his own initiative. Unfortunately for too many alumni, such diversions lead to stormy and uncharted seas where life can be lonely and bitter. Far better, they will say, to stay in the comfortable mainstream, and not stray too far. Too often the student sees only the worst side of the (Continued on page 3)
