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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1965)
OREGON DAILY EMERALD Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of the Emerald and do not represent the opinions of the ASUO or the University. Opinions expressed in signed columns are those of the writer. KENNETH M. FOBES Business Manager JOE FRAZIER News Editor CHUCK BEGGS, Editor BOB CARL Managing Editor PHIL SEMAS Associate Editor LOUIE ABRAMSON Advertising Manager ALLEN BAILEY Associate Editor Page 14 University of Oregon, Eugene, Tuesday, September 21, 1945 No Room at the Dorm Freshmen, by the hundreds, descended on the dormitories this week. And when those freshmen had finished unpacking and were completely settled in their rooms, 200 to 300 upperclassmen found themselves out looking for a place to live. There is still enough space in the dormi tories for all the freshmen. But since the dorms have turned away almost all upper classmen, off-campus housing is scarce, too, except for the very expensive and the very far from campus. And the future augurs more housing trouble. If University enrollment jumps 1,000 students again next year, there prob ably won’t even be enough space in the dorms for all the freshmen. And it’s Uni versity policy that all single freshmen under 21 live in dormitories or co-ops. The best solution to the problem is ob vious: build more dormitories. There’s one drawback to that, though. There are no dorms planned for the next two years here, nor is there any money available for dorms. The problem started when the State Leg islature asked the State Board of Higher Education to combine funds for auxiliary buildings (self-supporting, such as dorms, student unions, etc.) and academic buildings (classrooms, research areas, etc.). That meant that both types of buildings had to come out of one fund. Academic buildings were top priority; most auxiliary projects got short shrift. “Naturally,” said the State Board, “we had to give academic buildings more money.” Maybe. But a look at the University’s situ ation makes one wonder about the board’s judgment. We have two major projects on that list—extensive additions to the science building and a classroom and teaching cen ter. Those are both important projects. But right now they don’t seem nearly as urgent as the housing crisis. Our main hope now is that the State Emergency Board, which controls state funds when the Legislature is not in session will bail out the Board of Higher Education and allot some more money for dormitories. But that wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem, either. Almost all the state system schools have a housing problem. There's no guarantee that the University would be able to get enough funds to alleviate the crisis in Eugene. The only good thing that may come out of those crowded dorms is that the State Board may learn an important lesson: aca demic buildings don’t necessarily always deserve top priority. You have to have some place to put the student when they’re not in class. Sabotage, Maybe? The mess from the construction projects currently gonig on around campus has been cussed and discussed by students, faculty and staff alike during the past week or so. They see it as some sinister plot devised by the city to discourage students from attend ing the University, or as the maniacal scheme of some municipal planner. True, the timing was unfortunate. One city official said that the 13th Ave.-Univer sity St. sewer project is part of a big plan which must proceed in orderly sequence, and that’s how it worked. The east campus street w'ork involved federal money, and everyone knows the red tape involved in getting government authorization. But Don Bishoff of the Eugene Register Guard has come up with what seems to us the real explanation. Reporter Bishoff has unearthed the hidden fact that one city engineer in charge of the work is a gradu ate of Oregon State University. Trials of a First-Term Freshman Hello, freshman. Don’t look now, but you’re in college. You know, that thing the seventh grade geography teacher told you about, the thing your high school buddy back home is going to after he works for a year or two. Your first introduction to this mystifying process known as higher education is likely to be very discouraging. The first thing you will encounter is the ancient ritual known as regis tration, the greatest man-made obstacle to education ever de vised. Endless Lines Before this week is over you will have stood in endless lines, clutching your painfully-com pleted IBM cards and waiting for the inevitable rubber stamp. Harried clerks will rush about shouting meaningless orders at the sluggish hordes; grim-facefl teaching assistants will make fu tile attempts at keeping orde'r in the chaos of Mac Court. You will fidget nervously as you wait to see your advisor so he can sign the blue slip. Don’t expect to get all the courses you want when you want them—only a few lucky souls are allowed this privilege. Write that course card in pencil— you’ll erase it many times before you’re finished. If you make it through this labyrinth, you can go to the SU and file your PBX locater cards and your card that tells the Emerald Hall clerks where all your other cards are, and get your fee check ready for the hungry cash registers at the end of the line. Not Finished But you won’t be finished there. You have to buy your books. One class is already sold out? That’s okay. Go to class and the professor will tell you it’s always the Co-op’s fault and maybe you can borrow one for a few days. Don’t be too discouraged, freshman. Everybody goes through it—kind of like basic training. It’s best just to endure You might feel like the lowest creature on earth because you are a freshman in a big, crazy mob with 12,000 other people. But there are a few things you can do to avoid the “freshman image” which will make you stick out conspicuously in the eyes of the veterans: • Don’t take that “mickey” course that your fraternity friend told you about, or if you do don’t tell anyone about it. If you do go through with it you’ll probably be disappointed with your hard earned C at the end of the term. • Don’t wear clean, freshly pressed clothes or a new-looking Oregon jacket. Clothes of the upperclass are nearly always rumpled in a neat sort of way; the Oregon jackets must look as if they’ve been through a war. • Don’t sit near the fountain bar in the SU. That area is the domain of the athletes and you will look awkwardly out of place. • Don’t wander about or ask questions. Everyone will give you a different answer anyway. • If you have rather long blond hair, don’t let it hang in your face and don’t wear quilted nylon jackets over striped T-shirts. You will be classified as either a freshman, or worse yet, a California surfer. Finally, the cardinal rule is not to look interested, excited or anxious at any time. Just slouch and tell everyone you’ve got your schedule all psyched out, and that a chick in Carson 3 is going to the dance with you Saturday. If you want to ignore all this and be honest with yourself, that’s all right. The seniors don’t know quite what they’re doing yet, either. RAN6E ?" EoL Cart Students Disappointed With U.S. Education A professor from England, teaching in the U.S. for the first time last year, was astound ed when he faced his first class of American students and found that several were missing. A pretty co-ed finally solved the puzzle by telling him: “It's Fri day and a lot of Kids like to go home early; so they skip class.” The following Monday, again facing his abbreviated class, the professor expressed surprise. However, when someone told him “A lot of kids aren’t back from their long weekend yet,” he accepted this. On his way to Wednesday’s class, the professor thought to himself: “At last I should see all of my students.” However, as he stared out at the empty seats, he asked: “What’s wrong today; where is everybody?" and a co-operative student happily answered: “To day’s Wednesday, the middle of the week. You don’t expect us to study all the time, do you?” So the professor still wonders what is wrong with higher edu cation in America. And this, the $64 question, remains unanswered — despite obvious signs of student dis satisfaction with their educa tion. Students come to the cam puses of America’s colleges and universities seeking excitement and stimulation in their new found academic environment. And almost without fail, and even in the outstanding centers of learning in the country, they find disappointment and disul lusionment. This is not to say that all students, or even most of them, are interested in learning for its own sake; however, those students who are frustrated by the very system which domin ates higher education. “Bitter Resentment” As one Berkeley student has written: “. . . there is a deep and bitter resentment among many students about their life at the University. It is a resent ment that starts from the con tradiction between the public image and reputation of the University and their actual day to-day experiences as students.” 1 (from the book Revolution at Berkeley). In other words, as freshmen and sophomore*—and even dur ing their last two years in school—students are forced to attend classes that often are devoid of intellectual stimula tion, and taught by dull profes ors with out moded ideas and techniques. A more extreme frustration occurs when a naive student signs up for an introductory course in almost any field. For almost certainly that course will be taught in a large lecture hall, sealing from 100-400 stu dents, by the poorest teacher in the department. This is true because the better, more experi enced professors don’t want to waste their time with under graduates. Out dated Orientation Today’s students have no say in their course offerings or cur ricula in general. They are in troduced to their future alma mater with an out dated orienta tion program; and thereafter, they are told what courses to take, regardless of their likes or dislikes, and are forced to accept what the institution deems advisable. Students learn to get through their education by mastering a four-year system of lectures, reading lists and examinations that have little to do with genu ine learning. However, the out look is not all black for higher education in America, because some students manage to beat the system and get a reason able education in spite of the institutions of learning. And as the professor from England said: “American stu dents may someday seek an edu cation for its own sake. Stu dents in Great Britain have tried it and found it to their liking. And they go to classes too.” Oregon Daily Emerald < onnie Halverson, Assistant Advertising Manager Kaiule Wilmarth, Sports Kditor i ivian \\ ikon, Assistant Managing Kditor Slew Brown, Maxine Elliot, <alph ki umdieck, Associate News Editors Oaw Butler, Feature Kditor Mary Ann Wakasugi, Religious News Editor editorial Board: Chuck Heggs, Boh Carl, Jo< Frazier, Allen Bailey, Pam liladinc, Mik« Cannon, Karen Winn, ( lift Kauk
