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
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