Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1973)
Diplomat gives views on French lib movement By LAURA BRENNER Of the Emerald The growing dissatisfaction of women in today’s societies and their demands for equality are strongly represented by the French women’s movement. The liberation of the French women appears as an even greater anomaly in French society than does the liberation movement of American women, due to the extreme male dominance of French society. Roland Husson, cultural attache for France in San Francisco and personality-in-residence last week at the University dormitories, spoke Tuesday night on the topic of French women’s role in the 70’s. Husson, explaining himself as a “male chauvinist pig with some flexibility,” did extensive research in the area of sexism and, in fact, organized his speech around the major topics of Second Sex, by Simone de Beauvoir, a book which he spoke of as a major work in the field of women’s liberation. French society developed in a very different way than American society, and French women have had to struggle through deeply entrenched throught which may have begun in the Middle Ages. First of all is “the tremendous impact of the Catholic church and its definition of woman in relation to man. Husson believes the role of women began to change in France with the industrial revolution which drew women out of the family unit and put them into factories. Laws in France where slow to change even with the activities of women in society because of the Code Napoleon, a strict civil guide set forth by Napoleon to order society and which kept women in their place. For example, it wasn’t until 1906 that women were allowed to keep their wages. Until 1945 women did not have the right to vote in France In 1967 contraception was legalized, and in 1965 the right of women to practice a profession despite the husbands’ disapproval was acknowledged. “Don’t misunderstand...the law is often, how do you say, backward. It would very accurate to say ‘Gee, what a barbarous country,”’ commented Husson. The laws may be on the books but in practice are without im portance. In 1970 the women’s liberation movement in France organized a conference in Versailles for the purpose of consolidating women’s efforts and demands. After a three day conference including 30-40 panel discussion and 30 committees, a set of demands was issued. The first demand was for sex education in school. The second was for the availability of free contraception for every girl when she reached the age where she could get pregnant. As the law stands today, a girl more than 18 may get contraception, but below that age the girl must have the consent of her parents. One of the main problems in getting this idea accepted is the strength of the French family in the society. Parents in France still have strong control over their children until they are 21. The third demand was legalize abortion. The law today allows only therapeutic abortions, whereas the women would have it legalized for any woman at her request. In a recent poll on abortion a third of the women wanted no abortion at all, a third wanted only therapeutic abortions legalized, and a third wanted all abortions legalized. Concerning women in professions and politics, Husson feels that while progress has been made legally, there is a big discrepancy between law and reality. Husson felt that although the women’s liberation movement in France is becoming more vocal, and certain of its demands are getting accepted by French society, “we must be cautious,” in thinking that the tYench woman is truly liberated. Photo by Jacques Beteinber Roland Husson Bargaining unit now a necessity for OSEAprofs, says Polanski ■ i By RICK WORTHINGTON Of the Emerald With the prospect of a no-growth university in mind for the foreseeable future, the local chapter of the Oregon State Employees Association (OSEA) met last Wednesday to discuss various aspects of faculty collective bargaining. OSEA is currently attempting to unionize faculty throughout the state’s higher education system. According to Gil Polanski of OSEA headquarters in Salem, “The boom in higher education is finished for a long time to come.” In summarizing the issues of faculty collective bargaining at the meeting, Polanski claimed the relevant question is not about the existence of collective bargaining, but what forms it will take. Polanski cited a number of pressures on higher education which will ultimately force faculty to organize to defend their interests in one way or another. These pressures include competition from community colleges, long term declines in enrollment, and continued funding difficulties. Oregon higher education faculty are already feeling the effects of these pressures where it hurts most — in the pocketbook. According to Everett Stiles of OSEA, a plan established by the state legislature in 1957 stipulated that Oregon salaries in higher education should rank tenth on a list of 19 institutions of higher education selected from around the nation. But since 1957, Oregon’s rank has dropped from tenth to a low of s ixteenth for the years 1967 through 1970. Oregon is currently fif teenth on the list. If the proposal for a five per cent salary in crease for faculty currently before the legislature passes, Polanski siad, faculty members would “realize a net loss in income for next year.” Neil Wilson, professor in the School of Music and the chairman of the University chapter of OSEA claimed that the major obstacle preventing faculty organization is apathy. There are currently 225 OSEA members at the University. More than twice that number would be needed to constitute an effective organization. Furthermore, Wilson stated, even members of OSEA at the University have shown little interest in active participation in the organization. Even if collective bargaining units are established at the various campuses in the Oregon State system, there is some conflict over whether or not they should unite as one organization. OSEA’s position is that they should. Yet Wilson claimed that some of the opposition that he has heard among University faculty comes from persons concerned with preserving local autonomy. Specifically, Wilson said many faculty fear that the relatively privileged position of University faculty within the state system in such areas as salary, teaching loads, and the opportunity for research, would be endangered by membership in a statewide organization. Wilson’s own response to that objection was that if there is a rational basis for those privileges, then they would persist. If not, then they would eventually be lost anyway. The most important non-salary issue facing faculty and requiring organized response, ac cording to Polanski, is faculty control over tenure and promotion policies. Polanski repeatedly referred to a recent policy proposal on tenure and promotion which was formulated primarily by the State Board of Higher Education and which faculty have no legal right to accept or reject. Polanski noted that this particular policy would forbid granting tenure or promotion in a depart ment if the subsequent salary increase forced the department’s budget over the amount allocated by the University. In this case Polanski said: “If 85 per cent of the faculty in your department are tenured, you might have to waituntil someone dies or retires before you can be granted tenure.” Of the 225 University chapter members of OSEA, approximately 25 attended Wednesday’s meeting. Speaker explains Jesus’ word magic By STEPHEN VAJDA Of the Emerald Robert Funk, a member of the department of religious studies at the University of Montana, delivered a speech titled “The Magic Beyond Truth” to a small gathering in the EMU last Tuesday. Funk is a leading authority on the New Testament and is a competent Greek grammarian. He has received a Fulbright Senior Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship and has just won a scholarship from the American Council of Learning Society. He is also editor for the Journal of Theology and the Church. Prior to teaching at the University of Montana he taught at Vanderbilt and Drew universities. In the introduction to his speech, Funk said he was in terested in “the use of non-literal language in the West,” and the parables of Jesus in particular. He claimed that there is not a large amount of explicit language in the teachings of Jesus and that Jesus did this on purpose. To illustrate his contention, Funk quoted from the New Testament Mark 12: 13-17, a parable which ends, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Funk said that many people who have read this famous parable have complained because it did not contain explicit instructions of the followers of Jesus. Funk, however, said that here Jesus is using the non explicit language of irony. By use of irony, Funk said, Jesus confounds the Pharisees who are attempting to entrap him and at the same time emphasizes what little signifigance are the things of Caesar in relation to those of God. Funk said this is one of the ways in which the language of Jesus goes beyond the limits of our known world. “We trample over his words looking for ex plicitness,” Funk said. “Jesus was a word magician.” Speaking about himself, Funk said he began as a New Testament scholar and Greek grammarian, but has since developed an interest in literary criticism. Segments of a book he has written that will soon be published is titled “Jesus as Precursor”. In it he relates Jesus as the precursor to such modern literary authors as Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller, and John Fowles. ‘Friends’ elect officers Officers of the Friends of the Library, a voluntary organization which supports special needs of the University Library, have been elected for 1973-74. Ms. J.C. Keever has been named vice-chairman and chairman elect. David Dougherty was elected last year to the same position and will serve as chairman for 1973-74. Elected to the board of directors for three-year terms are Ms. Jonathan Benjamin, Ms. Chapin Clark, Ethan Newman, Douglas Spencer, and O. Steen Whiteside.
