Photo by Norman Choi
'Education should be an exciting experience,’ says new special
student coordinator Lee Merrick.
New coordinator to
help special students
By MIKE PIERSON
Of the Emerald
“Education should be an exciting experience...not something we
put in the way of kids to prove that they have the right to be in
society,” said Lewis Merrick in an interview with the Emerald.
Merrick was recently named Coordinator, Services for Special
Students by the Chancellor’s Office.
Merrick’s job is largely to “coordinate existing efforts” to reach
special students (minorities, veterans, ex-convicts, and other
disadvantaged) throughout the state. Calling it “just a matter of
coordination and exposure,” Merrick said he will attempt to make
students aware of the opportunities and agencies available to them at
the University and other schools in the Oregon State System of Higher
Education.
Although his office is in Eugene, Merrick stated he hoped to “be as
involved in all the campuses as I am here.” In addition to other
responsibilities, Merrick will supervise the Portland BOOST
Program, a federally funded talent search agency in the state.
One of the main functions Merrick has is contacting potential
students and exposing them to resources, so “people have the op
portunity to explore and develop what they’re really good at.” Before
coming to Oregon, Merrick spent six years working at the Educational
Clearinghouse for central Los Angeles. From 1967-1973 the program
placed over 5000 students in more than 600 different institutions across
the country. For the past four years Merrick served as the programs’s
director.
“There are geniuses in this country who will never be exposed
because educators never found them,” Merrick said. “We should find
them.”
Merrick discussed his experience, saying he had been “basically a
college counselor” for the last seven years. He said he had “never met
a student who really didn’t want to learn,” and often worked with
students “no one thought would go to college.”
In addition to finding potential students in Oregon, Merrick
commented that there is also a need “to help students who are already
admitted. We’ve got to find out what their obstacles are once they get
here.”
Saying he had “special educational needs” when he was in school,
the 32-year-old Merrick said he understood the problems special
students face. However, he noted that “students have special
problems, not because they’re minorities, not just because they’re
poor. They don’t know what’s here for them.”
Merrick also talked about an enthusiasm for education “we nee<jl
to share” with students. "There are still frontiers in American that
have not been touched...frontiers that young people can build.” He
said students “shouldn’t be discouraged because we’ve already
discovered the atom. Discover your own atoms.”
Chile focus of Coalition program
By SANDY DAL PORTO
Of the Emerald
Chile, the scene of a recent
military overthrow, was the
focus of the Eugene Coalition
Liberation Support Movement’s
program last Thursday night in
the EMU. The evening of poetry,
film, a guerrilla theater and
speaker Fernando Arias, ex
pressed the Coalition’s sympathy
of the Chileans’ plight.
Chilean Fernando Arias, a
University graduate student in
economics, voiced frustration
over the military dictatorship’s
bloody executions of thousands of
working class- people. Though
reports out of Chile have stated
executions number in the hun
dreds, Arias notes Newsweek
magazine and personal reports
that calculate deaths toll in the
thousands. Looking at the three
years of Allende’s governmental
programs, Arias cites them as
benefiting the poverty conditions
of the working class who now face
destruction of any future
progress.
A film, “Campamento”,
exemplified the people’s success
during Allende’s presidency.
Allowed to organize and lead
themselves, the poverty populace
“who refuse to die”, took over a
slum area, a “campamento”,
and began building New Havana.
Because of this self-initiated
will, Arias predicts trouble ahead
for the new government. Most
Chileans, he retorted, are against
military dictatorship. Though the
people are presently trapped in a
turmoil of fear and confusion, he
believes they will not allow their
past success to be so easily wiped
out.
To fully comprehend the
change in Chile’s government,
Arias stressed examining
weaknesses in the Allende
democracy, weaknesses which
make it an easy target for the
coup. Internally, Chile’s radical
left party, was pressuring
Allende for more reforms while
on the other hand, young fascists
were growing to want change.
Leftist and military groups
divided the country.
Externally, funds from AID
(the US. Agency for In
ternational Development) were
denied to Chile and Allende’s
access to foreign markets such as
the World Bank was cut off. Legal
suits in Europe by companies as
Kennecott Copper which owns
Chilean mines, brought pressure
to Allende’s government. These
problems weakened the
President’s strength.
Peggy Brammer, a Eugene
Coalition member, says while
U.S. economic aid was cut off in
most areas, funding was still
available to the military. This
Brammer claims, promoted the
military’s power to oust Allende.
The Eugene Coalition will have
an information table this week on
the EMU terrace concerning
Chile’s present day condition.
Wednesday nights at 7:30 the
Coalition meets in the EMU.
We shall have music...
Because people refrained from smoking at the John Denver
Concert, it looks like there will be more music for sale at
McArthur Court this year.
The Denver concert was the first student sponsored concert
held at Mac Court since the Youngbloods appeared two years
ago.
The Saturday-night near sell-out crowd of 5,500 appeared to
be generally well-behaved. An official from the Concerts West
promotional agency attributed the behavior to the type of
crowd. “We’ve found the ticket with acts like John Denver and
the type of crowd he draws. We will plan some soft, popular
groups for this place starting in November. We can’t handle any
“boogie” groups because the crowd gets too wild.”
Concerts already scheduled for the EMU ballroom,
however, will not be moved. Taj Mahal and Leo Kottke don’t
draw big crowds, the official explained.
The Eugene Fire Marshal, who makes the final decision
^ smoking situation, was unavailable for comment. A
MALE CHA VINIS T
PIG NITE
During the Pro-game
Mon. Oct 8
Special
POUNDER
Sale
THtKfcS aawmic shop,-just off r*e. cam?us
, 860tA*Tl3* FOL* l*JO aUXUAKr
Cufcic SHOT,THIS -For it stocks V&
HI-FI Stuff ■ exT~ cer era -t^LNPj IF wei^Ni
)TALSO YOU -Mf.-THlUlMNq AWd
EORQE^S^
©£/A*S7^2Cjf: S7"^ 8XSJN WAShin«&oaw>.I><.
.... CTVST ovrS/pe T*t LOCAL CXK.lSriAUQC(£K/Cm-.
L/ZT£KliM6 F^OOM_
z^uoifAmzr
mivm&TLKNr
/W./V\TTl»-0 CrtKisT/fl-M
/V\ON>ToR,C'
. .rf .T®o
| Thpss that h ate -me, I will /earn u
fGive me ilooi^Lt^en l&rJm*
A i i ^y race, '
-4n ear. p* i£v? 3
***° 7*r *»*« -my detractors
r£ySSflJi9£^i acro^,
-*£«TL
—** sxa-n.* ^daze ar-tHeSuN.
7
Zb corti /vr><r mo\S9a X O D E ■■■■//
I