-editorial-v
More mail, please
The U.S. Postal Service is so concerned about the
decrease in the volume of mail going through the system
that it is planning a national advertising campaign to en
courage persons to mail more letters.
The service cites a steady decline since 1972 in the
number of letters Americans are mailing to each other. It
contends that a five per cent increase in personal corre
spondence nation-wide could net the service an additional
$150 million annually and help alleviate the service’s fi
nancial problems.
The picture of the postal service urging Americans to
do their part to keep the service strong resembles a thinly
disguised, emotional appeal to patriotic sentiments.
The postal service is a quasi-private business and as
such, it should have a better business sense. The pro
posed ad campaign attacks the problem backwards.
Rather than extolling the virtues of mailing more letters, the
service would be better oft directing its energy to improving
the quality of mail service and holding down the postal rate
increases. More people would use the system if it weren't
so expensive and if it took less than five days to get a letter
from Springfield to Eugene.
Letters—
Nothing to show
In per using recent copies of the
Emerald, we have been appalled
at the lack of writing skills exhib
ited by some of the letter writers
(see, for example, a letter entitled
“Fair Play?" which appeared on
March 2). That these people
should be students at the Univer
sity is, perhaps, excusable, but
that they have been allowed to
become upperclassmen is an in
sult to those of us who have col
lege degrees, as well as to the
University itself. An argument can
be made for indiscriminate admis
sion to the University, but we must
set some standards for advance
ment and adhere to them strictly if
the degree is to continue to be
meaningful. It is our firm convic
tion that the ability to think and to
express one's thoughts in a clear,
logical and concise manner
should be one prerequisite for a
college degree. Apparently the
University of Oregon does not
agree.
In recent years grade inflation
has made an “A” somewhat
meaningless, but a college de
gree still remains a symbol of
achievement. It is expensive in
time, effort and money, but we feel
it is worth it. If the University con
tinues to advance illiterates, how
ever, we will soon have nothing to
show for it.
I. David Reingold
chemistry
and 15 co-signers
Matter murky
It’s about time the Emerald
printed an article about the Frank
Dufay affair, but I think this dirty
little secret needs to be aired out a
bit more. The biggest question, of
course, is why did the IFC vote
Dufay $800 of student money to
bring us yet another dopey
whitewash of how marvelous ev
erything is in China. Perhaps it
was just another example of how
the ASUO incessantly tried to play
ideological school master of this
campus. But to me it smells like a
personal favor.
The Emerald's part in this mat
ter is also murky. It didn’t report
the appropriation request once
during the four-week budget pro
cess described, although it was
fairly controversial inside the
ASUO. (If I had known about it, I
would have applied to last year's,
more generous IFC for $800 to
make a movie of Poland and not
Page 4 Section A
have waited to be turned down bv
this year's committee.) A couple
months ago I sent the Emerald a
letter asking it to investigate the
missing movie and was ignored.
You also failed to mention that
Dufay duped the Emerald and
others. Aren't you looking for him,
or do you censor that information
because it “discriminates?”
Now I would like to say some
nice things about the ASUO. Last
summer, Jim Bernau invited me in
to discuss criticism I d made and
to suggest constructive measures
I might take. I was surprised at his
openness to all points of view. Al
though he hasn’t taken any of my
advice, I genuinely admire his in
telligence, eloquence and energy.
We are lucky to have him.
To my dismay, I must say the
same thing about the other ASUO
people I've met this year. They are
pleasant, fair and anxious to hold
down incidental fees. They just
have to learn to say no to attrac
tive programs.
The constitutional limit on fee
increases and the reversed let
tuce policy, which should make
student committees more re
spectable, are examples of con
crete improvements that charac
terize this year’s ASUO.
Students should take it more
seriously, and I encourage those
who have complaints, especially
about high fees, to get involved
and do something about them. I
think they will find a reasonable
and receptive atmosphere. This is
advice from somebody who’s
complained a lot.
Mike Sylwester
Russian, grad.
Rechannel funds
In reading over the IFC budget
recommendations for 1976-77, I
applaud the IFC Committee for its
cuts in programs, and by current
published accounts, the reasons
are justified.
However, there are some pro
posals that I do not agree with. A
question in my mind arises: Why
were some affiliations recom
mended to receive more than they
asked for, and why is it that groups
that have nothing to do with the
University learning processes are
asking for funds and receiving
them?
The particular group that I aim
at is the Gay People’s Alliance.
The fact that two people of the
same sex desire to have a rela
tionship together is a matter of
'MOSCOW It) ALMA ATA IN ONE HOUR AND FIFTY FIVE MINUTES,(OMRADE —CAN \OU IMAGINE WHAT
THIS MEANS ID WORLD TRAVEL ?'
preference, and preference is too
broad a classification to be consi
dered minority or ethnic. Minority
recognition has been defined as
the ratio of certain ethnic groups
(ie: Israeli. Arab, Black, Chinese,
Indian) to the general population.
Ethnic groups are the derivation or
the specific classification of the
minority faction (ie: Chicanos, In
donesians, Lebanese).
Members of the GPA are also
members of all the above groups,
therefore, the GPA cannot claim
discrimination in that respect. Men
and women are members to
gether, thus eliminating sexism.
What the Gay People's Alliance is,
then, is a sexual preference
group, and there are many prefer
ence groups on this campus (ie:
Christians, atheists, dorm people,
independents, etc.)
As a student at this University, I
prefer not to have to pay for some
thing I do not favor, and it is unfair
to have the University populace
support the GPA to the tune of
$2,433.50-$33.50 above their re
quest. Instead, the student funds
could be channeled into Univer
sity approved schools such as the
School of Public Broadcasting, or
other general, student-use
facilities.
Jon Peterson
bus. adm., jr.
Response hateful
I wish to comment on a letter
entitled “Judge Merits’’ that was
written in response to a Christian
group’s advertisement about TM. I
am not familiar with the group that
sponsored this ad but realize it to
be only one of a series. These ads
have been well researched and
well written and present con
troversial viewpoints in a refresh
ingly sober and unpresumptous
style. Because these ads deal es
sentially with the gut issues of ex
istence and because they repres
ent the unpopular Christian pers
pective, angry and hateful re
sponses are inevitable and ex
pected.
The "Judge Merits” letter is a
case in point. In my opinion, the
author’s cause would have been
better served had he remained
silent, for his letter was a perfect
example of the type of journalism
that he claims to abhor. The Chris
tian ad simply presented some
unknown and interesting facts
about TM and cautioned propo
nents of some potential risks. This
seems to me to be a fair message.
On the other hand, the rebuttal
was an ill-conceived and ignorant
attack on Christianity rather than a
well-stated defense of TM’s
merits. This phenomenon is
commonplace but deserves
comment.
Too often people associate
Christianity with Americanism,
WASPism, self righteousness and
elitism. This is unfortunate In
stead, Christianity should only be
looked at in terms of Jesus Christ,
how he lived, what he said, and
why he died. Most people who
re-evaluate Christianity or inspect
it for the first time are awed by
what they discover because they
have too long been indoctrinated
in its prostituted form.
I applaud the efforts of those
who are responsible for the taste
ful Christian ads because they fos
ter and stimulate fresh thinking
about Christ and the repercus
sions of his life on human history
Regarding the TM rebuttal I only
have this to add: Most of us are
responsive to changed lives, and
skeptical of theory. My advice is to
observe each “right way" carefully
and turn from gross inconsistency
wherever it may lie.
Steve Fuetwell
bus. adm. grad
Rights denied
As one of those "people running
around campus trying to get
non-UFW, not "non-union let
tuce removed from the EMU
cafeterias, I feel compelled to re
spond to Kelly Baker's recent let
ter (March 3). It is disheartening,
to say the least, to find so little
interest on Kelly's part in exploring
the issue beyond the superficial.
I find it contradictory for anyone to
claim they are being threatened
with a deprival of their "freedom of
choice" rights while concurrently
stating they "really don't care" to
exercise those rights.
I sympathize to a limited extent
with Kelly's disgust with big un
ions; at the top level especially
they no longer represent their
constituents. However, I can only
imagine the working conditions
we d still find today in factories if
workers hadn't organized and
taken control of their rights. Un
ions haven’t cleared up all the
problems of working people, and
have created some of their own,
but overall, things would be a lot
worse for the majority of workers
without them.
Farmworkers were not a part of
the early union organizing that im
proved some working conditions;
consequently, many are today
working under conditions reminis
cent of those described in John
Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath."
The United Farmworkers is the
first farmworkers organization to
have some success in bringing
these conditions to the public’s at
tention.
Essentially, farmworkers are
asking for the same right Kelly
stresses, that of "freedom of
choice": freedom for farmworkers
to elect union representation so
that they may gain some bargain
ing power toward improving their
working and living conditions. Un
like Kelly, who presently has his
her right to freedom of choice but
chooses not to exercise it. farm
workers are presently denied that
freedom of choice which they
want to exercise
I am not trying to deprive Kelly
of his-her freedom of choice
rights; I am merely working for
those rights presently denied to
farmworkers and feel the Univer
sity, as a focal center of educa
tional and social change, should
actively support those rights
Nancy Bird
history, senior
Another triumph
Ye Olde Double Standard has
triumphed again At the top corner
of the Friday March 5 Emerald
classifieds is the statement “The
Emerald will not knowingly accept
advertisements that discriminate
on the basis of race, color, relig
ion, sex or age ' Then on the next
page in the personals, an ad is
printed which states: “Are you an
Asian American and looking for a
job?"
Obviously, something is amiss.
This ad clearly discriminates
against blacks, whites, chicanos,
etc. Are the Emerald editors
hypocritical or just negligent?
Please, either stop printing racist
ads of this sort or leave out your
meaningless policy statement
Mike Manley
business, fr.
Editor's note Mr. Manley is cor
rect, something is amiss. ” The
Emerald's Advertising Depart
ment does try to screen all such
ads Slip-ups do happen, how
ever If you see an ad that you
believe violates the Emerald's ad
policy, please contact the ODE
Advertising Department im
mediately.
Link opposed
I support the reinstatement of
the D grade and do not believe it
should be linked to changes in the
pass-no pass option. In any
course there are students who
simply deserve D’s. It is not fair to
lump them in the C category, as is
usually done, because better stu
dents suffer from the resulting
grade devaluation. If, however, a
student elects to take a large
number of pass-no pass credits,
he devalues only his own trans
cript, particularly if he wants into
medical or graduate school. Since
this affects only himself, I think this
decision should be left to the indi
vidual student.
Robert Jordon
biology, grad
Thursday, March 11, 1976