Letters
Combine abilities
I have studied under top-rank
researchers who were fine
teachers, and under others who
reacted to undergraduates as
they would to kindergarteners,
with panic and ineptitude. Some of
the most stimulating of my
teachers were mediocre in their
own fields. Unfortunately, a list of
published articles is an objective
fact, while teaching has to be
judged subjectively, which is dif
ficult.
The requirement to publish puts
librarians into a double bind. A
biologist may be hired to do “20
hours of teaching one class and
the rest of the week for research,''
like one professor I talked to, but a
librarian's first job is to keep the
library open. Some spend 50 or
more hours a week doing just that.
Getting one’s field of research
recognized may be a bigger prob
lem than finding time for it. Li
brarians, unless they specialize in
administration, are generalists:
the more subjects they study the
better work they do. This seems to
puzzle evaluation committees.
Maybe an analogy would help.
Suppose you are about to sub
mit a manuscript to one of two pub
lishing houses. The first publisher
has a staff of publishing
specialists: one has written a text
on typesetting by computer, one
has a degree in advertising, one is
a copyright expert. The second
publisher has a staff of
generalists: one writes a general
science column for a popular
magazine, one is active in several
historical societies, one is a lin
guist and translator. Which pub
lisher will you send your book to?
If you say, to neither, but to a
firm combining both sets of
abilities, you are of course right.
And that is the sort of book
handling capability we hope we
offer you in the library. We also
hope you understand when the
anthropologists or musicians or
lawyers among us do their re
search, or creative work, in other
fields than library administration.
Robin Lodewick
Assistant Professor—
Library
Say thank you
Too often we fail to realize our
debt to certain people, people who
have sacrificed their own comfort
in providing us with the luxuries in
life. The ones I speak of are the
forest missionaries.
For years they have traveled
into the darkest jungles, bringing
the light to the millions of heathen
trees, clearing out the filth, crud,
incest, nakedness, and genetic
sins which have raged like can
cerous storms through the bowels
of the land. These servants of the
woods have developed a spiritual
oneness among their folds. Ad
vances in medicine have brought
about the elimination of many
parasitic growths that plague the
forests. Mean, ugly beasts no
longer terrorize the land with their
bloodthirsty fangs. Cute little field
mice need not fear being
pounced upon from above by
devil birds.
Yes, they have done marvelous
deeds for sure. Without people
like these, where would we be?
Say you are proud of their work,
say thank you!
John Boorom
Sophomore-Biology
Kept in suspense
What does it feel like to
graduate from college, and not
know when you will be awarded
your diploma?
That’s what happened tc some
of us that were (unfortunate to
have graduated from the Univer
sity last winter.
Our diplomas were supposed to
be ready on May 26, but somehow
that was not to be, especially for
those of us that got our degrees in
the Arts and Sciences. The
reason is that the printers made
mistakes in printing the diplomas.
We were told that instead of writ
ing Arts and Sciences, they
printed Art and Science.
Up till now, we don’t know when
the diplomas will be ready. Well,
figure this out yourself. After four
years in an Oregon University, we
are being kept in suspense by
Californian printers — that's
where the diplomas are printed.
So much for graduation filing
deadline, so that diplomas could
come out on time.
Yinka Alakija
Senior—
Communications
Biased reporting
The front-page article on the fac
ulty vote on ROTC written by
Sean Meyers in the June 2 issue
of the ODE is such a blatant ex
ample of biased reporting that I
feel some response is called for.
One doesn’t need a course in
journalism to know that editorial
comment belongs on the editorial
page, not in a front-page news ar
ticle.
The writer comes dose to libel
ing Pres. Boyd when he refers to
the President as “sporting the
svelte tongue that aided in pre
cociously establishing his lofty
position...” The writer is hardly
kinder to any of the faculty mem
bers in a position of authority at
the University who spoke out in
favor of ROTC when he writes:
“With the calculating execution so
often associated with the military,
several University governors
staged a successful upheaval...”
And does the writer really think
that the “governors” could have
that much influence over the “an
ticipated plethora of faculty” (300
members) present at the meet
ing?
Apparently, the writer would not
only restrict the freedom of choice
of those students who wish to take
ROTC, but also restrict the free
dom of speech of any faculty
member in a position of authority
at the University. Why is it that
those who have the reputation of
being the most liberal when it
comes to freedom, so often are.
the first ones to deny the basic
freedoms to those who disagree
with them?
Glen Frerichs
Graduate-Chemistry
r
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Words from W'ass
An ODE to the year
l
.. .to Embel, Ken Warren and the tall firs of
Glenwood...
My year at the top has come and gone. It all
ends today, offering a prime excuse to reflect,
retract and rethink. As with any reflections, mine
are likely to be personal at times, but after all, I
can only really be sure of things I’ve thought or
experienced.
My initial comments have to be aimed at the
viciousness and lack of compassion with which
some letter writers attack the Emerald. It might
just be a fact of living with a newspaper, but it
often seemed that the indignant and self
righteous tone of many letters we received was
unwarranted and off-the-mark.
It’s one thing to argue with an editorial or news
decision we've made, but quite another to ac
cuse us of “yellow journalism” (about the tritest
and most unimaginative charge one could level
at a newspaper) because a reporter interpreted
an event differently than the letter written Or to
paint an honest mistake as another example of
the Emerald’s biased approach to the world.
Tom Wolfe, next year’s managing editor, ex
plains it away as the reaction of people frustrated
with their academic experience who have finally
found someone to lash out at—not a comforting
situation for those on this end of the transaction.
This isn’t to say we don’t deserve to be talked
at once in a while. Like anybody, we make mis
takes (and for this year's worst, I again
apologize to Dave Tyler) but there has been no
intentional slanting of news or a conspiracy to
shut out this segment of campus or that. What
there has been is an effort tby a number of
students to provide the information and enter
tainment Emerald readers want and need. It’s
an effort that’s been, for the most part, success
ful.
But back to the letters. Next time you wind up
to take a shot at us, how bout giving a call first to
see if it’s something that can be explained or
worked out. But most of all, remember that the
Emerald is people, for the most part undeserv
ing of demeaning attacks.
But enough of that. What about the role the
Emerald specifically, and student journalists in
general, should play in the world?
A common mistake among many student
journalists is to fail to view themselves as legiti
mate members of the news network. This leads
to a stepping-stone syndrome where a college
career is viewed as a training ground where one
merely practices before moving into the real
world. It's an attitude that ignores the very influ
ence students, like those at the Emerald, can
have on the environment they live in and the
trade they have chosen.
As ASUO-type Mark Cogan is fond of arguing,
students have a unique perspective on the
world. Vet to become strongly identified with a
special interest, unencumbered by the respon
sibilities of an occupation and viewing them
selves in a state of transition, most students can
approach life in a way few other members of
society can. This is especially true at the
Emerald.
Given our captive ad clientele (a frightening
number of students depend solely on the
Emerald for their contact with the outside world)
and a captive audience (what better way to pass
that hour til the lecture's over) we have little to
censure us. It's a freedom few of us will ever
experience in our professional lives But utilizing
this freedom offers failures as well as fulfillment.
It's a given that some experiments are going to
fail, and when they fail in the mass media,
thousands of people know about it. It's embar
rassing to pick up the paper and think “God, I wish
we hadn't done that,” but it's my theory that
these feelings pale when compared with the
satisfaction one feels when a new idea works.
And that’s what the Emerald has tried to be — a
place where new ideas could have their chance.
Which is all a little heavy, so I'll end this with a
pitch. If you ve got an interest in controlling
thousands of minds, even if it's for just a mo
ment, think about giving the Emerald a try. It's
amazingly easy to work into the act and diverse
viewpoints on the staff means a more interesting
paper. It's an experience you can mold to fit your
needs and Wally, Tom, Martha and the others
could use your help.
And that's about it. Just remember that finals
week will soon be over, and watch the Emerald
stands tomorrow for a treat you’re sure to enjoy.
J
Faculty cops out
Thursday’s Emerald headline
should have read, “Faculty cops
out on ROTC vote.” Listening to
the faculty debate Wednesday af
ternoon my friends and I sitting in
were expecting to hear utterances
about McCarthy ism. We won
dered how many of those 190 fac
ulty who voted to support ROTC
believed ex-president Nixon was
innocent up until the final days.
President Boyd’s speech was
the ultimate in bureaucratic B.S.
Babbling about how the University
had let down the public during the
late 60 s, he went on to say that
this move would just be waving a
flag in front of the public s face.
Our head bureaucrat succeeded
in stifling what had the potential of
becoming a new progressive
movement, which of course is the
job of all good bureaucrats.
Professor emeritus Bower Aly,
whose speech was one-half inau
dible from where we sat, fired out
such reactionary statements as, if
we expect to remain the world s
richest country we must maintain
a powerful defense. In light of re
cent world events Professor Aly
seems to be unaware that
capitalism is slowly dying and that
our defensive stature, protecting
our great wealth from the masses
of the world's population, is
doomed to fall beneath the rising
tide of world socialism. Either that
or the capitalists, in whose interest
the military is maintained, will
destroy the world in order to pro
tect their interests.
Bruce Amsbary
Junior-Psychology/Sociology
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