editorial
Time to decide
How long does it take an attorney general to reveal a
final draft of a ruling?
Too long. The state Attorney General has been work
Of not working — on his opinion in the controversial
divestment of the State System of Higher Education’s
stock in firms doing business in South Africa since Dec. 6.
The issue has been stagnating in the Attorney General’s
office for almost four months, and the delay appears likely
to continue for at least two more weeks.
The issue is dear, but it unfortunately has become a
Catch-22 because of the legal intricacies of the relation
ship between the State Board and the Oregon Investment
Coundl. The debate centers on whether or not the Board
has the authority to direct the investment coundl to sell
stocks for policy reasons. By adopting the proposal to
divest the stocks, the State Board essentially made a pol
icy decision. Although it has a general policy against mak
ing political statements or taking action for political
reasons, it has the authority to do exactly that.
If the Attorney General rules that the Board doesn’t
have the authority to divest, the control over investment
policy will then be placed squarely on the shoulders of the
investment council. That would indeed be a peculiar ar
rangement, since the investment coundl is clearly subser
vient to the State Board. If the State Board doesn’t have the
authority to set policy, then who does?
Apparently, the opponents to divestment believe their
decision should be made by the investment coundl. The
council invests state money using the “prudent man” rule
as a guideline. That rule states that the investment should
be made with good reason in companies which have a
stable record. But if the investment council has the power
to invest in any company, it is conceivable that it could
profit immensely from — in a perhaps slightly exaggerated
example — illicit drugs. Great profit. No ethics.
Similarly, the investment council, if the Attorney Gen
eral rules against divestment, may become the policy set
ter for the state system of higher education. But that obvi
ously subverts the authority of the agency which to date
has been, as it should be, the policy setting agency — the
State Board.
When the state board went beyond the question of
whether or not an investment is prudent and raised the
question of whether or not an investment is right, it made a
policy decision which must be carried out. The Board
consists of 11 members appointed by the governor and
approved by the Senate to serve as policy makers for the
state system. The policy to divest was made by a majority
of the members in accordance with its authority to make
policy.
To the extent that the Attorney General’s office is
bogged down with other cases, the delay is somewhat
understandable. But a four month delay is inexcusable.
The divestment decisions made in Oregon and other
states, coupled with anti-Krugerrand statements, have
brought more attention to the plight of black South Africans
than any other anti-apartheid actions. Perhaps it is the
politics of the issue which make the Attorney General delay
such an important decision for so long. We hope not. But at
any rate, the decision on the authority of the state board to
divest the South African stock is long overdue.
J
Letters
Improve the guide
Many faculty members at the
University would like to offer new
or experimental courses from time
to time. Such courses enhance
the curriculum and are surely
generally to the advantage of stu
dents. The problem with offering
such courses, however, is that it is
difficult to publicize them ade
quately. Faculty members are
generally therefore, I think, de
lighted that the ASUO publishes
its course guide each term. This
guide seems to be widely used
and provides an excellent oppor
tunity for students to learn what
Page 4
new and experimental courses
are being offered.
It is thus extremely disconcert
ing and frustrating when the editor
of that publication seems routinely
to drop notices submitted to him of
new and experimental courses in
one or more departments. Winter
term, our department scheduled a
course on the inter-relationship
between, on the one hand, relig
ion and ethnicity and, on the other
hand, Marxism/Leninism. This
should have been a very interest
ing course for persons who
wanted to get some idea of differ
ent ethnic groups within the Soviet
Union and some of its allies; but
the course description was omit
TteftWlOS
OFlWE.HUH’
WINE INTERVENHOH
ted from the ASUO Course Guide
and only two people registered for
it.
This term, a new course offer
ing, An Introduction to the Study of
the Bible, has been scheduled for
14:30 MWF, R 199, TLN 2963,
and the description has again
been omitted from the ASUO
Course Guide. The purpose of the
course is to acquaint students re
latively unfamiliar with the Bible
with its general content and with
scholarly methods and tools used
in the academic study of the Bible.
It is not a “religious” course, and
persons who are Jewish, Christ
ian, or neither should be comfort
able in the course.
The ASUO should be thorough
in the publication of its guide or
relinquish the responsibility to
someone else.
J.T. Sanders
Department Head
Religious Studies
A positive view
As a reader of the Daily
Emerald, I’ve come across many
negative views of the CETA Prog
ram here in Lane County. Many of
these pointed opinions were voi
ced by individuals who were
neither employed by CETA nor
were they participants within
CETA's various programs. Ap
parently their view were based on
their personal feelings, hearsay
and probably good old gossip.
Now, surely any type of a large
scale self-help government prog
ram is open to criticism, justified or
not. On one hand, government fi-.
nanced programs (our tax money)
are ripe for non-constructive criti
cism. Such is the bread and butter
of some politicians. But on the
other hand, is the adverse criti
cism launched at Lane County
CETA justified? I for one must say
NO.
Here in Oregon each year there
is a large rainfall, however some
areas remain hardly touched and
as last year proved, the lack of rain
affected everyone. Lane County
CETA is a rainfall for Lane County
residents and fortunately a con
stant and ever increasing one. It is
impossible for CETA to satisfy
everyone who comes in for assis
tance. Thorough knowledge of
CETA’s available programs, an
understanding of how you, if you
are chosen, to participate could
most benefit best plus patience
will help smooth out most dealings
with this highly beneficial govern
ment program.
Positively, CETA develops jobs
m existing agencies, Public or
Private and assists other boot
strap ones in broadening their
service or work output by totally
paying its participants’ salaries.
Many a small business here in
Lane County have become sol
vent due to this kind of direct as
sistance.
Because CETA’s present prog
ram is divided between Youth and
Adult services, all segments of the
County’s residents are among its
active participants. Because
CETA like any other program is
limited to a specified budget, a
selection process must be main
tained in order to be just and fair to
all who apply tor participation. Ap
plicants should always consider
this point when applying for any of
CETA’s programs in on-the-job
training, work experience, public
service employment, public ser
vice employment or special edu
cational and training under the
four main titles.
The plain facts are that: 1.
CETA is working for the many
people whom it presently assists.
2. Permanent positions are being
developed in agencies, where in
some cases none existed before.
3. Millions of dollars are being cir
culated through the participants in
salaries to local business and ser
vices (public and private). 4. And
as a participant secures a perma
nent position his/her CETA posi
tion is quickly filled with another
qualified person.
In closing, surely CETA can be
improved and it is constantly
undergoing improvements so that
it will become a more comprehen
sive Public Service. The public
and applicants should however be
more considerate, patient and
thankful for the positive gains of
Lane County CETA. For like the
ram, if we didn t have it, we would
most certainly miss it.
Charles T. Daniels
1037 W. 4th Ave.
Eugene
Review inaccurate
Apropos Fassbinder’s "Jail
Bait’’, I wish to point out certain
inaccuracies in David Coursen’s
otherwise informed review of the
1 Jail Bait' is a chilling pict
of valuelessness and me
chaos:’ Coursen does not s
stantiate his claim and the filn
neither devoid of value nor doe
express moral cha
Fassbinder’s characters i
never mixed up about their valu
't is just that they are preven
from vindicating them. Franz t<
Hanni — when they discuss
ramifications of her pregnancy
that his main concern is that
does not want to lose her. And
Hanni too, in response to her
mother’s inquisitive concern
about her intimacy with Franz, re
sponds — “What do you expect? I
love him.” Fassbinder's target is
not individual morality, but rather
the strictures that am unrelenting
and uncaring society imposes on
the individual. Moreover,
Fassbinder’s universe is consis
tently oppressive; it is not chaotic.
Fassbinder is a romantic and
Coursen — who evokes "Ali: Fear
Eats the Soul" — should at least
acknowledge it.
2. "The film is maddeningly
claustrophobic:” Here again,
Coursen ignores the function of
counterpoint in Fassbinder. Spec
ifically, he overlooks the tonality of
the opening scenes. The opening
shot of the castle is anything but
claustrophobic, and Hanni’s par
ents’ conversation in the bath
room is markedly casual. Also,
the scene which depicts Hanni’s
first encounter with Franz, is free
from oppression or claus
trophobia; her emergence from
darkness into the square has a
strong stepping-out-into-the
world quality to it — in fact, it is
strong enough to evoke Alice in
Wonderland. Society, in
Fassbinder’s world, closes in on
the individual gradually and unob
trusively — with the inevitability of
fate. The “fate” in Fassbinder,
however, is man-made; much of
the subversive quality in his films
derives from this connotation.
Coursen’s comment seems to
imply an unvarying tonality (and
milieu?), and ignores the function
of counterpoint that invariably ac
centuates the sense of alienation
that emerges at the end of a Fass
binder film.
Fassbinder “grand theme” is
loneliness — and in "Jail Bait’’ it
comes across best in the scenes
between the mother and the
daughter. And all Fassbinder films
end on a note of inefficacy of iso
lated instances of rebelliousness.
The squelching of individual aspi
rations is accentuated by the in
flexibility of Fassbinder’s
portrayed society.
The individuals in Fassbinder’s
films never break through, but his
sympathies come across une
quivocally nonetheless. His films
are avowedly subversive and
Fassbinder has gone on record
saying that he endeavours to elicit
antagonism among his audience
rather than work towards a resolu
tion by portraying it on the screen;
and much of the “generalized de
spair” in his films derives from this
unresolved tension.
Jagdish Nayyar
Graduate, Film Studies