opinion__
vours__
Solution to ethnic history tussle: enroll in classes
The photograph (April 12) of the rally
in support of "Black American History"
features the sign: — ' Are they in
your/History Books?/ Booker T
Washington,/ Nat Turner, Rosa Parks,/
Denmark Vassey (sic), W E B Dubois
(sic):Louis Latimer. Marcus Garvey ''
The implication is that general texts in
American history would not even men
tion these persons
When in 1966-67 I last taught a survey
course in U S history the basic text was
Morison and Commager, "The Growth of
the American Republic," two vols., fifth
ed (1962), which did include Booker T
Washington, Nat Turner, Denmark
Vesey. and W E B DuBois — also, as a
casual run-through revealed. Frederick
Douglass. Harriet Tubman, and William
C Handy The next edition (1969), with
W.E Leuchtenberg as new co-author,
includes all the above, plus Rosa Parks.
Marcus Garvey, and a good many others
— Martin Luther King, of course. James
Weldon Johnson. Langston Hughes.
Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall and
even such extremists as H Rap Sown,
Malcolm X and Stokeley Carmichael But
I draw a blank on Louis Latimer, my only
comfort is that the indexes to half a
dozen general Afro-American histories
indicate equal ignorance
The above is not to deny the value of
ethnic-oriented history courses, or of
Afro-American history, or. for that mat
ter, of Amerindian history or the history
of the Spanish-speaking peoples of the
U S — which have been among my own
ma|or research and teaching interests It
does, however, suggest a good deal 'of
ignorance as to what is currently taught
in general American history courses
Students seriously concerned with the
future of ethnic American history at the
University could do nothing more effec
tive than to enroll in such courses as are
offered and conclusively demonstrate
both the wide extent and the serious
character of the existing interest in that
field of study
Kenneth Wiggins Porter
professor emeritus, history
a a
Time to wake up about draft
Now to an issue that affects
almost every student on cam
pus: the draft There are
currently several versions of
legislation to reinstate draft
registration being considered in
the House Armed Services
Committee After draft registra
tion is set up. drafting people
like you and me into the Army is
an inevitable progression. It's
time to wake up and realize that
a lot of people in Congress are
serious about sending us to
boot camp Unless enough op
position to draft legislation
arises, we may very well find
ourselves in khaki uniform (they
don't plan on excluding
women)
If you are interested in stop
ping the draft, please attend the
next general meeting of a
coalition, of area organizations
opposed to the draft on April 30
at 7:30 p m in the Wesley
Center (1236 Kincaid). Or you
may wish to contact Clergy and
Laity Concerned (on campus
across from PLC) to learn more
about the issue, meetings and
upcoming events
If writing letters is more your
style, please write to Senator
Bob Packwood and ask that he
vote against any legislation that
would reinstate draft registra
tion or the draft itself Urge him
to make a public statement
about his stand on this issue
Write to: The Honorable Sob
Packwood, U S Senate Office
Building. Washington, DC
20510 Congressman Weaver
and Senator Hatfield are
already opposed to the draft
Since ASUO elections are
coming up. ask the candidates
to take a strong stand against
the draft Also, ask your state
senators and representatives to
speak up and take a public
stand against the draft and an
active leadership role in helping
to defeat draft legislation
John Jordan
sophomore, pre-CSPA
Questions OSL coverage
i-or some aDsura reason i
thought the Emerald has at
tempted to be fairly objective in
covering student-related issues
and was sincerely interested in
representing the best interests
of the students of the University
of Oregon
I am seriously reconsidering
these assumptions after read
ing Dana Tims’ article of the
17th concerning the Oregon
Student Lobby This article at
tacks an organization which is
performing a valuable service
for the students attending
public institutions of higher
learning, including the Univer
sity of Oregon, and seriously
injures the credibility of this or
ganization among students and
those legislators reading the
Emerald
I am rather amazed at the bias
existing in this article Ms
Friedman's charges are given
front page coverage while the
OSL's response is limited to the
second page
I also find it hard to accept as
credible these statements made
by a person who, having by her
own admission sole respon
sibility for this bill, chose to walk
out on her job one week before
the hearings were to be held on
the bill
It seems to me that if the pur
pose of this article was to
reduce the effectiveness of the
Oregon Student Lobby, then it
was a job well done — but
definitely not a reflection of
student interests
I personally believe the OSL
has done an excellent job in
representing student interests I
was present at both House
Education committee Hearings
on the course evaluation bill
and was favorably impressed by
the performance of the OSL.
despite the handicap of having
to start nearly from scratch I
am extremely disappointed that
the Emerald has chosen to
handicap the performance of
this agency
I consider this article a piece
of irresponsible journalism and
suggest the Emerald attempt to
print an objective article about
the situation in the Oregon
Student Lobby
Joyce Reynolds
senior, recreation and
park management
‘Important factors’
The Oregon state legislature
is presently reviewing an issue
directly involving student
interests at the University of
Oregon This issue addresses a
controversial yet well-known
problem that costs students
large amounts of money
Senate Bill 591 and House
would prevent insurance com
panies from charging higher
rates base upon sex, race, age
marital status, and residential
location Instead, the proposed
bill allows for higher rates for
drivers with poor records The
bill also proposes that violations
or accidents would be removed
from any driver's record three
years after the date incurred —
instead of constantly haunting a
driver with high insurance
prices for life
At this time Massuachusetts,
North Carolina and Hawaii have
Merit Auto Insurance laws
These states save drivers
between the ages of 19-25
approximately $60 per year,
with the average driver saving
$46 per year under the laws
Most students could realize
substantial savings if the
Senate bill passed
This bill also proposes rate
reduction for the elderly based
upon low mileage and driving
records
Senate Bill 591 is based upon
research completed by the
Oregon Student Public Interest
Group (OSPIRG) We urge all
students to contact their sena
tor or representative in active
support of this bill Addresses
and more information are
available at the University of
Oregon OSPIRG office in Suite
1 of the EMU
Steve Reynolds
University OSPIRG
Junior, Journalism
Vets and the Draft
A special thanks to the 341
Vietnam Veterans, Korean
Veterans, World War II
Veterans, Disabled Veterans
and Vietnam Era Veterans who
signed the statement opposing
THE RECALL There are nearly
80 veterans' organizations
across the country mobilizing to
defeat this latest of Pentagon
pipe dreams
Many of you veterans and re
tired personnel have already
received survey notices from
the Department of Defense
asking that you consider re
turning to the reserves or active
duty. If this effects you then we
would be most interested in
taking a look at the survey sheet
so we could share this with
other veterans Be aware that
the survey is merely the
preliminary phase of the recall
process Stay informed
Staff and Directors
University Veterans
Cheaper insurance
Professor Charles Duncan s
comments in the April 18 issue
were a justified response to the
Emerald s coverage of the April
10 hearing on House Bill 2831,
the faculty course evaluation
release proposal
But as I've already explaned
to Prof Duncan, his comments
could not take into considera
tion some important factors
I left the hearing on the bill
only momentarily, for some
coffee — a compulsion written
about earlier in the session
Upon my return I heard and
ended up reporting the tes
timony of David Nicodemus,
dean of faculty at OSU
Nicodemus' comments, and
those of Stoddard Malarkey.
vice-chancellor of the Board of
Higher Education, were cut
from my story due to length
considerations I was not ad
vised of that cut
The "demands of deadlines"
had nothing to do with the
coverage
Will life's torments never end?
Dana Tims
Emerald correspondent
Salem
On booing Rono
The booing of Henry Rono at
Saturday's track meet was a
disappointment in an otherwise
splendid afternoon of track and
field competition Those who
leered Rono no doubt
represented a minority of fans
at Hayward Field, nevertheless.
I had come to expect more at a
school where enthusiasm for
track leads thousands of fans to
fill the stands week after week
Nobody but Rono knew for
sure why he dropped out of the
5.000 meter race after one
and-a-half miles Maybe, as
some suggested, he was trying
to tire Alberto Salazar and help
his teammates win the race But
it was presumptuous of fans to
leer Rono when they could only
guess why he quit running
I was also disturbed at the
treatment of Rono because he
is a foreign student I know little
about Kenya (I would guess that
most of the loud-mouthed fans
behind me didn't either), but
isn't it possible that Rono and
his countrymen have different
ideas about athletic competi
tion than we do? In such cases,
foreign athletes should be given
the benefit of the doubt
It doesn't bother me that
Oregon fans booed a world
record holder They have as lit
tle business booing a lesser
athlete under the same circum
stances It does show how fickle
fans can be — cheering a great
athlete one minute, booing him
the next
In any case, the treatment of
Rono by some Oregon fans was
embarrassing I'm sure many
other fans will join me in asking
those fans to clean up their act
Greg Barnett
graduate, journalism
Thursday, April 26, 1979