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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1980)
A dozen years ago, campus life was marked by rallies, marches and demon strations intended to force a reevaluation of America s values and morals. Often the protests were aimed at a government 3,000 miles away and the statements were loud. But the Washington establishment wasn’t the only target. Molten lead filled the locks of Johnson Hail as students demanded a place on the committee searching for a new University president. As tuition levels continued to rise, students were less content to sit passive ly by while the University and the State Board decided how much the students would pay and what subjects they would be taught. About 10 years later, students were speaking much more softly. The movement had been inherited by leaders capable of stating student ’’requests” in the usual forums. The feeling that spawned unorganized, and often gratui tous, violence found expression in the concept of "student as consumer " On the campus level, the appeal re sulted in the mostly symbolic co-gover nance structure. While paying lip service to the idea of student imput, Johnson Hall has systematically denied students a real voice in running the institution. Consider the University’s General As sembly: That body must approve most impor tant changes in University affairs and students have 18 seats compared to the 125 faculty representatives that usually attend the meetings. (If all faculty members were to attend, they would have over 900 votes.) Against that backdrop, any discussion of the validity of filling out faculty evaluations must reach the same con clusion: The exercise is worthless. Aside from the fact that completing the forms kills 10 mintutes of class, there’s little to justify the waste of paper and lead. A strong argument can be made that the only way to lend legitimacy to the evaluations is to allow their release to the student public. One of the hallmarks of the consumer movement is the realiza tion that buyers need accurate informa tion to make reasoned choices. Denying students the chance to view their peers’ opinions of professors negates any ad ministrative claim that student contributions to University governance are important. But the University hasn’t been the only institution to mute the student voice. When their attempts to gain access to the evaluations were thwarted on campus, students took their fight to the State Board. When told it would take legisla tion to force action, the students went to the Legislature. But the lawmakers were no more responsive to students’ pleas; thus, professors’ grades are still locked up in Oregon Hall. The situation conjures up the words of ex-ASUO type Mark Cogen. “We recognize we re not going to be running the place,” said Cogan in a 1977 interview. "Students just want a role that is consistent with their needs and inter ests. As consumers, we have a right to information, a right to make choices, and that’s all we’re trying to establish.” Wasson, a first-year law student, edit ed the Emerald in 1976-77 and has worked as a reporter in the last three sessions of the Legislature. voi jrs Archie’s pride After over two weeks of view ing chastizing remarks from out raged readers of the Immorald, I find it difficult to understand how every one of these letter writers "missed the boat” on the Immorald’s satirical intention. This April Fool’s Day issue was indeed a farce — a satirical farce, however. The Immorald, like Archie Bunker, was not sexist or racist, but a satire on the countless subtleties of sexism and racism existing in our society today. Too often the subtle prejudices go unnoticed until the powerful effects of bias are ingrained — first in our attitudes and behaviors, then in our teachings of these warped attitudes to our children, and their children, then their children’s children. Archie Bunker, as did the Im morald, opened our eyes to these prejudices. As an exam pie, the now infamous “rape” ad found in the Immorald was obviously a comment on the real advertisement found in the Emerald a few weeks previous ly, in which dorm residents - as a supposed “joke” — solicited an invitation to impregnate women as a means of avoiding the draft. This original advertisement was sexist; the Immorald’s version was a satire on this sexism. The difference between the two is quite important. Satire serves an important function in our culture. It allows us to see ourselves in a different perspective and has us question ourselves. Perhaps not all of the Immorald’s satirical comments were “justified,” but they did open the reader s eyes and made them pause to think. Ar chie — you would’ve been proud! Daniel Mitchell senior, psychology Relevant goals Women’s Referral and Re source Service would like to officially announce our endor sement for Alan Contreras for ASUO president. Alan’s experience with government, from the state Democratic Party to the IFC, is extremely important to an ef fective executive administra tion. Alan knows the procedures necessary for any action and is conscientiously responsible in following them. Knowing them so well, he has often offered suggestions on alternative methods of attaining goals. Alan also has a very practical approach to what the ASUO ex ecutive office can and should do. He has faith in the indepen dence of the programs and is willing to help them rather than demand of them. He has set reasonable and relevant goals for next year, the supporting of child care legislation, of course evaluations, the limiting of tui tion levels and watching the reapportionment of legislative and congressional districts. But these would not alone be enough to gain our support. Alan has consistently shown an understanding of and commit ment to changing the roles of women and men in this society, and, in particular, in this University. His stance on child care is the prime example of his position. Quality child care is essential to the educational op portunity of many women and cannot be handled adequately through Incidental Fees. Alan is also a firm supporter of women in politics and in all areas of society. We have considered the other candidates. None seem to blend the experience, the concern for the needs of students and the support for women’s rights as well as Alan Contreras does. We urge your support for this can didate. Katherine Jones Mary Little Jeanna Cernazanu Women’s Referral and Resource Service Correction Dale Duhan’s letter (“Sur vey claim," 4-16-80) was printed incorrectly. The last two sentences of the letter, when submitted, read: “As I am sure the under graduates in my elementary statistics classes will recog nize, the sample used for this estimate can not be shown to be representative of the whole faculty. In fact, since the survey was sponsored by the AFT, it is likely that the response to the survey was higher among AFT members than among non-members.” neirs b3BR0 POOOLV 6MV6H x 10 m T I m ' x iooolpvo deero A6^iM$r it if J AJAS ^ emm : ' {&N\,He Too. MW m) too LOST. ! THIk)^ r. leMwev N i&HMlr. mi mr tee m AfiAjUST 7 IURATI0O .;i-^ wr *u»eAft
