mike rust
rust never sleeps
“Interesting” is as good a
word as any to describe the
recent “confrontation"
between state organizers for
Moral Majority and opponents in
Eugene.
Interesting not because of the
rhetoric — judging from news
reports, ludicrousness seems to
have been the rule rather than
the exception — but instead
because it demonstrates that
demagogy and self-righteous
ness transcend political beliefs.
To borrow from Gore Vidal’s
characterization of Tom
Hayden, both sides are giving
opportunism a bad name
Moral Majority, the fun
damentalist Christian political
lobby, is attempting to cash in
By MARIAN GREEN
Of the Emerald
The journalism school is suf
fering from the same ailment
affecting other University
professional schools — an in
creasing student enrollment
without a corresponding
increase in faculty size.
Journalism Dean Galen Ra
rick says the size of the jour
nalism school’s faculty has
remained at 13 since 1972, but
for that same period enrollment
has increased by more than 70
percent.
Recent University budget
cuts have compounded the
problem, Rarick says.
Larger class sizes are one
effect of increased enrollment,
Rarick says.
“Classes are too large to
teach as well as we would like to
teach.”
In addition, many classes
don’t have graduate assistants
to help out, he says.
With more students enrolled
in the journalism school, Rarick
says academic and career ad
vising has become a problem.
“This term we have 63
students per faculty member for
advising, even for masters and
graduate students who should
have more time.”
Journalism Prof. Jack Hart
shares Rarick’s concern.
"I’m teaching more students
this year than I taught at a state
college in California,” Hart says.
"And I just found out I won’t
have a teaching assistant
because, I guess, there isn’t
enough money”
Next term Hart will teach an
on a victory that’s not theirs.
The group is receiving indirect
assistance from the people who
claim to be their most fervent
enemies
A majority of the people who
voted earlier this month chose
Ronald Reagan to be the next
President and elected the most
conservative Congress in years.
Most observers attribute this
to dissatisfaction with both the
current state of the economy
and foreign policy. Some also
have suggested that after 50
years of centralized, activist
government, the natural flow of
history is following its course.
Virtually no serious observer
has said the future of the
Republic is resting in the sweaty
Rising enrollments
tax journalism profs
additional 30 students in his
Law of the Press class, which
usually has 220 students.
“We don’t have the equip
ment we need, so I can’t put
reporting students on the VDT
(video display terminal) system.
Even if we had access, there’s
not enough terminals,’’ he says.
Recently, other professional
schools such as the College of
Business and the Computer and
Information Sciences Depart
ment have excluded non-majors
and pre-majors from taking cer
tain courses to insure that
majors can fulfill degree requir
ements.
Rarick says he hopes the
journalism school won’t have to
impose similar restrictions.
“We really don't want to do
that. We really benefit from hav
ing those students in ouf
classes. ”
Decisions on whether to re
strict non-majors and to raise
admission requirements to the
journalism school won’t be
made until the end of winter
term at the earliest, Rarick says.
“We're not complaining about
the quality of students — there’s
a lot of good students. That’s
why we want to go slow.
“We don't want to make arbi
trary decisions that affect the
careers and lives of students.”
Even though enrollment in the
school has increased, Rarick
says he doesn’t think the jour
nalism job market is more
crowded than usual.
"By and large, those students
willing to go where the jobs are
can find them.’’
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palm of Jerry Falwell, the force
behind MM, which bombed in
six of the eight congressional
races it took an interest in
But that hasn’t been the case
here on campus. There has
been much wailing and
gnashing of teeth over the sup
posed power MM’s diabolic
forces have captured at high
levels of government.
The high-level hysteria that
has swept through the ranks of
our Birkenstock Bolsheviks has
aided MM’s effort to foster the
illusion of power
Much of this is simply an at
tempt by bewildered Lefties to
explain away the liberal debacle
of several weeks ago It's far
easier to believe that evil
religious fanaticism has infested
the country than it is to question
the wisdom of the prevailing
liberal orthodoxy
This hysteria also shows that
most people on campus are
willing to adopt just about any
attitude or belief provided it
doesn’t cost anything, is in step
with the attitudes and beliefs of
their peers, and supplies the
illusion of courageous action
while not risking anything —
whether socially, physically or
intellectually.
The safer it is, the more they
will talk of their willingness to
defend it to the death, as an MM
spokesman did Tuesday. The
more popular and chic it is, the
more they will congratulate one
another on their remarkable
courage in upholding it, as most
of MM's opponents did the
same day.
To MM, we can wish the same
happy fate that befell Mr. Claude
Amos of Bob Fork, Ky., a
gentleman of similar theological
bent who died of snakebite
while engaging in Divine Wor
ship at Rockhouse Pentecostal
Church.
To their opponents, we can
reiterate the one sensible point
that was made all day when
John Hubbird, director of Fish
pac, a local Christian political
action committee that is more
moderate than Moral Majority,
pointed out that both sides
probably could have found
more important things to do
To which we all can add an
emphatic "Amen.''
(This column contains the
opinions of the writer and not
necessarily those of the Emer- ,
aid.)
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