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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1980)
Vol. 82, No. 61 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Monday, December 1, 1980 Minorities Groups debate teaching views Analysis by LAUNA CORNWELL Ol the Emerald One objective of any university is to prepare students for life in the real world. One way to accomplish this is to teach from a multi-cultural perspective that includes racial minority groups. Is this happening at the University? That depends on who you talk to. “Eugene and Oregon have a small minority population, but the world has a diverse minority population,” says Nor ma McFadden, director of the University affirmative action program. “We are preparing students to go out into the world.” But what actually is being taught is the non-minority view, says Colleen Fong, a member of the Ethnic Women’s Alliance. “What they are now teaching, for ex ample, in the sociology of women, is the sociology of white women,” Fong says. “Let’s teach courses that reflect the society which is multi-racial.” Barre Toelken, University ethnic studies program director, says ethnic students come to the University with a positive world view “For example, Hispanic students come here bilingual. If we pointed this out ar. positive, it would provide them with a more stable mental situation in which to learn,” Toelken says. “We really haven't begun to fully ap preciate what ethnic minds can do.” Many people say the University should reflect the composition of the society. Although the percentage of minorities at the University exceeds the state average, it is much lower than the national aver age. Oregon has one of the smallest Amer ican minority populations in the country — 2.8 percent, according to the 1970 Census reports. And the University's native-born minority population is 5.8 percent — 3 percent Asian, 1.1 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Afro-American and 0 7 percent Native American or Eskimo. Historically, Oregon was shut off from large minority populations because it lacked the ports and large cities that attracted minorities seeking em ployment. And many minorities who value a sense of community may be attracted to areas with a larger minority population, McFadden says. If the University is committed to a multi-cultural perspective, plans must be devised to attract and retain minorities. "The University needs an accurate analysis of the skills of ethnic students when they arrive,” says Lewis Merrick, special programs coordinator for the State Board of Higher Education Continued on Page 24 Here comes Santa There was no snow, no reindeer — it wasn’t even December — but Santa and his helpers arrived in Eugene last week to do the annual duty of ushering in the Christmas season. Hopeful children waited anxiously in line at Valley River Center for a chance to give Santa their holiday wish lists. During his visit, St. Nick also found time in his busy pre-Christmas schedule to pose for photographs with excited children. For more on Santa and the holidays, see the Christmas section that appears in today’s edition. Photos by David W. Zahn University president will decide Groups clash over childcare center admissions Two campus groups have asked the University president’s office to review admissions rules for the EMU Child Care Center. The requests represent distinctly dif ferent positions on the childcare admis sions issue, and administrative assistant Muriel Jackson says the administration will consider the two suggestions in dependently The Women’s Law Forum petition, submitted in late October, suggests that single parents who are full-time students and two-parent families with both par ents attending school full time get the first priority for admission. But the center's Parent Advisory Group asks that admissions priorities be established without regard to the marital status of parents. The group’s petition suggests only that returning student parents have first priority. The PAG proposes that the center limit parents to 30 hours of weekly childcare per child, but the forum wants unlimited service. Admissions standards have been one of the core issues in the childcare ar gument that has raged since April. EMU Board members and student parents repeatedly have argued the positions expressed in the petitions. When the EMU Child Care Center governing document was submitted to the board last month, it was amended so that the admissions policy decided by the parents would be overridden by state administrative rules. Deadline for public comment on the PAG proposal is Tuesday Acting Pres. Paul Olum will announce his decision on the proposal by Dec. 20 The deadline for public comment on the forum's proposal was Nov. 22. Olum is expected to announce his decision on that proposal today.
