Committee meets today
Dissension wracks Ethnic Studies program
ay MARIAN GREEN
Of the Emerald
Lack of support for the Folk
lore and Ethnic Studies (FES)
program could kill it, says pro
gram director Barre Toelken.
Toelken says a Nov. 24 public
meeting on the program
"provided us with an over
whelming vote of no con
fidence.”
And if support for the program
is not shown during the Ethnic
Studies Committee meeting
today at 3:45 p.m. in Room 180
PLC, Toelken says he and other
folklore professors volunteering
time and energy to the program
will consider undoing the
merger that created it.
The move would leave the
program with no director, no
full-time faculty members and
only enough funds to support
two graduate teaching fellows
and one half-time secretary.
“It’s not sour grapes, but if we
get nothing but complaints,
we ll let someone else do it,”
Toelken says.
Toelken, who was named FES
director when the program was
created earlier this fall, says two
incidents at the public meeting
may have damaged student and
faculty support for ethnic
studies.
At the meeting, GTF Colleen
Fong criticized Ethnic Studies
Prof. Sharon Sherman’s teach
ing methods, texts and ethnicity
definition.
Some of the criticisms were
"unjustified,” Toelken says.
While he respects Fong for air
ing her dissatisfaction, Toelken
says he wonders why she didn't
first take her remarks to FES
professors so the courses could
be changed.
Fong critized one book Sher
man uses — "Custer Died For
Your Sins” — as being "stor
ylike" and in some way "diluting
or trivializing" ethnic studies,
Toelken says
Toelken defends use of the
book. The course is introduc
tory, and the book’s anecdotal
style may help professors "to
take a kid from Fossil, Oregon
and get him to start thinking
seriously about the problems of
ethnic minorities.”
Sherman isn’t using texts that
Emerald graphic
previous Ethnic Studies profes
sors haven’t used, he adds.
“That’s the way it’s always
been taught over the past
several years. To blame the
books on the instructor is un
justified."
But Hispanic Student Union
member Daniel Alvarado disa
grees with Toelken.
“Just because that's the way
it’s been done, doesn’t mean it
shouldn’t be changed,” Alvar
ado says. “If I do something
wrong, are you going to turn
around and do it too?”
Alvarado says he’s not
against merging the two disci
plines, but he opposes teaching
ethnic studies from a folklore
perspective, which he says
differs from ethnic studies.
“Folklore is the study of cul
House caucuses pick leaders
WASHINGTON (AP) - House
Democrats, having selected
their leaders for the coming
Congress, are turning their at
tention to proposed rules that
could pose problems for the
incoming administration of Pre
sident-elect Ronald Reagan.
But as the vote nears on
several of the proposals,
Democratic leaders are show
ing signs of a willingness to
compromise.
House Republicans, mean
while, were continuing their
own caucus after deciding
a series of close races for their
leadership jobs Monday.
The organizational caucuses,
composed of each party's
members in the new Congress,
spent most of Monday picking
leaders.
Democrats re-elected as their
candidate for House Speaker
Thomas O’Neill of Massachu
setts and for majority leader Jim
Wright of Texas. Rep. Thomas
Foley of Washington was ap
pointed to the whip position.
Republicans selected Rep.
Robert Michel of Illinois to be
minority leader and Rep. Trent
Lott of Mississippi as whip.
The Democrats are consider
ing a rule to limit a favorite tool
of conservatives — attaching
controversial legislation to
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Wright said there "may be some
reasonable accommodation we
can make” to curb the practice
ture. You can study Mexican
culture, but you won’t
understand the Chicano exper
ience.”
Toelken says a broader
definition of ethnicity, like the
one used in Sherman's ethnic
studies course, is important for
comparison and evaluation.
Toelken says he was dis
turbed by an announcement at
the meeting that the Asian
Pacific American Studies As
sociation, a national organiza
tion that promotes ethnic
studies, passed a resolution cri
ticizing the University's merger
of ethnic studies and folklore.
He says the executive secre
tary of the association told him
the ballots weren’t counted —
though the secretary said the
resolution looked like it would
pass — and that no one but the
A-PASA has authority to an
nounce passage of a resolution.
"I don’t think they meant to do
any damage, but by students
passing out the resolution they
threatened the existence of
ethnic studies,” Toelken says.
Acting Provost Richard Hill
says the program should be
given a chance.
“I believe it’s wise to give the
current arrangement a fair
trial,” Hill says. “I’m not sure the
various interested parties in
volved have come up with alter
natives.
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