opinion
greg wesson
a quorum of one
It being Friday afternoon, Angus Duedaw
unabashedly ordered up a pitcher and prepared to
reflect on his first week as a member of the Senate
floor staff. Loosening his tie, he conjured up
images of his first morning. .
The five-block stroll to work led Angus
through the capitol mall. The immaculate lawns,
blossoming trees and cascading fountains
provides a picture-postcard setting for Oregon’s
legislative headquarters.
The front stairway and the inner lobby are
lined with murals and quotations designed to
guide the lawmakers as they debate weighty
issues like the memorial congratulating OSU
basketball coach Ralph Miller.
The first scene shows a pioneer family staring
off into the horizon, obviously excited by the
prospects of life in the lush wonderland. "Valiant
men have thrust our frontiers to the setting sun,”
declare the accompanying words.
Stirring, thought Angus. But it seems wrong to
have the trio facing to the East. Guees that’s just a
picky detail, though.
The three revolving doors that form the front
entrance empty into a domed lobby where echos
abound. The Sunset Swing Chior, looking re
splendent in their snappy pink outfits, mount the
risers as Angus passes under the phrase that is to
stay in his mind: “In the souls of it’s citizens will be
found the likeness of the state.”
In other words, the government will only
reflect the dominant traits of the governed. Given
the military posture of their current leaders, the
words form a damning indictment of the American
people. Is it really hard to understand why Reagan
was shot? As Angus begins to negotiate the
stairway to the second floor, he notices a reporter
coming toward him wearing a peace button and a
stars-and-stripes tie. The combination seems
incongruous and Angus can’t resist commenting.
“It’s quite simple,” explains the journalist.
“Warmongers don't have a corner on patriotism.
One doesn’t have to be anti-American to argue
that we shouldn't slaughter people.
“But, don’t expect any slack from the other
side. It makes me angry when Right thinkers
suggest I go to Russia. What the statement ig
nores is that I was born here as much as they were
and I’ve got every right to try and steer the country
my way.”
Angus speeds away from the muttering
reporter, left with just enough time to report on
schedule. However, his best intentions flutter
away as he passes a television report on the space
shuttle’s landing. As the gigantic glider touches
down, Angus agrees with his neighbor that this
proves once again that America is the best, that it
is God’s country.
As Angus enters the Senate chamber, he
realizes that he had the same sense of self-fulfill
ment when a group of highly paid athletes from
Southern California and the East Coast won the
NBA title for the Trailblazers. Even though his only
contribution was financial and all the decisions
were made without his counsel, the event
somehow increases his self-esteem.
vours
The great Gaske
On a rainy afternoon recently in a small
room tucked away in Villard Hall, an
announcement was made to a few
individuals that brought a lump to each
of their throats. That announcement was
made by a man who will remain in our
hearts always; that man is Paul Gaske,
Director of Forensics at the University of
Oregon. Paul has officially resigned for
personal and career reasons.
We are shocked by this news. How
ever, we are consoled by the fact that his
decision was based on the inspiration
that students in the U of O forensics
program gave him. Three years ago, Paul
Gaske came to this institution with an
almost non-existent forensics program
and built it up to the high standing it has
today (nationally rated in the top 2 per
cent).
Although we are not among some of
the more fortunate few to have been with
Paul for three years, within one year we
have come to love, respect, and learn a
great deal from this man. Surely Oregon
owes much to this man, much more than
anyone can ever hope to repay. The
department will be hard-pressed to refill
his shoes, but the program and the
speech squad will not die. We are now
moved to strive more than ever to main
tain what Paul has worked so hard to
build. We will miss you, Paul, but all of us
that know you will carry your spunk and
spirit with us wherever we go. Good luck
in San Deigo!
Dawn Knudsen
Sophomore, telecommunications
Lew Evans
Junior, economics
Facts twisted
I accept the principle that any real
newspaper must give its own indepen
dent version of the news it reports. I am
sure that this was what your reporter was
trying to do in the April 13 article on my
course about the economics of dis
crimination
However, readers of the Emerald (and
especially those who know me) should
be told that the reporter has turned most
of the facts and my interpretation of them
upside down in her report The statistic
“worth exploring" on which most of the
article was based really shows that
women workers earn a smaller propor
A
MOST OF US IN THIS ROOM ARE JUST TYPICAL AMERICANS BRIMMING OVER WITH
ENTHUSIASM ABOUT PRES. REAGAN’S TAX PLAN”
tion of men's earning today than they
earned, not only in 1969 but even earlier.
As I then pointed out, this statistic is
commonly used to argue that discrimin
ation against women is greater than it
was 10 or 20 or even 40 years ago My
point to the interviewer was that one
needs to analyze such aggregate aver
age data very carefully before one
accepts the conclusions about increas
ing discrimination
Discrimination can be an important
explanation of inter-group differences in
earnings but it is by no means the only
such explanation. One could, for exam
ple, argue that the recent sharp increase
in women’s participation in the labor
force has resulted in a loss (not a gain as
reported in the article) in both the aver
age skill level and seniority of women
workers.
Finally, I tried to point out that a more
useful comparison could be made by
looking at the earnings of women (or
blacks) and those of white males by
matching those being compared on
characteristics affecting earnings other
than sex or race. Some recent studies
folowing this procedure do suggest a
decline in discrimination. But it is a fact
that earnings differentials by race or sex
do exist. For policy decisions, however, it
is very important that we know why they
exist
Robert Campbell
Professor of Economics
etters poicy
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