Oregon daily emerald., April 22, 1981, Section A, Page 4, Image 4

opinion_
A second chance for state board
It had all the trappings of a first class bur
eaucratic snafu.
The Oregon State Board of Higher Education
placed appearances above substance at its March
meeting. It refused to approve two proposals that
would have improved Oregon higher education —
not because they would cost anything, but bec
ause it might look like the board was being less
than frugal.
Good motives. Bad move.
Fortunately, the board can reverse the
thumbs-down sign and undo the damage Friday
when the board meets at Oregon College of
Education in Monmouth.
The two proposals considered at the March
27 meeting — one for a computer science doctoral
program here at the University, one for part-time,
off-campus, OSU-based liberal arts courses in
Bend — were turned down because the board
feared initiating such new programs might give
the Legislature the idea that Oregon higher
education was not completely paralyzed.
Both proposals locked at a 4-4 tie, and board
president Ed Harms cast the deciding vote. When
Harms later wanted to reconsider the proposals,
his motion failed.
But the proposals are back on the docket this
week.
In times that must certainly be considered a
watershed, the board is understandably con
cerned with its image. But Oregon’s students and
administrators don’t need to dress in tattered rags
and beg on the corner to convince the Legislature
that higher education is dirt poor.
The danger is in being too careful, too con
servative, too worried about finances and forget
ting about students and learning.
Putting on the ritz would be one thing. But
displaying organizational creanviiy ana aamm
istrative innovation is exactly what the board
needs to do. It must demonstrate that no matter
what, Oregonians have a firm conviction in the
value — and the resilience — of higher education.
The board should be telling the Legislature:
“Look, we need a lot more money. But we’re going
to do the best we can with what we have."
Not: “We aren’t going to do anything else until
we get more money.”
Making the right choices — and changes — is
exactly what the board needs to do. The board
needs to demonstrate that they — as Oregon
Senate president Fred Heard, D-Klamath Falls,
says — aren’t willing to “president over the
dismantling of Oregon higher education.”
Yeah, it’s all about sending signals to Salem
— sending the right signals.
We hope the board recognizes that. And
makes amends Friday.
vours
Jesus, 33, dead
The following obituary could have
appeared in a Jerusalem newspaper
shortly after the death of the man called
Jesus.
Jesus of Nazareth died by crucifixion
last Friday evening outside Jerusalem on
a hillside called Golgotha. He was 33.
Jesus was born during the reign of
Herod the Great, in Bethlehem. He
moved with his parents to Nazareth,
where he studied theology and
carpentry. At age 30, Jesus left Nazareth
and traveled throughout Galilee, Judea
and Samaria. During the last three years
of his life, he taught his personal
theology of unconditional love through
out the region
Jesus was acknowledged widely for
his authoritative style of speech and his
unsurpassed knowledge of religious
doctrine. In addition to his scholarhsip,
he was known for insight into the basic
human needs and for the ability to meet
these needs in miraculous ways. Jesus
was reported to have returned sight to
the blind, healed the crippled and fed
thousands of people with a handful of
bread and fish.
Controversy surrounded Jesus bec
ause of his criticism of prominent
religious officials, because of his teach
ing on love and because of his claim of
divinity. Although complaints about Je
sus' activities in Jerusalem could not be
substantiated, legal authorities, under
pressure from the religious community,
convicted Jesus and sentenced him to
death
Jesus' claim of power over life and
death prompted legal and religious of
ficials to cancel funeral services and
proceed immediately with the burial.
Jesus was buried in a tomb of solid rock
outside Jerusalem. A squad of officers
will guard the tomb to prevent the pos
sibility of further disturbance.
Editor’s note: This paper has recently
become aware of reports that the body of
Jesus of Nazareth disappeared Sunday.
Although officials could not be reached
for comment, this paper intends to in
vestigate the incident.
What do you think?
Dave Kao
Journalism
Idealist bull
Re Jerry L Peyton's letter (ODE 4/1)
in which he insists — in essence — that
capitalism is God's gift to the working
class:
Point one: Just as there are elements
of the petty bourgeoisie who take up a
working class position politically, there
“WAR MAY BE HELL ... BUT PEACETIME IS GREAT”
are also, unfortunately, a few people
from working class backgrounds who
consciously sell out. This is not simple
ignorance, but malicious idiocy and
moral cretinism. Marxists call Peyton’s
ideological position "class collabora
tion”; such ideological panderers are
often well-rewarded by the interests
which they serve (as for example, Eric
Hoffer has been).
Point two: Because Peyton’s position
is demonstrably sheer nonsense, he re
sorts to vague, abstract moralizing about
"free enterprise" (apparently not having
heard of monopoly capitalism). The one
thing he does not, will not and cannot do,
is to offer evidence to back up his rhe
toric. On the other hand, I — and many
others — can provide stacks of empir
ically verifiable data to prove that capita
lism is, in fact, a death machine at home
as well as abroad (imperialism).
Some of us, of course, don't need such
data — e g., the families and friends of
the 15 coal miners whose bodies were
just recovered from the Dutch Creek
mine in Colorado. (Isn’t it strange that
this wonderful capitalist system can put
men on the moon, but can do nothing to
stop the slaughter of the very people
whose work provides the wealth with
which to finance the space program?) In
fact, Mr Peyton, your glorious capitalist
system is at this very moment attacking
what few gains have been made in in
dustrial safety regulations and workers’
compensation.
Really, whom are you trying to kid?
Yourself — to justify your desire to join
the slave masters? Me — third generation
organized labor (former member of CWA
and AFSCME), an individual whose
father and grandfather (not to mention
numerous other relatives and friends)
were victims of serious industrial
accidents? Or is it the bulk of the univer
sity’s students and faculty, petty bour
geoise who’ve had no direct experience
of blue-collar life?
For anyone who is honetly ignorant
(and God knows this system does every
thing it can to keep people ignorant) I
will be happy to provide a bibliography of
sources that substantiate my position.
And, by the same token, if anyone wants
to challenge this letter, please do so with
facts and figures (sources cited), and not
with any more mindless idealist bullshit.
Cathi beavers
Sophomore, anthropology
Impure motives?
Recently the Register-Guard pub
lished a letter I wrote addressing charges
of discrimination at the University Law
School. A fellow law student, Brenda
Brainard, responded critically in your
April 17 issue. Unfortunately, she was
either unable or unwilling to correctly
paraphrase the contents of my letter
forcing this response.
For the benefit of those who don’t read
the Guard, I never stated that “minorities
always file discrimination suits when they
do not achieve a desired goal,’’ as
Brainard maintained. Nor did I state that
“no discrimination exists at the law
school.”
I did cite several instances in which
racism at the law school was alleged. I
argued that while it was possible that the
law school was racist, “A more plausible
conclusion is that some members of
disadvantaged groups. . . feel they are
owed not only a fair chance to succeed,
but also a guarantee of success.” Con
tinuing, I suggested that when such an
individual gets bad grades or is fired, the
response is likely to be the charge of
discrimination and a possible lawsuit.
Brainard simply refuses to consider
the possibility that allegations of racism
could be based on anything but the
purest of motives, and dismisses my
supporting examples as “sweeping gen
eralizations and inaccuracies.” Perhaps
she should reconsider one such exam
ple, the case of Ron Griffin. A black man
who taught at the law school several
years ago, Griffin was told that due to his
teaching performance, he would not be
rehired. Raising the cry of “racism,” he
sued the University. In a decision handed
down last week, a U S. District Court
soundly rejected Griffin’s allegations.
David B. Peters
Third year, law
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