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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1981)
Survey confirms ‘me-ism’ attitude by UAbKItL dUcHUER Of the Emerald Today’s college generation is uneducated, self-centered and headed for vocational disaster, according to a recent study released by the Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of teaching. Dr. Arthur Levine, the study’s author, coined the term "me ism" to describe the social blight afflicting students. University faculty and student leaders contacted Wednesday confirmed his suspicions. University journalism Prof. James Lemert, a public opinion expert, agreed with Levine's general diagnosis and remedy for this college generation. "This is a vocational, get-my slice-of-the-pie generation,” Lemert says. The Carnegie Foundation is a highly respected research insti tution, Lemert says, and we should pay attention to the study’s results. Lemert has observed that University students are overly concerned with the vocational aspect of education and have a “hyper-anxiety" about finding post-graduation employment. Students have a lack of inter est and an inability to “look beyond those blinders” to the academic aspect of their education, Lemert says. “Students have to acquire some skills in dealing with abstraction,” Lemert says. Lemert says academic train ing outlasts the rapidly changing vocational skills students are concerned about. Students without the "abstract skills” provided by a liberal arts education find it very hard to adapt to situations not structured to their vocational training, Lemert explains. "Abstractions are the kinds of things you can put in your pocket and carry with you,” Lemert says. ‘ Abstractions will not become irrelevant.” ESCAPE student director Jim Doty has a different perspective. He believes today’s college students have been mislabeled the "me generation.” “I don’t think it fits from what I see students doing,” Doty says. But he does agree students are concerned about post graduation employment. "It’s the get-a-haircut, get-a job mentality,” Doty quips. University students aren't do ing their own thinking in the classroom, Doty explains. Students can regurgitate what professors tell them into a bluebook, but they can’t do any thinking on their own, he says. However, the ESCAPE program forces students to do just that, he says. ESCAPE participants must set their own goals and objec tives and evaluate their learn ing, Doty explains. “You’d be surprised how many fourth-year students come up here and can’t do that,” Doty says. Today’s students are “spoon fed” motivation though grades and the promise of employment with a college degree, Doty adds. To bolster ridership LTD drops cost of bus tokens Lane Transit District bus rides will be 10 cents cheaper this summer under a discount program approved Tuesday by the LTO Board. The cost of tokens — bus passes purchased in advance and good for oneVide — will be 50 cents from June through August, a 10-cent savings from the regular per-ride price. The tokens now cost 55 cents. The board approved the rate reduction to help offset a drop in ridership since the district raised its rates last June. Board members hope the discount will entice more people to become regular bus riders. Tokens may be purchased at 7-11 stores, the EMU and other locations around town. The board also approved the comprehensive bus route redesign that staff members have been working on for the past 10 months. The new route system, which will be implemented in September, changes many of the current loop routes to line routes that provide more direct service to the downtown bus station. The new routes will be easier to adjust to meet changing ridership demand, LTD officials say, and will provide direct service to the Univer sity from southeast and southwest Eugene Riders to the University from those areas currently have to transfer buses downtown. LTD officials say the new routes will provide the same bus coverage — as measured by the number of households located within a quarter mile of a bus route — and will reduce travel time for rush-hour commuters. KINKO’S 4c Self Service COPIES • Binding • Two-sided copies • Reductions 344-7894 764 E. 13th LOW COST SPAY & NEUTER CLINIC, P.C. at Eugene Animal Hospital, P.C. 1399 Franklin, across from the University Call 342-1178 for appointments and information Charges: $12.50 Male Cat & $25.00 Male Dog; $25.00 Female Cat & $35.00 Female Dog (6-7 mo. old & up to 40 lbs.; Bigger or older call for estimate). Price includes a complete exam by a veterinarian, general anesthetic, sterile surgery, and suture removal and one night of hospitalization for females. Member American Animal Hospital Association People are so busy getting a degree they don't have time to get an education,” Doty says. "There is little intrinsic motiva tion in students.” Another perspective on Levine s results is offered by University economics Prof. Ed Whitelaw. Whitelaw says the truth is many students who turned away from the group-orientation of the 1960s to return to the establishment short-changed themselves in excluding the liberal arts from their education. Whitelaw says those who went to school for marketable skills excluded the enriching part of their education that would be more valuable to them 10 years down the road. That’s one vote in favor of Levine's conclusions, one against, and one non-partisan explanation. ASUO President Dave Eaton casts his vote in favor of Levine Eaton says the description of IB00@0@®00@00KQ0 i today s University students as the "me-generation” is accurate. But it’s not Levine's descrip tion that angers him. “The fact that’s the way students are makes me angry.” As a case in point, Eaton says it was difficult to convince University students to lobby for higher education at the Legisla ture. “Ten years ago it wouldn't have taken anything to get them out in the streets." Faced with economic pres sures, Eaton says students “have to spend more time on surviving." Eaton agrees with the study's conclusion that student government is the most power ful group on campus — because that is the group that controls student money. But he says the real power of the ASUO lies in its lobbying efforts for higher education funding at the Legislature. 0 &<V\kisfiWan >55r wan barbecue ” "CnfiVa/l< /-VIf/oron# /'nn/'n/v Dinner Hours: Sunday-Thursday 5:30-9 Friday & Saturday 5:30-10 Entirely different concept in Chinese dining" Light Dinner Specials - $5.95 Sunday through Thursday Full Service Dining Dinner Music Wed.-Sat., from 6:30 W 7th & Blair Reservations 687-2130 The toughest job you’ll ever love We admit it. It takes a different kind of person to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. We won't mislead you with glowing pictures of exotic lands. The hours as a volun teer are long. The pay is modest. And the frustrations sometimes seem overwhelming. But the satisfactions and rewards are immense. You'll be immersed in a new culture, become fluent in a new language, and learn far more about yourself than you ever expected. You'll also discover that progress in the Peace Corps is measured in small accom plishments. Such as rural health clinics established in Kenya. -Irrigation systems built ir Upper Volta. Fresh-water fish ponds started in the Philippines. The progress may seem modest, but to people in developing nations who have never before had clean drinking water, basic health care, or enough to eat, the Peace Corps brings a message of hope and change. We invite you to look into the volunteer opportunities beginning this year in 65 developing nations. See our representatives for details. uv. •Viupmg nauuio *viiu lid VC PEACE CORPS INFORMATION BOOTH: Apr. 28-May 1 EMU Lobby, 9 am - 4 pm FILM & SEMINAR Apr. 29 Noon - 1:30 pm EMU, Rm 108 INTERVIEWS: (By Appointment) Apr. 29-May 1 Sign up in advance at Career Planning Office Susan Campbell Hall
