opinion_
Save $3 a term;
lose an infirmary
Congratulations, University students. You’ve saved
yourselves $3 a term next year. That’s a grand total of $9.
But you’re out a hospital.
The student health center will continue to treat student
ailments. Doctors and nurses will keep taking temperatures
and blood samples. But the center is closing its hospital
facilties, and won’t serve those who need more than an
immediate prescription or a bandage.
For students requiring hospitalization, that means there
will be no security blanket. If you’re sick next year, you’ll have
to find — and somehow pay for — another hospital.
It appears the closure of the infirmary was inevitable.
Use has dwindled to the point where the administrators
couldn’t balance costs against patients served. The decision
to close was their only option.
When health center director James Jackson announced
the closing of the student infirmary, he stressed that now
more than ever students need to be covered by an adequate
health care plan. That’s at least $120 a year. But most
student budgets just aren’t healty enough to survive the
cost of traditional hospitalization.
Student insurance policies were always valuable,
Jackson said. Now they’re invaluble.
So students have saved $9. And lost a hospital.
Some deal.
vours
Ramp(ant) naivete
Adding a little to the article on Faller’s
charge of the University discriminating
against handicapped people, I would like
to charge the ones responsible for the
execution of the University program with
naivete.
I suspect that the inaccessiblity of
Volcanology would have gone unnoticed
for years, possibly until the replacement
of the building
To the amazement of the resident
geologists in Volcanology, a wheelchair
ramp was installed at the beginning of
the year.
Volcanology is used by geologists only
(disregarding about five physicists in the
basement on a special project), and the
equipment is operated by a restricted
number of people anyway. There are no
more than five or six people who may
operate the electron microprobe on their
own! Other people usually have their
samples analyzed.
Stairs pose so little problems to people
who are able to do geologic field work,
that the only regular user of the
wheelchair ramp is a lazy geologist who
likes to ride his bike right into his office
instead of carrying it up a few stairs.
Nikolaus von Bargen
Graduate, geology
Witch way?
As one of the Christians present at the
presentation by Robert Artison, self
styled “witch," at the University May 20,1
must mention the following points. The
conduct of the individuals outside the
door does not represent all the Chris
tians who were present. Certainly not
many of us who were inside the meeting.
Our purpose was not to condemn,
“burn’’ Mr. Artison, or to disrupt his
presentation We came to speak the
Truth in love and share Christ as an
alternative to the occult. I came to faith in
the person of Jesus Christ after several
years in the the occult. I feel therefore
that it is very important to speak out and
share concerning the spiritually
deceptive nature of various forms of the
occult including witchcraft As Chris
tians, we had a right also to answer many
of the deliberately false statements and
attacks made by Mr Artison on what he
characterizes as “Christianity.” Mr Arti
son is free to speak, to preach his
“Wicca” religion and even recruit
members for his church or '‘coven.” He
is not free to attack, defame, and
misrepresent the Christian faith without
being answered! Christians should do
this in a spirit of love, and not of self
righteousness! Mr. Artison, I pray that
you will come out of your witchcraft to
saving faith in Jesus Christ!
Michael E. Kerns
Northwest Christian College
Sexist lyrics
I am writing in response to the letter by
Christian Gunther appearing in the
Emerald June 2.
Mr. Gunther, I have a question for you.
If you are so "painfully aware of the
oppression women fall prey to in our
society," why do you fail to mention the
blatantly sexist lyrics of many of the other
songs performed at the folk festival, in
particular those performed by men?
Women have been the subjects of in
numerable popular songs which
perpetuate the violence and oppression
which are intregal parts of our lives. What
about these songs? I think it is wonderful
that you have rejected these "inhumane
norms," now how about doing someth
ing about it from your end I find it quite
disturbing that men like yourself are
quick to notice and target songs like "We
Don’t Need Men,” which was one of
perhaps 100 songs performed at the folk
festival Did it deflate your male ego?
After years of Rolling Stones music,
such as “Under My Thumb,” "Brown
Sugar,” and "Honky Tonk Woman,” not
to mention "When the Whip Comes
Down," I found "We Don’t Need Men"
quite refreshing.
Themes in most music written and
performed by men such as “Music to
Watch Girls By," and Rod Stewart's song
centering on a young woman losing her
virginity, in my opinion constitute sexist
violence against women They degrade
us and reduce us to nothing but sexual
objects
You stated that being a man who
doesn’t share these sexist veiws, you felt
prompted to speak out, well how about
speaking out to other men about this
depiction of women. How about men
taking on this problem instead of
targeting songs by women such as "We
Don’t Need Men."
I also believe women and men must
work together to end the oppression of
all people. Perhaps this will happen
sooner if men learn to quit exploiting
women, then we can build for a united
revolution that will smash the oppressive
forces of imperialism, colonialism and
fascism.
Maggie Riddle
Senior, English
‘Don’t get caught’
The code of student conduct defines
cheating as "dishonesty.” However, in
Morton’s article concerning student
cheating June 2, Vernon Barkhurst
advises students to go the contested
hearing route if they (students) don’t
think their guilt can be proven.” So any
seventh-grader would reread this
statement as: Cheating/dishonesty is
O.K., if you don’t get "caught.”
Steven Ingham
Math / psychology
Help the cause?
Unfortunately, it is up to me to let
people know some of what happened in
Salem last Thursday. In the process of
visiting the legislature to plead our case
for funding higher education, I was sur
prised and embarrassed to find that the
organization of appointments was sadly
lacking. One secretary said she had
never been contacted. Two others had
been called but the appointments had
never been confirmed Needless to say,
we did not get to speak to these legisla
tors.
The last, however, was most
embarrassing. We arrived at Rep Paul
Hanneman’s office at the appropriate
time according to the schedule. His
personal secretary approached us with a
pad and pen demanding information:
who were we, where were we from, what
did we want and, of all things, who is Rich
Wilkins? She explained that an
appointment had been made by Rich for
the previous Thursday and that
Hanneman had set aside a full hour to
speak with students from his district
(none of us were from Tillamook). Of
course, no one had called to say we
couldn’t make it or to apologize On top
of it all, when the secretary called the
University information she was told that
no one by the name of Rich Wilkins was
on any of the student, staff or faculty
listings and apparently he had nothing to
do with the University. After many
apologies, Hanneman agreed to hear us,
and in fact spent 45 minutes debating
with us. I can't help but feel that this kind
of fuck up does not make the people who
count sympathetic to our cause.
Melissa Herron
Undeclared
Victim of stats
The student infirmary has been killed
by statistics. At an average of three
students a day for overnight care, 217
days of the year, the cost would be about
$260,400 in a local hospital, a figure
greater than the $200,000 quoted as the
cost for maintaining the infirmary
service. This $260,400 does not include
the many dollars saved by the students
receiving after-hours emergency care for
lacerations, eye injuries, acute illness,
and the list goes on. All of these services
would continue for only three more
dollars a term per student. The student
health insurance premium will un
doubtedly increase with the increased
cost of usage of local hospital
emergency services and inpatient care.
In the past, the policy decision for
student health care has been decided by
informed students in a general election.
The closure is a national trend to axe
humanitarian services because of “cost
effective" statistics and analysis which
carry no human factor. Do we close
down our fire departments and hosptical
emergency rooms during low utilization
hours? Rest and supportive medical
/nursing care speeds recovery time and
helps prevent complications. Effective
infectious disease control will be que
stionable without the infirmary services
The staff of the health center infirmary
is concerned about the health needs of
the students. Many of us object to the
unprofessional tactics of the current
medical administration We are
saddened by the arbitrary collection and
analysis of statistics and lack of com
munication with the college community
and health center staff.
Marian Davidson
Registered nurse