C-4?
Vol 53, No 7
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Tuesday, July 14, 1981
CALC blasts
eviction rule
By HEIDI SWILLINGER
OMha Emaraid
Controversy continues over the evic
tion of Clergy and Laity Concerned and
the Coalition Opposing Registration and
the Draft from the Koinonia Center
CORD member Christina Cowger says
motivation for the eviction is largely
political She claims John Skillern, a
board member of University Christian
Properties, which owns the Koinonia
Center, told her that "Philosophically,
your activities don't meet with the pur
poses of the building "
Skillern says Cowger is "making
something more out of this than there
is " He says the two anti-draft groups
were asked to leave simply because
"The Methodists are leaving the Wesley
Center and they need the space "
But according to Wesley Center board
member John Sherwood, "We have no
commitment to go into Koinonia There
have been discussions, but there has
been no definite decision to move "
Skillern says former UCP board
member Doug Huneke advised the board
at a June 3 meeting that the Methodists
wanted to rent the center.
However Robert Harland, a Wesley
Center board representative, says dis
cussion with Huneke about the possibili
ty of the move was only of an explora
tory nature " Huneke, who moved to
California three weeks ago, could not be
reached for comment
"The original intent of the Koinonia
Center was for that to be a collective
religious center tor various ministries on
campus," says UCP board member Cal
Zigler "When the Methodists indicated
they were interested in officing there,
that was a priority item ”
He says the Methodists were offered
the basement area that CORD was using
but that because it "was unsatisfactory
to them," the UCP board voted to ask
CALC to leave
Why then, if the Methodists were unin
terested in the basement area, was
CORD evicted9
UCP board members Zigler and Sue
Gordon do not recall having discussed
asking CORD to leave at the June 3
Continued on Page 2
Photo by Erich Boekelhetde
Lookin' good
An Oregon Country Fair performer makes sure he is dressed for the occasion,
bringing back memories of a bygone decade He was only one of the thousands
of people who turned out over the weekend for the Fair. See pages 6 and 7 for
photos of the Fair as well as the Emerald Empire Round-Up.
Levy defeat
hurts area
Lane County and Eugene public ser
vice programs already are feeling the
effects of last week’s special budget
election.
Taxpayers voted down the county’s
proposed $1.6 million tax levy, causing
the loss of 30 public safety workers,
including 13 uniformed officers and
seven detectives
Marcia Morgan, community relations
director for the sheriff's office, says
several services will be reduced or
eliminated, such as the investigation of
minor or non-injury traffic accidents,
removal of abandoned vehicles from
highways, assistance in recoveries of
lost or stolen bicycles, and response to
residential and business burglar alarms.
“We're trying to shift people around
and cover as much as possible,” Morgan
says
The defeat of Eugene’s Tier II levy, a
$1 3 million supplement to the city’s core
budget, affects 27 services and 11 capi
tal projects, says Carol Baker, public
information officer for the city.
"They were all things that would have
improved or extended services we have
already,” Baker says.
Tier II benefits included money for 19
playground programs for next summer,
residential street lights — as well as lights
along bike paths — and materials and
training for a 24-member police reserve
force
The housing program for the low in
come and elderly will continue to operate
on a diminished budget, Baker says.
However, the city will be unable to
acquire land for a new fire station in
South Eugene and there will be no mon
ey available for designing and engineer
ing a proposed station on Polk Street
The Eugene Public Library was hit
particularly hard by the levy failure
“The part that concerns us most is the
book budget,” says Helen Howard, as
sistant city librarian “We lost $29,000
below last year's book budget in Tier II,”
plus $45,000 that would have covered
inflation and population growth in the
1981-82 fiscal year, she says
As a result, Howard says reserve lists
will be longer
Profs agree students don’t write ‘real good’
By ANN PORTAL
Of Iha EmtriM
Editor's note This is the
second of a three-part series
examining a renewed emphasis
on student writing abilities
Do University students write
good9
No — they don't even write
well
Student writing has shown
little improvement since it
began to decline 10 years ago,
professors agree The student
who understands agreement,
tenses, parts of speech and
diction still is the exception, not
the rule
However, professors now are
well aware of the problems the
literary crisis can cause
students at a liberal arts univer
sity But professors say they are
helping students with writing
problems that should have been
solved long before students
enter college
Most professors agree that
the crisis grows from roots that
lie deep in the educational sys
tem — Johnny passes through
primary and secondary school
without ever encountering
grammar
"The vast majority of students
who come to us don't have the
faintest idea how to put sen
tences together," says Jack
Hart, acting journalism dean
Even if grammar is introduced
in the curriculum, the acquain
tance may be so brief that
Johnny soon forgets the exper
ience
"I think they're getting it
(grammar instruction) again,
but you can't depend on what
they're getting," says John
Gage, assistant English profes
sor
Hart says the problem begins
with grammar and high-school
teachers who have graduated
under writing requirements that
were relaxed at universities
during the 60s and 70s
The teachers can’t write, he
says, but most will retain their
tenured positions for years, en
suring that future generations of
students won’t receive the writ
ing instruction they need
"We've dug ourselves a damn
deep hole," he says
Poor writing skills handicap
University students in a number
of ways, says Kathleen Dubs,
assistant English professor and
director of competition
Students who are aware of
their poor skills may avoid
courses where they have to
write, she says Or if they take
the courses anyway, their
grades may be lower just
because they can’t express
their ideas
”1 had one student say to me,
I'm getting Cs when I should be
getting Bs because of my writ
ing,' ” Dubs says "And she
was right "
History professor Gustave
Alef says 33 to 50 percent of his
freshmen history class inevita
bly flunks the first exam, largely
because of poor writing Alef
says that he and his three GTFs
must correct each exam for
grammar and spelling
"Who ever heard of this
nonsense?" he says
Alef says students in his up
per-level courses have better
writing skills, but that may be
due to a natural selection
process Students hear through
the grapevine about courses
that require writing and may
decide not to take those
courses, he says.
Hart says journalism profes
sors now must spend a majority
of their time teaching mechan
ics, which means students with
potential don't get the attention
they deserve
He also objects to well
trained, well-paid professors
using their time to teach writing
But Dubs says many profes
sors don't spend time helping
students with their writing He
estimates that 7 out of 10 in
structors will not assume any
responsibility for student writing
in their courses
Part of the problem is that
many disciplines assume com
munication simply is a process
of getting information across, so
the student is not rewarded for
saying what he has to say well,
Gage says