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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1981)
Vol. 83, No 17 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Monday, September 28, 1981 Registration hassles face computer crowd Although nearly every student faced some frustrating hang-up during the two days of class registration, computer science hopefuls may have gotten the worst of it Friday, at about noon, a crowd of angry, frustrated and disappointed students milled around the computer science table in Mac Arthur Court Taped to a post was a large sign with a clear message 'All sections of CIS 201 are closed.” "I'm screwed." one student said Others around her apparently shared the same sentiment According to, Steve Hedetniemi, computer and information science deparment chairman, CIS 201 — a prerequisite for computer science courses — was nearly full by the end of Thursday registration By nine o'clock Friday morning, the class was closed By 11 o'clock, all other sections were closed "Fortran closed yesterday," Hedetniemi said. "We may have shut out 150 to 200 potential majors "This has never happened before ” Students who did not enroll in CIS 201 will have to wait a full year before the class is offered again Hedetniemi said there was some talk about offering the class winter term, but limited staff and resources have put a damper on that possibility “If we let in these hoards of people the entire center would have to shut down," he said Hedetniemi said the list wouldn't help much. "Anyone who is serious about studying computer science isn't going to drop a class They're too hard to get." The run on computer science classes is a result of the growing use of computers in business, Hedetniemi says More people want to get computer science degrees because the demand for trained operators is high and high-paying jobs are abundant "It has been estimated that by the year 2,000 the United States will have a deficit of 1 million computer operators," Hedetniemi says Currently, only 10,000 computer science bachelor’s degrees are awarded annually The single CIS 201 class offered by the University is limited to 320 students, a figure Hedetniemi says may already be too high "So what we have is an inherent problem with providing enough resources," Hedetniemi says The University's computer system will not be able to handle the current number of registered students, he says If I'm going to teach you to be a programmer, how can I if you're one of 300 students?" Environmental law clinic controversy still rages By DEBBIE HOWLETT Of lha Emerald The controversy surrounding the University’s environmental law clinic is apparently far from resolved When law students supporting the clinic left for summer vacation, they felt assured the clinic would still be at the University when they re turned But that assurance has been shaken At a June 26 meeting of the State Board of Higher Education, University Pres Paul Olum proposed that a part of the clinic, the Pacific Northwest Resource Center, be moved off cam pus. Olum went on to suggest that environmental law clinic students seek internships with PNRC, but in order for the University to remain neutral in matters of public policy, the PNRC would have to be kept at arms-length from the law school In the past the clinic has been accused of using state funds to attack the lumber industry Most of the arms-length reasoning stems from the fact that the PNRC gets most of its operating funds from the National Wildlife Feder ation, a pro-conservation agency Law students say moving PNRC off campus could endanger the entire environmental law clinic If the PNRC has to move off campus then the National Wildlife Federation will pull their money out,’’ says Holly Hummel, a law student who directed a petition drive to keep the clinic at the law school. "It seems like we re being censored " Olum disagrees Hummel along with law students Ellen Men doza and Charles Landman began circulating a petition among law students to persuade Olum that the PNRC should remain on campus The trio claims that 85 percent of the law students have endorsed their position. But PNRC’s funding source is not the students' only concern There is a general feeling that without the support of the PNRC, the reputa tion of the Law School would diminish greatly The controversy began when the the envir onmental law clinic appealed an environmental impact statement prepared by the Forest Service on the South Fork of Idaho's Salmon River Clinic students intervened on behalf of the Idaho Wild life Federation, which claimed that the statement was inadequate This situation, coupled with an investigation by the clinic of the non-use of recycled paper by the General Services Administration as required by law, has raised the ire of many private business owners. Hummel, Mendoza and Landman claim that the University and Olum are being persuaded by financial pressure from private intrests. Landman was apparently referring to Eugene businessman Aaron Jones, who added a new dimension to the controversy by considering a withdrawl of his $250,000 pledge towards a new University basketball arena unless the PNRC moved to an off-campus location. Jones owns the Seneca Sawmill Company Acting University Provost Richard Hill re sponded by asserting: “This University is not for sale." Olum told the State Board of Higher Educa tion he could not make the decision to move the center unilaterally, and said he would have to give the administration, faculty and students at the Law School an opportunity to discuss it and to present their own views. Olum has scheduled a forum with law school students for October 14. The students argue that there art pro grams at Oregon State University and elsewhere that directly benefit private business and industry. They say that this shows a lack of neutrality at the university level. But since these programs benefit business and provide relatively inexpensive means of research they are allowed to continue. “This is just not logical," Mendoza says. “It’s ignoring the contribution that business puts into the University and calling improper the contribu tion that conservation orginizations put into it.” The students don’t necessarily disagree, but they feel that without the PNRC the environmental law clinic either will become ineffective or will disappear from the curriculum entirerly — devestating the environmental law program Mendoza adds: “The real impropriety is in trying to channel the point of view that is taught. That applies to the campus as a whole " Airline fares to increase Thursday If you think you can put off buying airline tickets for Christ mas break like you can put off writing term papers, you'd better think again According to University area travel agents, students would be wise to make travel arrange ments immediately in order to beat the Christmas travel rush and to take advantage of low fares “It’s always best to buy your tickets early,'' says Kim Murray, manager of University Travel “Even if the prices should go down, you can get a refund on the difference ” Beginning Thursday, round trip excursion fares, also known as super savers, on flights from Portland to the East Coast and the Midwest will increase dramatically, though exceptions will be made for flights made before Dec. 15 — Tuesday of finals week But even for flights before Dec 15 reservations should be made now to assure seating on return flights Return flights to Eugene from major cities between Jan 2-4 are filling up fast, says Eugene Travel agent Debra Nystrom “If you're flexible and rea sonable enough, you can get a flight," Nystrom says "But it’s important to talk to us soon." Now through Wednesday, United and Northwest airlines offer a round-trip night flight from Portland to major East Coast cities for $358 Starting Thursday the fare will increase to $420 For students going to Chicago, a round-trip night flight from Portland before Thursday will cost $288 After that it could be as high as $459 Flying out of Eugene is sub stantially more expensive than flying out of Portland United Airlines offers a round-trip excursion fare from Eugene to 14 East Coast cities for $450 For students flying on the West Coast, Republic Airlines offers a ‘‘Saturday Special'' round-trip fare from Eugene to Seattle for $120 Starting Thursday, United will offer one-way "Friendship Ex press" service from Eugene to San Francisco for $79 The nor mal fare is $139 United also will have a one way fare from Portland to Los Angeles for $99 For more information contact Eugene Travel at 687-2823 or University Travel at 683-5577
