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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1981)
opinion_ Olum’s inaugural comes at tough time Paul Olum will be formally inaugurated as the thirteenth president of the University Sunday The ceremony — weather permitting — is scheduled to be held in the Old Campus Quadrangle near Deady and Villard halls The inaugural and pre-inaugural activites Sa turday are open to the public That means every student can — and should — attend Olum takes charge of the University at a time when the future of higher education is uncertain All over the state system colleges and universities are on the verge of what is called "financial exigency”. In layman's terms that's bankruptcy. Survivial of quality education at the University is the main concern of Olum and his administration It will be the toughest test of his tenure in office Olum. in reference to Portland State University declaring financial exigency, has come out with statements stridently resisting this for the Univer sity. “It’s a pretty strong action — a public announ cement to the academic world that you’ve broken faith I would like to resist doing that,” Olum said There have been several editorials written lately concerning the pros and cons of fair share in the University Classified Contract As president of the OPEU Local 085 I. too, support fair share Aside from my personal views, I support it because of what went into negotiating it into the collective bargaining agreement When I went around campus last spring to discuss negotiations with OPEU members, their biggest com plaint was that they were stuck footing the bill for everyone Fair share wasn't put into this contract by accident, it was put there by membership involvement When I hear non-members say they want a choice I answer them in the following way You had a choice during negotiations and you chose to sit on the other side of the table If those of you who are fighting to deauthorize fair share had put your energy into negotiations every classified employee would have benefited If you disagree with the law, change the law Don't attack those who must adhere to it Fair share choice Beckie Bragg President, OPEU Local 085 a neerer nafjiessness On the subject of legalization of marijuana I d like to relate an incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago The story is true, but in fairness to those involved all names have been omitted Once there was a young man with a master's degree in music and a secondary teaching certificate, who loved nothing in the world better than leading marching bands He had a nice job in a nice city and was doing very well Unfortunately, the band leader was seen one evening at a party where some of his students were using the demon weed Since there was no evidence that he had partaken, the records were closed and he was asked to seek a new position Being an excellent teacher, he found employment very quickly; in a very small town, also in the Northwest Unbeknownst to him, however, the police department decided they needed to know why he had left his former position Since the records had been closed, they were forced to search deeper and soon very cleverly came up with newspaper clippings about the case Written before the hearing, the clippings were not quite accur ate; they alleged more than was true Meanwhile, in a secluded area of his backyard, where no one could see them without a careful search, the bandleader grew four scrawny plants for his own consumption After leading a ragtag, small town, no account band to victory at the state competition, using his own arrangements and often composing the music himself, the bandleader was rewarded with a search warrant and a court date Plea bargaining brought him the opportunity to plead guilty to a felony and hopefully be assigned two years probation, the records sealed thereafter The fateful court appearance began The small town police gleefully presented the fruits of their endeavor: oi jrs Olum, by this position, illustrates he is the leader this University needs to survive the budget ons laught of the Legislature He seems knowledgea ble concerning what programs can be trimmed, and what others need to be augmented Olum. while he was the acting president, has demon strated that his administration is responsive to the views of faculty and students alike The possiblity of financial exigency remains remote at the University Olum continues to reject the idea of letting go tenured faculty and elimin ating academic programs Olum has had a distinguished career in higher education He spent 25 years on the mathematics faculty at Cornell University He later became dean of the natural science college at the Univer sity of Texas at Austin He was appointed provost and academic vice president at the University in 1976, becoming the acting president when William Boyd resigned in 1980 In April Olum was selected to be Boyd's permanent replacement Some people have questioned it this is the proper time to stage the pomp and circumstance of an inaugural ceremony Olum himself was less than keen on the idea It was the urging of some faculty and administrators that convinced him to go ahead with the ceremony This is the proper time for an inaugural cer emony. The ceremony shows that behind the doom and gloom of the legislative cuts and the specter of bare-bones education, the spirit of higher education continues to be vital That, despite the indiscernible future of higher educa tion in Oregon, the University goes on The inaugural is not to be thought of as a gala at the Palace of Versailles while the peasants are marching, although these can be thought of as the best of times and the worst for the University Olum deserves this inaugural to show him the University community is behind him The Emerald wishes him nothing but the best of luck with his tenure in office N0&3W LOVES A PEMTIST the clippings and the four plants (they had cut the plants up to increase the volume) Each side presented its case and when they were through, the judge pron ounced sentence ”1 don’t feel that probation is war ranted in this case " he began The bandleader s heart sunk "I wish you could contribute this money to legaliza tion I see more and more of you middle-class profes sionals getting into trouble for the social use of mar ijuana I wish you would contribute more to getting it legalized The people selling it aren't going to ” The bandleader suppressed a smile The iudge drew a large "X" over the clippings "Small town police departments are always making the mistake of trying to do investigative work These have no bearing on the case I'm going to fine you $1,000 As soon as it's paid, the records will be closed " Asked to resign, the bandleader is seeking em ployment in a larger city far away from that small town The town, incidentally, has a new bandleader A clean cut, God-fearing, non-recovering alcoholic At least he doesn't smoke pot Merrl Horine Senior, political science/psychology Survivability Intense debate is, at this very moment, taking place in the chambers of the senate armed services committee The debate is centered around the subject of survivability To be more specific, survivability in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union General David Jones, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon, does not agree with President Reagan's plan to base the MX nuclear missile in stationary silos Jones claims that placing the MX in that manner will decrease survivability as opposed to former President Carter's plan for placing the nuclear missile system in a complex series of underground bunkers connected by tunnels Senator Henry Jackson of Wa shington concurs. “Placing the MX missile in stationary silos greatly enhances the likelihood that these loca tions will become primary nuclear targets " The debate, of course is about which MX basing system is more likely to survive a a nuclear attack It is not a debate over which system will assure human ' survival “ I ask you Doesn't it seem at all strange to you that these people (and here I use the term people'' loosely) who are supposed to be defending and representing you are more concerned about protecting their damned tools of destruction than about protecting you What kind of morality is it that says we must kill just as many millions of their people as they kill millions of ours7 Is it our moral responsibility to incinerate untold millions of human beings for the sake of a political ideal7 Don't you think the debate should be about humankind’s survival rather than weapons systems survival7 Bradley Passenger Junior, psychology letters policy The Emerald will accept and attempt to print all letters containing fair comment on issues, ideas and topics of interest to the University community The letters must be limited to 250 words, signed, and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned in to The Emerald offices, EMU 300 The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, style or content Publication is dependent upon the space available
