opinion
Meddling muddies affirmative action plan
The muddiness of the University s affirmative
action policy became apparent at Pres Paul
Olum s press conference Thursday, when he
advocated letting each unit" — school or
department — devise a policy separate from the
that of the University Olum s remarks were in
reference to the recent case of FBI recruiting
being deferred by the University law school
because of alleged discrimination in hiring
But more than muddiness — letting the
University's affirmative action policy be tampered
with by all the departments and schools weakens
the aim of affirmative action and promotes chaos
Olum should be advocating one and only one
affirmative action policy for the entire University
The paragraph in the affirmative action
statement most frequently subject to attack
prohibits discriminatory hiring practices based on
race, sex, religion, handicap, national origin or
extraneous considerations not directly related to
effective job performance The extraneous
considerations" clause is the main point of
contention
It was the ‘ extraneous considerations
clause that turned away the FBI recruiter from the
law school That would make it seem a powerful
tool to prevent discrimination Although Career
Planning and Placement abides by the Universi
ty's affirmative action policy in all areas except the
extraneous considerations” clause
The complaint against the "extraneous
consideration" clause is that it is anything but
explicit. But, point in fact, that lack of explicitness
is the "extraneous considerations" clause
greatest strength
The ambiguity of the clause is reminiscent of
letters
Foreign students
I'd like to correct a bit of misinformation in the
article on foreign students (Nov 5) I was quoted as
saying "Our goal is to prepare students for life after
college '' That sounds as if the American English
Institute is in the business of career placement,
marriage counseling or family planning
What I said to the reporter was that the institute is
concerned not only with helping students to gam
admission to this or other American universities, but
with preparing them to succeed in college once they re
admitted We offer intensive classes in writing,
grammar reading oralaural skills as well as American
Culture and preparation for the TOEFL (Tests of English
as a Foreign Language)
While my grandmother will be delighted with the
photograph of me. it would have been more appropriate
and informative to feature the students who were being
discussed
Iris Esau Moye
Director, AEI
Dichotomous critics
Evidently a trend towards dichotomous criticism is
emerging once again on campus — the Greeks vs the
GDI s In the four years that I've attended the University
the antagonism which pervades these two groups
shines forth once again Please let me offer a
different perspective concerning student life
The issue at hand here is not of an ethical nature —
which group can morally degrade the other to a point of
indignation”? Rather what should be remembered is that
each one of us are unique individuals — we each have
the capacity to make our own decisions on what type of
living environment best suits our individual needs not
someone else s needs Granted some individuals may
not have enough experience to make prudent decisions
on conducive living styles nevertheless once the
decision is made future experiences will verify the
intelligence of that decision If the choice turns out to be
a bad one a resolution is always the next step No one
should be condemned on how they choose to live'
The Greeks seem to be the most susceptible to
stereotypes not because of their esoteric behavior but
rather because of a profound naivity among the
students who fallaciously comment on something they
do not understand nor care to comprehend Instead of
criticizing the group being sterotyped why not criticize
the one forming the sterotypes namely the biased
the ambiguity of certain Constitutional
amendments The ambiguity of the "extraneous
consideration" clauses permits a similar scope of
interpretation to a broader range of incidents
The discriminatory circumstances the clause
addresses need not be explicitly outlined in the
entire affirmative action policy To do so limits the
policy to a narrow application, making it almost
self-defeating
An example of the effectiveness of the
ambiguity is if an applicant for employment is
discriminated against because of past political
views These political views can be as simple as
being a democrat, or as complex as having been a
member of the communist party
The clause can also protect discrimination
against an overweight applicant That sounds
facetious, but it is a valid consideration
The "extra considerations" clause has been
interpreted to protect against discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation That may be so —
but it also protects against discrimination because
of past drug abuse, a prior criminal record, a
temporary psychological dysfunction, and any
past medical treatment
There has to be an affirmative action policy
for the entire University, and it must be adhered to
by all the schools and departments To permit
each "unit" to make its own policy, as Olum said
he favors, muddies affirmative action, producing
chaos and discrimination in hiring
person (you know, the one who is unsettled about his or
her own identity) Better yet don't stereotype at all'
Oh yes to meet the curiosities of some, I am a GDI.
but should this make a difference77
Darius Mrkonic
Senior, psychology/business management
Opinionated
Last year, the Emerald was beset by criticisms
stemming from misquoting This year the Emerald
seems to have developed a larger problem bias in
reporting These two examples the article on Greeks
and the one on cults whether through naivete or
conscious effort clearly show onesidedness and lack
of objectivity Rather than misquoting, it seems the
reporters preferred to use as few sources as possible
The Greek article totally excluded those of us who
do have valid criticisms of the system These are not the
stereotypes in the article but are often criticisms
conceded by the organizations themselves They
include the over-emphasis on high alcohol
consumption, rampant graftitti high midweek noise
levels and an anti-dependent (non-Greek) attitude The
pro-Greek bias of the article only serves to aggravate
the stereotypes
The cult article read more like an all-out push for
Christianity The article both warms students about
their susceptibility to cults and invites them to study
Christianity with an open heart ' It seems to say the
only answer to the problem is through Christianity and
no other religion (such as Judaism) It casts all
Eastern thought as dangerous making no distinction
between Eastern religions themselves, which often
predate Western ones It urges us to take the position
that the Bible was inspired in its entirety by God making
no mention of the fact that many parts were plagiarized
from earlier works (such as the Gilgamish epic) and that
it has been translated from a long dead language by
modern human translators (one early translator gave
Moses horns when he misread an accent mark) The
loose interpretation of the word cultitseif could lead us
to believe that Masons Mormons Psychology and even
fraternities are cults Cults are a problem in our society
but this article falls due to very Christian bias
It is possible to write about an organization or
religion without advertising tor it In the future, try for a
more balanced, less opinionated approach
Merrl Hortne
Political sclanca / psychology
Auto fumes
Bicycling up to work at LCC, and choking on the
car exhaust we realized we have been poisoned by the
fumes all our lives What a horrible thought'
And some drivers have no respect for cyclists,
either Often on roads without bike lanes we are honked
at and told to get out of the way We won 't get out of the
way We have the right to use the streets equally and
safely with cars I just wish fewer people would use cars,
at times this valley is as smoggy as Los Angeles
Come to think of it why do we still tolerate the
auto-culture7 The misery of the assembly-line factories,
the non-human pace and stress of driving, ugly free
ways imposed on nature, traffic deaths — not to mention
the poisonous pollution Wake up drivers get a bike or
walk
Suzy Downs
John Zergan
Eugene
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