State Board: keep looking for a chancellor
Who should the State Board of Higher
Education choose Friday as the new chancellor of
the State System of Higher Education?
a. the president of a small college in Michigan,
who has never been head of a university or a
university system
b. the commissioner of higher education in
Indiana, who has never been a college or univer
sity president and has only managed budgets
under $2 million
c. the president of the University of New
Mexico, who has been an administrator at four
western universities, but has never been a
professor
In good faith, the answer is none of the above.
The three remaining finalists (from an original
group of five) all are capable administrators, all
have strengths to offer the state s colleges and
universities, and all enthusiastically praised
Oregon's higher education system But Oregon
deserves better
Even through years of slim budgets, Oregon's
higher education system refuses to say "die” and
continues to receive national recognition for its
universities and research programs The salary
offered the candidates is low (especially con
sidering the $82,500 that helped lure one can
didate away), but the chancellor position is still a
plum to university administrators who want to
continue their career as the guiding hand of a
potentially excellent group of institutions.
Of the three finalists, Bud Davis, president of
the University of New Mexico, is the best-qualified
Davis is a reasonable, easy-going, affable admin
istrator who appears more likely to resolve con
flicts through common sense than ultimatums.
But Davis emerged from his doctorate work at
the University of Colorado as alumni director,
went on to become head football coach and dean
of men at Colorado, moved to the University of
Wyoming as an assistant to the president, and
became president of Idaho State University,
before taking his present position Davis has
ample administrative credentials to be chancellor
— of a smaller system He lacks the teaching
background that might give him a finer apprecia
tion of higher education's foundation of academic
inquiry and scholarly research.
Davis also would preserve the status quo of
the State Board of Higher Education at a time
when it needs to set a new course After numerous
budget cuts, the board is like a grove of fir trees: it
whispers and sighs a lot. Davis, who has super
ficial suggestions for changing the board and the
state system’s direction, could become another
sapling.
George Weathersby, Indiana’s 39-year-old
higher education commissioner, was like a breath
of fresh air during interviews. Weathersby wants
the system to become more efficient, more re
sponsive, and more in tune with academic trends.
However, in his effort to nudge the system toward
better serving its “constituents,” he seems to
downplay one very large group — students.
Weathersby talks about time management
and streamlining procedures when he should talk
about academic programs and admissions
standards.
The final candidate, Pres. George Rainsford
of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, simply lacks
the experience to cope with a system the size of
Oregon’s.
The state board should reopen its search.
More than 130 educators applied for or were
nominated for the position; the search committee
should review those applications.
It’s time for a chancellor who can take hold of
Oregon’s slipping college and university system in
a manner that doesn't try to restore it to some past
level of service, but pushes it toward a revamped,
more responsive role.
Surely the state deserves such a chancellor.
' TOO HOO - IS ANVBODY HOME? WE ARE UNARMED AMERICAN ApviSEKS, COME TO TEACM YOU
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letters
Errors
On Feb 10, an article on
Crater Lake appeared in which
I. and the author, was totally
misrepresented The author
subsequently submitted a letter
to the editor explaining the er
rors, but it has curiously not yet
appeared Despite several at
tempts, I have received no re
sponse or explanation from
your staff I am greatly an
gered by the fact that I have
to bear the brunt of your in
eptitude
I was approached a few days
prior to the appearance of the
article by the author, who asked
me to give a "quick comment on
Crater Lake.” I was misled to
believe that she was writing a
paper on the subject, and I was
never, in any way , informed that
she was writing for the Emerald
Had I known, I would not have
wasted a breath on your
ridiculous publication.
Your "editors" botched an
article that originally balanced
both positive and negative
aspects of Crater Lake into a
piece that made the entire ex
perience sound less than
agreeable. They then had the
audacity to attribute the auth
or's feelings and conclusions to
my name, and effectively cen
tered a warped article upon my
single comment I am appalled
at the depth of your desperation
for bogus printed matter
Contrary to what your
"editors" would like to think, the
Oregon Dally Emerald
summer was full of an abun
dance of joys: clean air, vast
and serene beauty, refreshing
solitude, and lasting relation
ships that go far beyond your
infantile comprehension The
good far outweighed the bad,
and I trusted the author to treat
my comment as such She did
but your editors” obviously did
not want to print the truth
Contrary to what you appar
ently believe, your disregard for
your own credibility does not
give you the right to misinform,
misquote, and misrepresent
someone who knows better
You did both the author and
myself a grave injustice by
projecting your own preference
for cheap shots onto us
I will refrain from suggesting
that you adhere to basic jour
nalistic standards because you
obviously don't care. I will,
however, remind you that a few
of us still recognize truth, and
will defend our reputations
when tampered with.
Pamela M. Pine
English
Shut up
I would like to thank Matt
Meyer for sharing with us his
personal concerns regarding
the decline of western civiliza
tion in his "review” of the movie
"Making Love"(Emerald, Feb
17).
However, if I were to go to
church, only to find the minister
reviewing the latest Burt Reyn
olds movie, I'd be disappointed.
My disappointment is only
slightly less when I pick up the
movie review and get instead a
sermon.
In either case my response is
the same: Oh, (yawn) shut up.
Mike Doughton
Law
Balanced view
This is in regard to the Crater
Lake story which I wrote and
someone on the staff edited My
intention was to give a balanced
view of what working at Crater
Lake is really like — the highs
and lows of working with a small
tightknit group in the beautiful
setting of the park.
Having worked at Crater Lake
myself, I want to say it can be a
hell of a lot of fun. You make a
lot of close friends and share a
lot of inside jokes. Sure, I told
about the pressures from man
agement, but I also said that was
due to trying to earn a year’s
profit in a three-month season —
which is enough to strain
, anyone’s temperament.
The way the story was edited,
however, made it sound like a
total indictment against Can
teen and the Lake’s environ
ment. Also, some of the quotes
attributed to Pam Pine were
simply untrue.
I believe the story was unfair
to Canteen Company, to Pam
Pine, and to myself for earning a
byline for a story which, it its
final form, wasn't mine at all.
Monica Harrington
senior, journalism
Majority?
Last Wednesday I attended a
State Legislature session con
cerning the higher education
budget cuts As I became in
tune with the various discus
sions going on between the
senators and representatives
that were present, it was very
obvious that only a minority of
them were thoroughly
knowledgeable on the educa
tion institutions that were being
discussed. These few people
who formed this minority ap
peared to be quite informative
and alert (it's interested to note
that the only women represen
tative present seemed to be the
most on top of things). The
majority of them appeared
over-weight, sleepily slouched
back in their chairs, and a cof
fee cup desperately clenched in
one hand.
Is it really these people who
are responsible for deciding on
higher education cuts? A reality
check says yes
It seems we should start being
conscientiously aware of how
these decisions are being made
Taking it from a wholistic point
of view, it seems that only a
healthy body can produce a
healthy mind, and a healthy
mind can only produce healthy
responsible decisions for the
good of the people How can an
overweight, fatigued person
make a clear, well thought out
decision? Can a human being
who cannot take physical re
sponsibility for his own body
actually take full mental re
sponsibly for decisions that
affects the future education of
everyone of us?
Rich Wilkins, ASUO pre
sident, has taken the concern
and responsibility to distribute
addresses of senators and
representatives around cam
pus. I urge you to write!! The
legislatures who determine the
extent of the cuts are influenced
by letters from residents in their
districts. Infact, many legisla
tues keep a running tally of let
ters they receive on either side
of an issue to help determine
their vote. So I urge you once
again to write and give them
your point of view to think
about ..or they will have only
thier own point of view to rely
on.
Brenda Shea
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. Pub
lication is dependent upon
space available.
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