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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 15, 1982)
opinion Elementary cuts; they’re only logical We live in a state with one of the best funded elementary and secondary school systems, with one of the most strin gent set of requirements for elementary and secondary teachers and with duplicate programs to obtain these certificates Within the Oregon state system of higher education, prospective elementary school teachers can obtain a cer tificate here, or at Eastern Oregon State College, Portland State University, Oregon State University, Southern Oregon State College and Western Oregon State College They could also obtain a certificate at Lewis and Clark, Concordia, Linfield and Pacific Lutheran colleges We live in a state with overextended and underfunded higher education, a state that has been plagued with revenue shortfalls The next shortfall — estimated at $150 million — probably will come in September In this period of budget cuts and tacit pressure from the Legislature to reassess the worth of every program of the state system, there is no more room for discretionary cuts. The next step has to be closing departments, schools or even an entire college The logical cuts are programs that are duplicated by almost every other institution in the state — elementary education This proposal seems all the more realistic in the face of declining enrollment next year at all the major state institu tions of higher education and the decline in elementary and secondary school students which has been occurring over the last 10 years This idea obviously has occurred to someone For instance Pres Gerald Leinwand of Western Oregon State College is leaving in September over rumors that the Legis lature wanted his school shut down WOSC has traditionally been a teacher's college It now has seven departments, all duplicated within the state system Perhaps a cost benefit analysis would show closing one of these certification places is unfeasible Perhaps the baby boom, predicted to enter school in the 1990's, requires that all these opportunities for certification remain intact Per haps not Is there still a need for teacher training in every corner of the state? Selective Service squeezes students As the U S Selective Service System puts the squeeze on the few good men who refused to register for a potential draft, students — especially poor students — are getting caught in the middle Turning one crank of the vise is the Internal Revenue Service which recently began using tax records to mail warnings to non-registrants It also has threatened to furnish their addresses to the draft board Now university financial aid officers are being asked to twist the other crank A federal law that would require financial aid applicants to furnish proof of draft registration already has passed the Senate and will be debated in Congress soon If the law passes, an 18-year-old undergraduate who comes from a poor family and wants to continue his educa tion would be punished if — for whatever reason — he objects to serving in the military Although his chances of being criminally prosecuted are slim, financial aid ineligibilty would block him and thousands of non-registrants from getting a college degree This represents an about-face from the once-prevalent attitude that education is more important than armed military service Out of school, with no college education, facing the worst unemployment situation in decades, a young man still must bear up under increasing pressure to join the military Navy and Army ads that promise jobs and useful skills are the most obvious pressure Increasing numbers of full tuition scholarships offered by ROTC tempt more and more fresh man into the military because it is the only way they can finance their education These are clever games played by the Selective Service and the military We urge university administrators to join the growing movement to resist them I letters 'MENACHEM sent ME ' Swim safety As a whitewater boating enthusiast and a volunteer with the Lane County Sheriffs Department Search and Rescue unit, I was appalled at the cavalier attitude displayed in the June 21 Emerald article on swimming holes In particular, I am concerned with your enthusiastically en dorsing the footbridge rapids area on the Willamette River for swimming without informing your readers of the extreme hazards that are present there The river bottom has numer ous disconformities that can trap and hold feet and legs The bottom is littered with bicycles and other debris that have been thrown off the bridge Boats and rafts coming downstream are often left with little choice but to run over ‘devil-may-care” tubers and swimmers whom they can't see until it’s too late to maneuver Many of the boaters using this section of the river are inexper ienced and little skilled in con trolling their craft In addition, there are often people jumping and hanging off the bridge and tether surfing off the river bank The combination of these hazards creates a moderately to extremely dangerous situation for swimmers, especially those swimmers inexperienced in whitewater and ill informed of the risks A canoeist drowned in the footbridge rapids last summer There have been numerous near drownings, head and neck injuries, broken limbs and as sorted lesser first aid problems at that site I don't mean to seem alarmist or namby pamby about this matter However, new initiates to the sport should be aware that there are inherent dangers The activity is particularity hazardous when done without a life jacket, footwear and proper technique, (sitting position, feet downstream) Death by drowning could put a serious hitch in anyone’s summer plans As responsible journalists, you owe it to your readers to inform them of the hazards when you're promoting a recreational activity or par ticular site Please, in the future do a bet ter job of it. Bruce Ronning Eugene Coupon probe The July 8th edition of the Emerald published an article on page 3 headlined. "ASUO's connection with coupons probed ." The article dragged the name of Windfall Advertis ing (the publisher of a coupon book for University students) over the coals It contained many erroneous and damaging statements wrongly implicating Windfall Advertising in illegal activity. The incident mentioned in the article involved a contract between a local chiropractic clinic and Cooperative Services of Lansing, Mich , (also a sup posed coupon book publisher) who used the name of ASUO on their contracts without ASUO's knowledge Cooperative Services also falsely told advertisers ASUO was handling distribution of said coupon books The article implied that Wind fall Advertising had a part in this wrong doing when, in fact, they did not, as a retraction will state in the Tuesday, July 13 edition of the Emerald However, f’m sure the retrac tion will not dwell on the incom petent reporting of the Emerald staff, especially that of Steve Hooks, the author of the article Newspaper articles such as this that confuse facts give the print media a bad name, and are certainly blemishes that ques tion the integrity of the Emerald, not legitimate businesses like Windfall Advertising Al Grossman Windfall Advertising Oregon doily emerald Th« Mimiw mMioa of the Oregon Daily Emeiaid m published Tuesdays snd Thursdays, except during exam week and vacations, by the Oregon Deity Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon Eugene Oregon. 97403 The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices on the thud floor of the Erb Memorial Unwn and is a member of the Associated Press Move and Edftorts* DtopSey Advertising and business *94 5411 ••9-3712 •99-4343 •89-4341 rn-5511 Editor Managing Editor News Editor / Politics Editor Photo Editor Associate Editors Higher Education University /ASUO Features Community Contributing Editor General Staff Advertising Manager Classified Advertising Production Manager Controller Harry Esteve John Healy Cort Fernald Mark Pynes Debbie Howlett Steve Hooks William Kogut David Brown Joan Nyland Darlene Gore Sally Oijar Vicki Koch Jean Ownby
