Higher ed through television
University could compete with Harvard or MIT
By Sandy Johnstone
Ol the Emerald
Television is on its way to becoming the latest
educational tool, says one University professor.
Deanna Robinson, a telecommunications
and film professor, says the University could use
the Oregon Public Broadcasting System to set up
educational programs for credit. The University
should establish a task force to investigate a
system that would explore ways to set up credit
courses for television, she says.
Robinson recently attended conferences that
addressed the issue of television and education
and what new technology could add to educa
tional television
"The technology is all there It’s a matter of
arranging it and where you want to put your
dollars — what you think the future of education
is," she says "If you see the function of higher
education as one of continuing education then
you might want some funds (in television) instead
of on the campuses "
Robinson admits some people complain the
system is inefficient because there is no interac
tion with professors and students But she says
similar programs taught in New Zealand are
believed to be just as good as the degree from a
four-year University
Tough competition with other universities
may cause some problems because programs
can be beamed via satellite almost anywhere
"It would be putting Oregon in competition
with schools iike Harvard, Massachusetts Insti
tute of Technology, Stanford whether Oregon
could do that successfully is questionable,"
Robinson says
She also worries that television technology in
general won't promote educational programs
A number of bills in Congress promote
competition in the hardware connected with mass
communications but do not encourage the same
type of competition in the software or
programming, she says
"We have the opportunity to use all different
channels for education and continuing educa
tion, but it is not likely if the Congress keeps
making laws in the same vein," she says There
is a threat that there will not be much diversity in
programs but a lot of diversity in systems "
The people attending the conferences came
<&A.
Deanna Robinson
to the conclusion that no one really knows what
effect TV has on education, Robinson says
Two main groups emerged from the debate at
a Wisconsin conference people who extolled the
evils of television, and social scientists who want
evidence to back up any statements of televi
sion's effects, she says
A series of studies since the 1960s has con
cluded that young children imitate violence on
television, but "no one knows if it lasts.” Robin
son says No other conclusions have been proved
on the effects of television on education, she
adds
"We know kids do learn from TV but not so
much from purposefully educating programs It's
more incidental learning, a lot of facts," she says
The conference stressed visual literacy,
teaching children how to view the industry and
how to recognize different film techniques,
Robinson says Foi example, children would learn
how to see the differences between a character
such as Mary Tyler Moore, who was developed
over a number of years, and a lesser developed
character, like George Jefferson,
Vacancy rate reaches all-time high
The national vacancy rate for
apartments is the lowest it has
ever been, but vacancies in
Eugene have hit an all-time
high
John Bennett, president of
the Homebuilders Association,
cites two surveys showing the
Eugene/Springfield vacancy
rates
One survey, which did not
count ' run-down' apartments
and single-room houses for
rent, gave a vacancy rate of
13-15 percent for Eugene’s
apartments and a rate of about
15 percent for Springfield's
apartments
Another survey, conducted
by a consultant for the city,
estimated Eugene's vacancy
rate at 18 percent and Spring
field's rate at 30 percent
The difficult economy and an
enrollment drop at the Universi
ty are possible factors, Bennett
says
However, "the vacancy rates
have pretty much stabilized, fie
says. "And there is maybe a little
drop (in vacancy rates) "
To lure people back to
apartments, Bennett says many
apartment managers have
lowered rates and offered
various incentives
"When the rent situation
started to get bad, people who
had always lived on their own
moved back in with their
families Now that the rents have
started to come down, they're
finding out that they liked living
on their own and are getting
apartments again."
But Bennett says as rents
come down, landlords may let
maintenance slip And that's
tough to recover from, he says.
A lot of people would rather
pay a little more money and get
better maintenance and better
service,1' he says
The apartment complexes
that do best in the long run are
clean, well kept and offer
quicker maintenance service,
he says.
Bennett says the vacancy rate
of 15 percent was half of one
percent about six years ago in
the University area A vacancy
rate around 6 percent is a happy
balance, he says.
Bennett also predicts the
vacancy rate probably won't
come down much in the near
future.
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