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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1982)
I Minor programs add major improvement Why hasn't the University (or any other university in the state) instituted a formal minor program so far? Wednesday the University Assembly meets to vote on the adoption of a formal disciplinary minor. The Emerald thinks the idea would be a great asset for students Here’s what the minor would be: "Any minor will consist of at least 24 credit hours, a minimum of 15 to be upper-divi sion. Grading options will be reviewed by a school or college course committee and by the University Committee on the Curriculum Minors will be noted on transcripts," so reads the motion. "Minoring" in something is a way of telling your future employer or graduate admissions officer or biograoher that you had a goal in mind as you went about filling your groups, cluster, and sundry requirements. The adoption of a minor lessens the number of clusters that a student has to take by one. Minors may encourage students to look at their schedule as a whole — something integrated Minors encourage and give an option to students who want to balance the pragmatic and the scholarly sides to their personality. in the ever practical reality of the 1980s, the minor would say to prospective employers, yes, I have a foundation in computer science or yes, I can keep books, or yes, the laws of supply and demand applies here But the adoption of a formal minor could also say, hey, I may be a stuffy accountant, but I can dance, or hey, there's more to me than knowlege of software, look at my degree in English literature The only questions adoption of a formal minor raises are the cost of implementation and the ability of a department to refuse to implement a minor program, however popular the subject The costs seem to be minimal — a certain amount of computer time, paperwork and filing There is a problem to the adoption of the minor in the business school. The school already has too many majors for comfort and under voluntary adoption they would not have to institute a minor program. However, they could utilize the minor as the computer science department intends, and construct a program that doesn’t overlap the major classes and is concentrated during summer term. Why hasn’t the University adopted a formal minor before now? Perhaps, as Joseph Hynes, assistant dean of the college of arts and sciences and proponent of the motion says, it just hasn’t been thought necessary. It’s sort of like Oregon industry. opinion letters Bit of irony Here's a bit of irony The nuclear freeze movement seeks a mutual halting of the produc tion and deployment of American and Russian strategic nuclear weapons to reduce the threat of global viofence. Tuesday night a sign on the lawn of Wesley Foundation supporting the nuclear freeze initiative on the Nov. 2 Oregon ballot was slashed and torn and the stickholding it splintered into four pieces So, violence is employed to protest a movement that wants to stop violence. The equation, fellow inha bitants of this good earth, i6 a blueprint for oblivion. Stuart Shaw mlnlatar, Wesley Foundation Plural Latin Editors and, in particular, Sean Meyers: A grafito is. But graffiti are. C. Bennet Pascal professor, classics letters Innocuous From the outside looking in, the Greek System appears to be an innocuous, cocoon-like soc ial outlet And yet periodic out bursts such as Ann Portal’s portrait of "Lisa,'’ the disaffect ed former sorority member, raise questions about the con tinued viability of the fraternal system. With the plethora of pressures imposed daily upon students, one must wonder if the addi tional strain of a lifestyle which “revolves around drinking," and which treats refusal and reticence with peer-group ostracization, can possibly fulfill the expectations of bright-eyed and innocent pledges And if fulfilling, how healthy can such satisfaction be? James Harris senior, political science Appalled I am appalled at the manner in which “Disaffiliated: Woman ‘outgrows’ Greek life” was presented It is your respon sibility as journalists to present an unbiased and objective account of the facts This was clearly an unobjective smear on Greek life I felt like I was reading the National Enquirer Where is your journalistic inte grity, Ann? In many situations including living organizations, clubs, and student unions, someone ine vitably will become dissatisfied with some aspect of it and choose to leave This is certain ly their perogative and reflects what is right for that person at the time However, I fail to find anything newsworthy in this fact If someone chooses to leave an independent living organization would they receive the same front page coverage? I believe the students of this University deserve better journalism than this for their $82 thousand a year subscription paid to the Emerald through incidental Fees. Reporting facts is one thing, but sensationalized story telling is quite another Mary Shrauger To clarify Oregon Public Broadcasting and all the professors who have contributed to OPB’s college credit telecourses in the past three decades probably were amazed to read that the Emerald had wiped out their existence. Your Oct 28 story misquotes me wildly Without going into detail, I want to clarify the following points OPB offers fine courses. The system's educational program differs from those of "distance teaching" efforts of places like the Open University in England, the University of the South Pacific and universities in New Zealand because viewers cannot earn degrees through OPB’s courses Lane Community College also has a program of televised instruction that is soon to be extended through installation of a satellite dish for reception of additional education programs Early efforts at televised in struction in this country met with considerable resistance A frequent complaint cited lack of interpersonal contact between teachers and students New technology can be used to remedy this problem For example, personal computers can be used to send "electronic mail" between teachers and students Carnegie Mellon is setting up such a system for the continuing education of its graduates plus in-college use Television certainly does teach This Is why schools all over the country are instituting visual literacy curricula. How ever, “Mary Tyler Moore,” despite some good qualities, is not the focus of such programs. The dispute over the teaching function of educational televi sion is not whether or not it teaches but how well it teaches in comparison to in-classroom teachers The major problem with efforts of Congress to deal with new communication technology is that concentration on free marketplace competition precludes an integrated national system We run the risk of many competing firms offer ing different hardware systems over which only certain programming can be obtained and which are unavailable to people in areas not served by such systems or who cannot afford them Deanna Robinson asst, professor, telecomm, and Him Angry as hell Aren't you mad? I'm angry as hell because students of this University make up a significant portion of our population who do not vote Make your opinions known and express the need for your friends and classmates to do the same through the public vote Those of us concerned with full representation of public opinion must persuade our peers into joining the ranks of the decision-makers Professors and instructors; I implore you to speak to your classes on the necessity, impact, and pride inherent in political participation Are you an effective participant? Scott Jones Survival Center Oregon daily _ _ emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. at the University of Oregon Eugene OR. 97403 The Emerald operates independently ot the University with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press News and Editorial 999-SS11 Display Advertising sod Bulsness 999 3712 Classified Advertising 999-4343 Production MS-4391 Circulation 999 SS11 EdtfOf Marry E Steve Pag* 2 Managing Editor News Editor Assistant News Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Associate Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Night Editor Aseoclat* Editor* Higher Education Departments and Schools Student Government Features Politic* Community General Staff Advertising Manager Classified Advertising Production Manager Controltar John Healy Marian Green Cort Eernald Joan Nyland Mark Pynes Mike Ftiplmger Paul Oanrer Jonathan Stegi* Dane Claunsen Debbie Hewlett Sandy Johnstone Richard Burr Sean Meyer* Michel* Matassa David B>own Darlene Gore Sally (»l(*r victoria Koch Jean Ownoey letters policy The Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing fair comment on topics of interest to the University community Letters to the editor muni be limited to 250 words, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned in to the Emerald office The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, style or content "Your turn" Is an Emerald opinion feature submitted by members of the University community “Your turns ' must be limited to 500 words and typed This editorial column will not be edited by the staff, but selection will be based on appro priateness Letters to the editor and ' Your turns*' should be turned into the Emerald office, Suite 300 EMU Unsigned editorials appearing in the Emerald are based upon the majority opinion of the editorial board Tuesday, November 2,1982
