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
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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
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limited to 500 words and typed This editorial column will not
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priateness
Letters to the editor and ' Your turns*' should be turned into
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Unsigned editorials appearing in the Emerald are based
upon the majority opinion of the editorial board
Tuesday, November 2,1982