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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1983)
opinion Plan or statement? “The Strategic Plan for Higher Education in Oregon. 1983-87,” or at least its draft, does not outline strategies for meeting the problems higher education now faces. The drafters should be commended for their succinct state ment of the value of higher education in Oregon. The State Board of Higher Education's adopted plan, or at least this draft, should succeed as a public relations tool for the state system. But, the “Strategic Plan” is not a four-year plan at all. The board needs to make some tough decisions about in creasing overall revenue, lobbying for more state and federal funding and setting specific criteria for allocating funds. Such oblique suggestions as: . Each institution should strengthen its office of institutional planning to ensure that the institution is operating as efficiently as possible and is keeping abreast of changes in state and federal policies affecting higher education" skirts the issue of how these eight institutions are going to be able to do this. It begs the question, "aren’t they do ing this already?" The draft does a good job of tipping its hat at the problems now facing the state system schools: the general fund falling nearly 10 percent in the last 10 years, the inadequacies of the full-time equivalency funding system, the lack of money for building maintenance and the lack of coordination between community colleges and the state system. To meet these problems the state system is going to have offer more specific suggestions than: "The State System should seek from the Legislature the resources needed to provide a good quality general education program in all the undergraduate institutions of the System.” What the state system really needs is either a scheme for boosting the funding of all the institutions, the University in par ticular, or a real "plan" on what to do if funding isn't there. The state colleges and universities need some solid ideas to meet the scenario the state system has been good enough to supply the public. For example: A strategy would say how the system will seek funds to increase library acquisitions and change over to a computerized library. The Chancellor’s office has not submitted a course of ac tion for higher education. In their own words, “Strategic plan ning... is more a matter of perspective than planning tech nique." The staff of the state system has submitted their perspec tive on higher education and received little disagreement. Now we await their long-range strategies. ipir (4k 'This is fa* OPTVjn speaking, weitowe aboard eastbound prunes cl/trate transcontinental Ekswt DOUAR ROUNDTRlp FUGHT FRO* LOS ANGELES TO NEW TOR*,,, frank shaw Class boredom There’s no such thing as boring classes — ? only bor ing teachers. I've yawned through classes with the best of them, mastered the fine art of sleep ing with my eyes open, read the graffiti ingrained on my desk, all the while blaming my boredom on the class material. Let's face it; the person who gets the coffee rights to some of these classes is going to be very rich. letters Causes Michael Cross’ article con cerning capital punishment was well supported However, if Michael had ever studied discrimination in our society, he would quickly realize that Blacks far outnumber other groups on death row. Blacks and other minorities confron ting the adversary system can not afford to pay successful lawyers like F. Lee Bailey. Therefore, they are supported by recent law school graduates just learning the ropes. For example, Hurricane Carter was charged for murder and sentenced to life im prisonment. Under Atiyeh’s proposed legislation Hur ricane deserved to be ex ecuted. As Michael Cross points out, “Let’s stop freeing murderers and instead give them the punishment they deserve." Hurricane Carter was released after spending 10 years in prison after evidence proved he was not in volved with the murder. In American society, the murder rates remain the same whether or not there is a death penalty. The best deterent of murder would be an end to discrimination, unemploy ment and the availability to purchase guns. Europe has a low murder rate and no capital punish ment. The English police carry no guns. I believe the cause of crime must be thoroughly examined before we make a hasty deci sion regarding capital punish ment. Why do people murder? Will the fear of death deter the motive to kill? Every increase in the percentage of people unemployed in our nation leads to a corresponding in crease of murder. What's Ronald doing to our society anyway? Drew O'Rourke senior, sociolgy Burning Instead of cutting faculty and course, the University should cut its heating expen ditures. It could start by lower ing the temperature in the In ternational Lounge. Specifically, the ther mometer in the Lounge registers in at a sizzling 82 degrees (with the windows open). This situation, besides being economically unfeasi ble, is in no way conducive to studying (the primary utiliza tion of the lounge). Let's quit getting burned and lower the thermostat 14 degrees. Ready Pool Oregon doily . _ 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 of the University with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press News and Editorial Display Advertising and Business Classified Advertising Production Circulation ••• ssu •••3712 «•« 4343 SM 43*1 »•« 5511 Editor Managing Editor News Editor Assistant News Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Associate Spor«s Editor Entertainment Editor Night Editor Associate Editors Higher Education Departments and Schools Student Government Features Politics Politics Education Reporter General Staff Advertising Manager Classified Advertising Production Manager Controller Harry Eatava John Maaly Marian Graan Oort Farnald Joan Nytand Boh Raknr Mika Riplmgar Paul Oan/ar Jonathan Siagia Dabhia Mowlatt Sandy Johnaton# Frank Shaw Richard Burr Saan Mayar* M»< ha»a Mata*** A lata /ak Par tana Gora Salty Oijaf Victoria Koch Jaan Qwnhay Is that the way it has to be? On the first day of class this term one of my professors ad mitted the course material would be boring at times, and announced he would be han ding out door prizes to start off each lecture. True to his word, the next class began with prizes of books, posters and slugs of type. It was refreshing to hear a professor admit the material was not inherently interesting. He was willing to do a little ex tra work to make it more ap pealing — ? and therefore in formative — ? to students. The door prizes gave me a whole new perspective on bor ing classes. Up until then I had accepted boring classes as part of education, something like death and taxes — pretty much unavoidable. But then I started thinking of some other boring classes I've had. They were so tedious because the teachers didn't seem to care whether the students were interested. They seemed to be convinc ed that education has to be boring. They remind me of my mom. When I was a kid she was con vinced the worse a medicine tasted the better It would be for me. If it tasted good, it wouldn't work. Some professors must think the same way. If a student has fun in a class, they're not real ly learning. Now I'm not suggesting teachers have a duty to keep students entertained. After all. f. not everyone is a stand-up comedian, and not every class is suited to a Johnny Carson monologue. But if professors can’t sum mon up enough interest to make the class at least marginally interesting, perhaps they shouldn't be teaching it. The basic goal of any class is to get students to learn something, and learning re quires cooperation with students. The best professors I've had have encouraged class discus sion and participation and were open to ideas and sug gestions from students. Of course you can’t teach an economics class in 150 Geology using class discus sion, but is there a rule that says students can't ask ques tions, or present ideas, or pro fessors can't use something more stimulating than WWII maps for visual aides? I have a suggestion for pro fessors who want to test their interest vs. boredom quotient. Tape record your lectures, play them from the back of 150 geology, 180 PLC, or 241 Gilbert keeping in mind the whole time the stimulating decor of the room and the fascinating graph you etched out of crayon about the supply and demand of widgets. See how long you can stay awake. Believe it or not, it's impossible to sleep and learn at the same time. Now, where's my cup of coffee? 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 must be limited to 250 words, typed, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned into 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 Univeisity community Your turn" columns must be limited to 500 words and typed This editorial will not be edited by the staff, tut selection will be based on appro priateness Letters to the editor and Your turn" columns should be turned into the Emerald office, Suite 300 EMU Unsigned editorials apeartng in the Eemrald are based upon the majority opinion of the editorial board
