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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1983)
harry esteve Sexist language We writers are proud of our command of the English language. In fact we often get downright arrogant about it. So when we are told that something is the matter with the way we write, we get mighty defensive — especially when our writing is labeled "sexist.” I’ve seen the collective hackles rise when someone points to a sentence like: “If a student misses more than five classes, he will fail auto matically," and tells us it helps perpetuate sexism. By traditional English stan dards, there is nothing wrong with the sentence. But by other standards that sentence and countless others like it place women in subordinate roles to men, making them seem less important or even nonexistent. When Jean Ward, a jour nalism professor from Min nesota, spoke to a group of University journalism pro fessors about sexism in newspapers, she faced the kind of defensiveness I’m talk ing about. The professors pointed out textbook grammar rules and demanded workable alter natives. After all, it is hard for conscientious, liberal edu cators to be told they have been perpetuating the oppres sion of women. Ward didn’t have all the answers. When put on the spot, she couldn’t think of an eloquent way of asexually labeling the head of a commit tee. Should it be chairperson? Chairwoman? Too often the usage turns into chairman for the males and chairperson for the females. Ward primarily wanted the people who teach writing habits to future journalists to think about teaching them genderless language. The Emerald has similar pro blems, although it is our policy to avoid sexist language as often as possible. We call the heads of a com ittee “chairer.” And we’ve taken a lot of grief for it. Peo ple aren’t used to seeing it, and it “sounds” strange when they read it. But it gets the point across, without resor ting to a sexual suffix. We try to use a lot of plurals. Instead of, “A student will fail his class," we usually say ‘‘students will fail their classes.” It's just as accurate, although the sharpness of the story’s imagery might suffer. Unlike many major newspapers, we don’t use courtesy titles for men or women. If we write a story about law school dean Derrick Bell, he is simply called Bell on second reference. When Jewell Bell was nam ed as director of the Univer sity’s Council for Minority Education, she was called Bell on second reference, not Mrs. Bell, or Bell, wife of Dean Der rick Bell. When we use wire copy we try to edit out all the “Mrs.”s and “wife of”s. These are small steps toward sexual equality and I'm sure we re not entirely consis tent with our policy. It’s hard to break defensive writers of bad habits. But it is a part of the solution. letters Humanitarians I have a couple of questions for readers to ponder. 1) Where we'e all the humanitarians who are deman ding an end to aid to El Salvador on May 20,1981 when our government authorized the Export-Import Bank to extend $121 million of credit to com munist Romania so they could modernize their nuclear power system? 2) Where were the the demonstrators shouting "end aid to repressive regimes’’ when our leaders gave over $300 million to the com munists leadership in Poland last year? Maybe a few answers might be: 1) These people favor giv ing our money to communist r oppressors but not to people fighting communist threats because they favor communist takeovers, 2) Religious and political dissidents who've been massacred by com munists were just troublemakers and not entitl ed to "people" status thus justifying their demise and making it morally acceptable to assist communist govern ments, 3) Those people pro testing aid to El Salvador would protest aid to the Soviet empire if they were more in formed as to what's going on in the world. You decide. What motivates those who panic when we aid an anti communist country yet keeps them so quiet when we give assistance to the communists? Douglaa Qrman ^.EVANGEi CHURCH6,1 f GOOO ^ EPHF •0AM NUOtAR ARMS WORKSHOP 11 AAA EXAMINING THE N ATONAL DEREWi NOON STOP THE GODUtS) CyWAlESPORJESU! I PM EL SALVOR am®®SS"* isser® letters Soft-cover OK, most of us hear at this place of higher education don’t like to waste money. But the passers-on of this educa tion most times insist on ordering hardcover textbooks. We figure here at Watson Hall in the residence hall system that this is unnecessary. For instance, a book called "Understanding Social Psychology” published by Dorsey Press goes for $21.32 but would undoubtedly go for $4-$5 less if it was a softcover. So let’s here at the Universi ty boycott hardcover books and force the publishing com panies to go soft. If we take the lead, other universities will follow and we'll bring the publishers to their knees. So let’s do it. Geoff Ellsworth soph, romance languages Hazing I was pleased with your arti cle "Bill Outlaws Hazing," However, there are a few points of clarification I would like to make. Statewide awareness of this potentially dangerous practice is the reason for this bill. No one sets out to hurt anybody and that is why they are called hazing accidents. Also, in regards to your quote, "He (Nappi) says he does not know of any specific instances of violations at Willamette or other univer sities" Is misleading. There are reports of hazing going on at all campuses. The Universi Oregon doily emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald i* published Monday through Friday eacept during a a am ween and vacations. hy the Oregon DaMy Emerald Publishing Co al the Uniyeraity of Oregon. Eugene. OP, #7403 The Emerald operate* independently of the University with office* on the third floor of the Em Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press Editor Managing Editor N«w* Editor Assistant Naws Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sport* Editor Attociata Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Night Editor Associate Editor* Mtghar Education Department* and School* Student Government Eeature* Polities Student ServtcesfCommumty Affair* General Staff Advertising Manager Ciaastfied Advertising Production Mervegsr Com roller Merry E Steve John Mealy Marian Green Cort Eernetd Joan Hyland Bob Belter Mike Riptingar Paul Dancer Jonathan Single Frank Shaw Sandy Johnalona Frank Shew Richard Burr Sean Meyer* Michele Mates** A lets Zak Darlene Got* Sally Offer Victoria Koch Jean Ownbey ty of Oregon, Oregon State University, and certainly Willamette University are not exceptions. We think it is safe to assume that there is some validity to these reports. The reports cover fraternities, sororities, and other campus organizations. The purpose of this bill is not to accuse or punish any specific organization, but to make them aware of hazing's potential dangers. In no way does this bill focus on the Kappa Sigma Fraternity on your campus, it only ex emplifies the consequences involved. We hope to have the sup port of every Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic throughout the state in endor sing this bill. We believe it is an excellent way for them to show their commitment to eliminating these dangerous and outdated practices. Steven Nappi president, Delta Tau Delta Willamette University Tax money The Eugene City Council's November hearing to recon sider its renaming of Eugene’s Center for the Performing Arts was a farce. A display of upper-class solidarity and the eating of toads. The most subservient were the members of the Council who sold out their constituents a second time by unanimously upholding ;heir original act of betrayal Heaping insult upon injury, r the Council has recently decided to use taxpayers’ money to bail out the Center which is running nearly $20,000 in the red after six months of operation. (A strange reversal of finances: Late in 1982 the iocal press told us that the Center was earning $14,000 per month). The discomforting news of the deficit was accompanied by the information that the Center could easily run at a loss for several years. Will the Council make an annual dip in to the taxpayers pockets to keep the Center in the black? Thanks to Eugene tax payers, a local lumber baron and his lady, a munificent and humble pair, have a monument to themselves in their own lifetime. Let them rescue their monument from its debts. The barony will likely profit from the tax write-offs. News of red ink flowing at the Center was followed close ly by the revelation of •weaknesses” in its book keeping system. Neither the Eugene Register-Guard nor electronic news sources went into great detail about the nature of these weaknesses. Are they due to mere inept ness? If so, are the inept still keeping the books? Or does the problem go deeper? As r self-designated “Citizen of its community” does the Guard care? Is the Oregonian the on ly state newspaper pubic spirited enough to do in vestigative reporting? Guido Paiandri library 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, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the tetter 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 die majority opinion of the editorial board.
