Ijoan nyland
suitable for comment
Floundering.
To be more precise — mov
ing through academia without
a foothold.
Case study: The student
who goes to Academic Advis
ing and gets someone to
shake their head: “Yes,
physics is a good class. Yes,
math is a good subject. Yes, it
looks like you're fulfilling your
clusters.” Where is the
advice?
Advising requires some ex
pertise. It also requires some
caring and a willingness to
state an opinion. Sometimes it
requires a lot of time.
Understandably many ad
visers, professors, and
counselors are not willing to
stake their opinion on a stu
dent’s academic and voca
tional career, but is no advice
better? Many professors also
do not have the time to
counsel handfulls of students
through four years at the
University.
That does not excuse the
numerous students who can
not find a professor to work
with on a senior project or
answer questions on their
discipline.
Where is the professor will
ing to say, “Don’t take my
class, you need class X more.”
Where is the career
counselor who helps students
market the major they have
chosen, instead of suggesting
a "business package?”
There are some helpful peo
ple out there. Many depart
ments have a room with train
ed peer advisers.Jto. answer
graduation and resume
questions.
Some of the floundering
could easily be avoided by
training professors in all
departments and schools. It is
not that difficult to inform
them of the basic graduation
requirements of the University
or their department. Gradua
tion requirements may be the
primary responsiblity of the
students, but wrong advice or
no advice often costs a term in
school.
Departments or schools
could simply post graduation
and major requirements on
their bulletin boards.
A graduate student in each
department or school could be
given an adviser role. Not only
would this be nearer expert ad
vice it would lesson the load
of numerous professors.
Deans could also encourage
their faculty to give candid ad
vice. One assumes a scholar
has a “feeling” for the Univer
sity ropes, but often that
knowledge is lost in not wan
ting to discourage students
from other classes.
The “other” classes make a
difference. It matters whether
a journalism major takes gram
mar instead of physics for
their elective credit. It matters
whether a history student
takes Japanese or guitar
lessons It matters that some
one is willing to give advice
or challenge the course of a
student's studies.
It can be very frustrating
floundering around the Univer
sity campus — spending
precious time learning who to
seek advice from. Many of us
are upperclasspersons before
we realize that the best advice
on classes comes from peers
you trust, the best critique on
a paper comes from an ac
quaintance who can write and
the best advice on careers
comes from graduates who
have found work.
'New,please hold still- this is purely defensive.1'
[[letters
IFC funding
Last Monday, the Emerald
reported that increases in the
ASUO Executive's budget
“have come during a time
when enrollment — and
therefore the amount of stu
dent fees collected — has
decreased.”
In February, the “ASUO Pro
gram Press” stated that
“declining enrollment is the
reason why many programs
have had their budgets cut for
two years in a row." If we
believe everything we read,
things look bleak at best.
The suggestion that student
fees have decreased, however,
is false on two counts:
1) Last year the toal ASUO
budget was $2,160,366. Next
year the total budget will ex
ceed $2,330,000. Simple
calculation indicates an 8.5
percent increase in spending
in two years — not a decrease.
2) Last year the ASUO spent
$44 per student per term to
I letters
Abusive words
While we're on the subject
of sexist language, don’t
forget along with heman to
use shema’am. But that’s just
a matter of semantics.
The real problem lies in the
way our language reflects
racial prejudice, words like
blackball, whitewash, redneck,
and yellow.
There is also a bias against
older persons: mold, rage, and
nature, not to mention phrases
that favor people without han
dicaps: "both feet on the
ground,” "best foot forward,”
’armed," and "eye opener ”
I thought we had these pro
blems licked when we
eliminated words abusive to
ethnic minorities, but now I
perceive that anybody using
genders in his language is a
nigger making Pollack jokes.
I'm just thankful my first
name is still a title of nobility,
which can only be rhymed with
good words like pearl and girl.
Earl Gosnall
Eugene
Career women
I would like to thank the
Women's Symposium for pro
viding the opportunity for the
series of panel discussions on
"Women in Careers," the
panelists for sharing their ex
periences and perspectives
with us, and the Emerald for
successfully conveying the ex
citement of these sessions in
its coverage
It is unfortunate that a
graduate student was cited as
the only woman faculty
member in the physical
sciences at the University. A
survey of the chemistry,
geology and physics depart
ments finds three women on
the faculty: Jane Gray
(biology/geology), Charlotte
Schellman (physical
chemistry) and Helen Lang
(geology)
Margaret Graff
graduate, physics
Oregon doily
gon doily . _
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jean Oarnbey
fund ASUO programs. Next
year the ASUO will collect and
spend $56.50 per student per
term. That amounts to a 28
percent increase in fees in two
years — not a decrease.
Meanwhile, enrollment has
continued to fall and a majori
ty of programs have seen their
alloctions cut for the second
year running.
As a candidate for IFC, I am
pledging my support for ex
isting programs by seeking
limitation to further budget
cuts, while asking for the
establishment of strict, but
equitable funding criteria for
all ASUO programs. I also sup
port the creation of a task
force to evaluate fees, and I
strongly urge a one year freeze
in the incidental fee. With your
vote we can take advantage of
an opportunity to put a halt to
skyrocketing fees.
Eric Stillwell
sophomore, political science
Public issues
What democratically-run,
student-funded and directed
organization has been
representing students on
issues of consumer protec
tion, the environment, higher
education and health care for
12 years?
What state wide organiza
tion was founded to give
students the opportunity to
work for the changes they
want in their community?
What organization did over
half of the state s college
students sign petitions to
fund through fees in 1971?
OSPIRG.
The Oregon Student Public
Interest Research Group has
been working since the early
1970s to produce positive
public policy changes through
research, legislation and com
munity organizing. Students
vote on the projects and
issues to be undertaken, elect
the local and state boards of
directors, and vote on OSPIRG
funding. It is a non-partisan,
non-profit corporation with
professional staff who give
the projects continuity over
time and teach students skills
in research and advocacy.
Over the past year, OSPIRG
has experienced a tremendous
increase in student volunteers
and a phenomenal strengthen
ing of the organization’s
research and legislation ac
tions. OSPIRG has establish
ed a consumer hotline on cam
pus and is working in the state
legislature to form a Citizen’s
Utility Board in an effort to
minimize utility rates. Com
parative surveys on the prices
of bicycle and car repairs,
bank charges and o p -
tometrists’ fees also help
students invest their money
wisely.
When OSPIRG was found
ed, students agreed to fund it
with fees of $1 per student per
term. Because of organiza
tional problems in the late
1970s, OSPIRG’s IFC alloca
tion was reduced.
OSPIRG has grown so much
over the past year that it is
•time the students vote to
reinstate its traditional fun
ding. The IFC, along with
ASUO President C.J. Balfe,
has encouraged OSPtRG to
run a referendum in the April
general election to allow
students to decide on its
funding.
Students need the represen
tation and resources that
OSPIRG offers them. To main
tain these services students
need to show their support for
OSPIRG and the work it does
by voting YES to reinstate its
traditional funding.
Annette Boyer
senior, journalism
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