Oregon daily
emerald
Alaskan woman
returns to school
at the age of 51
page 6
Thursday, October 13, 1983
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 85, Number 29
Photo by Ddvt* Johnson
Kevin Kouns, ASUO vice president, defended the SEARCH program hav
ing the necessary "checks and balances" to ensure academic standards.
SEARCHing for open mike
By Paul Ertlet
Of the Emerald
Several students defended the Univer
sity' SEARCH program at an open
microphone (or open mike) meeting in
the EMU courtyard Wednesday.
The students responded to criticism of
the program by Paul Holbo, vice-provost
of student affairs. Holbo called the pro
gram a "persistent problem" in a recent
interview in the Emerald.
SEARCH was started in 1967 to supple
ment existing curriculum and provide an
opportunity for students, faculty and
community members to develop and
teach their own classes. The program of
fers credit classes and non-credit
workshops.
Steve Myer, SEARCH director, said in
his opening comments that Holbo had
been invited to the meeting but said he
was not able to come.
Bill Snyder, ASUO coordinator of stu
dent events, accused Holbo of elitism,
saying he wanted to cut back students'
control of their education.
Kevin Kouns, ASUO vice president
and former SEARCH instructor, said that
the process of developing SEARCH
courses has many "checks and
balances" to ensure academic
standards.
He also defended students’ ability to
teach classes."You don't need alphabet
soup behind your name in order to
know something," he said.
Holbo claimed he has received many
letters from students criticizing the pro
gram, but he has not produced any of
them, Kouns said.
Kouns likened Holbo's failure to
substantiate his claim with the tactics us
ed by the late Sen. )oe McCarthy.
"Paul Holbo is the only person to
come up with a voice in opposition,"
said Snyder.
Doug Croothius defended his
SEARCH class, "Twilight of Western
Thought: A Christian Response," which
has been singled out by Holbo because
of its religous overtones.
Croothius said his class has never
been challenged on academic grounds,
but has come under fire as a violation of
church and state separation. He called
this a "false issue" since his class is not
evangelistic in nature.
Groothius said it was important to pre
sent this alternative world view because
public universities tend to be
"monolithic."
"They exclude viewpoints that don’t
go along with the administration's view
point," he said.
Widmer said that Holbo's emphasis on
Groothius's class was unbalanced since
it is only one of several classes in the
program.
No one took the mike to critcize the
program. Meyer said this may have been
because of the lack of advanced notice
of the meeting, but he said he doubts
there is any real opposition to SEARCH
by students.
City opposes incorporation
of Santa Clara-River Road
By Michele Matassa
Of the Emerald
The Eugene City Council acted
unanimously Wednesday to discourage in
corporation of the Santa Clara-River Road
area into a separate city.
After a presentation by )im Harah, city
planning department head, the council ap
proved a resolution urging denial of the
proposed incorporation by the Lane Coun
ty Boundary Commission.
The boundary commission will hold two
public hearings on the issue Nov. .3 and
Nov. 17, then make its final decision by
Nnu 71
Springfield metropolitan area," the resolu
tion stated.
With a projec ted property tax rate of $4.6.1
per $1,000 of value, the city would not be
able to efficiently deliver urban services to
its residents, the resolution claimed.
Services such as sewage, fire protection
and prison facilities would not be adequate
ly provided, according to the resolution.
The resolution also said the feasibility
study "does not correctly or adequately ad
dress the impact of the proposed incor
poration on existing governments.”
Emily Schue, council president, sup
The City Council has been
receiving feedback from the plan
ning department, which analyzed
an economic feasibility study of
the proposed city. The group
pushing for incorporation con
Hiir toH th.it ctnHv/
This incorporation will result in a
long-range negative impact to the
Eugene-Springfield area.
In its resolution, the council claimed that
the feasibility study does not provide ade
quate funding for the city and that incor
poration would "severely alter the direc
tions of the (Eugene-Springfield)
Metropolitan Plan."
As a result of that plan, the Eugene
Springfield governments are developing
their own methods of delivering full-range
services to the area, according to the plann
ing department.
"This proposed incorporation will not
provide solutions to River Road-Santa Clara
problems, and will result in a long-range
negative impact for both the River Road
Santa Clara area and the entire Eugene
ported the resolution. "It lays out all the
reasons. . as to why we oppose it. It isn't
that we just don't like them," she said
In ruling on the Santa Clara proposal, the
boundary commission probably will not put
much weight on the council's resolution,
according to commission staff member
Sieve Cordon.
"The boundary commission attempts to
be impartial," Cordon said. But in the past,
it has tended to "favor annexation to ex
isting forms of government,” he said.
During the past year, annexation to
Eugene of land in the River Road-Santa
Clara area has increased. Cordon said.
ROTC ties enrollment rise
with job security of corps
By Doug Nash
Of the Emerald
University Reserve Officer Training Corps
officials say the prospect of job security is a
major reason enrollment in the program is
up 50 percent this year and more than dou
ble what it was two years ago.
The program has 125 students enrolled,
compared to 86 last year and 56 in 1981-82,
according to Maj. Philip McManus, Univer
sity assistant professor of military science
and enrollment officer for the campus
ROTC unit.
Indeed, the huge enrollment increase
puts it on a par with Oregon State Univer
sity's ROTC program, traditionally a larger
unit, says Col. Steven Wolfgram, head of
the University's Military Science
Department.
"The Corvallis program has been much
larger than the one here and we've grown
to about that size," he says.
To explain the huge increase in populari
ty, Wolfgram points to the career oppor
tunities offered by the program's three and
four-year commissions in the military.
"I think there's an awful lot of concern
about What am I going to do,' " Wolfgram
says. "While I can't guarantee a job after
school, I can offer them a damn good shot
at it.”
McManus agrees.
"More ‘people are realizing that being
commissioned through ROTC isn t
necessarily linked to a career in the Army,"
he says. "The leadership training is a
benefit whatever careers people choose. It
may give them a competitive edge.”
About a fifth of the cadets have won
scholarships that cover tuition, fees and
books plus a tax-free, monthly allotment of
$100, Wolfgram notes. Those receiving
ROTC financial assistance include 11
sophomores and juniors who successfully
competed for two and three-year scholar
ships and four freshmen who were given
full four-year awards.
"The competition (for the scholarships)
was very keen and UO students did very
well,” he says.
Eight of the cadets are from Lane Com
munity College and one is from Northwest
Christian College. Women comprise 2i of
the ROTC students, McManus says.
State s 10b ess rate at owest
9
SALEM (AP) — The jobless rate gained
slightly last month, but the total number of
unemployed Oregonians was the lowest in
three years, the state Employment Division
reports.
The September rate rate of 9.9 percent
was about one-tenth of a percentage point
higher than in August. The number of
Oregonians who were out of work was
IIS,000, which the division said was the
lowest during the past three years.
Total employment was 1.2 million in
September, the division added in its report
Wednesday.
"The state's economic picture showed lit
tle change in September,” said Libby
Leonard, deputy division administrator.
The department's assistant administrator
said he didn't expect to see an improve
ment until spring.
The national unemployment rate last
month dipped to 9.3 percent from an
August rate of 9.5 percent. All of the rates
are seasonally adjusted.
Don Steward, assistant administrator of
the division, said part of the reason for the
slight jump in the Oregon jobless rate was
that seasonal gains that normally occur in
September didn't materialize.
"This is certainly not a doom and gloom
news release, but it's not an optimistic one
either," Steward said.