Professor given W. Germany's highest civilian award
By Stan Nelson
O# Um Kmerald
Distinguished scholar* often let their
accomplishments speak for themselves
and remain silent in spoken
acknowledgement.
Germanic languages and literatures
Professor Emeritus Wolfgang lajppmann
is one such man. In his more than 30
years of service at the University. Cepp
mann has earned high support and
praise from fellow col leagues, troth na
tionally and internationally.
This week the Federal Republic of Ger
many recognized Leppmann's lifetime
outstanding achievements by presenting
him the Commander's Gross of the Order
of Merit, one of the highest civilian
awards granted by (he West German
government The Order of Merit is rarely
bestowed upon German languages,
literature and cultural scholars such as
tarppmann. said West German Consul
General Eva I.indemann.
I.indemann presented the award to
Leppmann Monday at a private
ceremony held at the Faculty Club, call
ing him "a truly universal man” in
research and wisdom.
"How fortunate that the University of
Oregon has faculty members with the
classical attributes of the inquisitive
mind and intellectual reasoning power
encompassing any and all subject matter
that presents itself during a lifetime in an
academic career.” I.indemann said.
Lindemann further commended Lepp
matin for generating in students a
mutual interest between West Germany
and the United States
"The award was arranged without my
knowledge." Leppmann said. “1 am
very pleased It was an honor given to
the department as well as myself." he
added.
Leppmann is a very modest man. said
Roger Nicholls. professor of Germanic
languages and literatures, which makes
it difficult to know the extent (jappmarvn
has contributed to education during his
lifetime.
A native of Berlin, leppmann received
his early education in Germany.
Switzerland, Italy and England before at
tending the University of Toronto, where
he receiver! his undergraduate and
master's degrees. He later received his
doctorate from Princeton University.
He first joined the University faculty
in 1954 after serving three years as an in
stuctor at Brown University. In the ensu
ing years, Izippmann taught at Yale
University, the University of Virginia,
the University of Toronto am! Vassar
College as a visiting professor, he said.
leppmann was instrumental in the
creation of what was to become the
department of Germanic languages and
literatures in 19t>4 and acted as the first
head of the department, said (nan
Woods, present department head.
laippmann "has the knack of introduc
ing students to the language and culture
of (iermany and making them want to
pursue the field of study.” Woods said.
He has his students' admiration at both
the undergraduate and post-graduate
level.
lztppmann taught Wood's first- and
second-year Orman instruction while
she was an undergraduate at the Univer
sity and helped provide incentive to go
on to post-graduate work, she said.
Three of l.eppmann’s former students
are past or present heads of Germanic
language departments at U.S. colleges or
universities, she said.
Besides educational instruction. I.epp
mann has proved to be a successful
author, having written five interna
tionally recognized books. Time
Magazine described l<eppmann's 1984
publication. Rilke: A Life, as "a rather
brilliant account" of Rainier Maria
Rilke, who was a 19th-century
Czechoslovakian poet. The New Yorker
and the New York Times also reviewed
Ia;ppmann’s book.
The biography, originally written in
German, has since been translated into
French. Italian and is in the process of
being translated into Czech.
His most recent publication is a novel
on Gerhardt Hauptmann, a famous Ger
man author of the 19th and 20th cen
turies who began his career as a leader of
the Naturalist movement.
Leppmann is also a frequent con
Wolfgang Leppmann
tributor to the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung. the German equivalent to the
New York Times.
"His style of writing is admirable. He
makes the struggle to learn German
worthwhile.” Woods said.
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CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR
Kesey
Continued from Page 1
Bookstore and confronted the two protesters,
engaging in a discussion on the content of the
article.
"I’ve caught a bunch a shit for (the arti
cle)," Kesey said.
Esquire published the story from the con
ference he attended in New York with noted
poet Alan Ginsberg. Kesey said.
"Most of the comments aren't even
mine." he said. “The other stuff were just
plain dumb things to say, and I wish I hadn't
dr-ie it."
One common Esq ire attributed to kesey
stated, "I ladieve if you put a polygraph on
people and ask them. ‘Are you happy with
your life?' the homosexuals I know would say,
'Yes. of course. I am.' and the machine would
say, 'You're lying.’ "
"I said that." admitted kesey, saying he
didn't base the comment on any facts.
Kennedy and Seibert persisted in accusing
kesey of making inordinate observations of the
AIDS issue, citing another passage from the ar
ticle: "the scriptures, not just the |udeo
Christian scriptures but lots of scriptures, say,
'Don't screw animals.’ it’s not because God
doesn't want us screwing animals, he's telling
us that if we’re going to screw animals, we re
going to get things from them this is not a
virus? What if we’re manufacturing it?”
kesey denied having said anything to that
effect.
"When you stand up in front of the media,
what comes out is another thing." kesey said.
Seibert urged him to apologize before the
estimated 1(H) people attending the awards
banquet for the remarks he admitted making in
the article, kesey said he would apologize, but
did not formally do so.
ironically. Kesey is suing the University
for $4 million as a result of a january 1984 auto
accident that claimed the life of his son while
on a University wrestling trip.
University President Paul Olum, represen
ting the University, testified this week against
Kesey's suit, which Kesey hopes will increase
safety standards and precautions in transporta
tion of athletic teams.
"Pioneers often wander off the path and
have to try and chop their way back on.”
Kesey concluded.
As for the protest. Kennedy said he was
satisfied with the effort. “I think Mr. Kesey
knows where we an; coming from. My opinion
of him, based on what he said, hasn’t changed.
Kennedy said he hopes the protest will en
courage future judges to look more closely at
the recipient's background.
Ideally, CAI~A had hoped to prevent the
Pioneer Award from being given to Kesey.
Kennedy said he was in contact earlier Thurs
day with members of a University faculty
panel responsible for choosing this year’s
award recipients, urging them to reconsider
Kesey's nomination.
Vice President for Administration Dan
Williams, one of four on the award panel, said
Kesey was picked primarily because he is a
distinguished author.
“In our judgments, we did not examine
the precise nature of the things he writes
about," said Williams, adding that the panel
had no knowledge of the Ksquire article. "Had
we known about it, I’m sure it would not have
influenced our decision, which was based on
the contribution he has made, not his
opinions."
Other recipients of the Pioneer Award
were I.eonard Casanova, the University’s foot
ball coach from 1951 to 1966 and athletic
director emeritus; lean Tate, Hugene real estate
broker; Karle Chiles, president of the Chiles
Foundation; and Robert Chandler, chairman
and editor of the Bend Bulletin.
Criticism
Continued from Page 1
someone was paid to do." she
said. The OSP program was
something to be proud of and
"naturally I am disappointed
that OSP seems to lie operating
on a smaller scale than it was."
Hartman said.
"Ismach said the article
didn't have anything to do with
it. that it was my unprofessional
attitude in my suggestion that
they hire somebody to take the
position Mary Hartman used to
have." Howard said.
"I'm really not going to speak
to that." lsmach said. Ismach
would neither confirm nor deny
Howard's accusations because
it was a personnel matter, he
said.
Although Ismach said
"usually we ll work nine mon
ths in advance" in terms of hir
ing for adjunct positions, he
said he didn’t remember when
the position was filled.
"It really is routine. We use
different people year after year
for the adjunct positions." he
said. Hiring procedures are less
formal for adjunct positions.
and Ismach usually confers
with other journalism school
administrators, he said.
“I just didn't think with the
deal over the OSP it was wise to
recommend him." Metzler said.
Howard believes the Emerald
article was "the straw that
broke the camel's back" and
said the journalism school is
hypocritical "to take something
someone says and use it as
grounds for dismissal," he said.
"They're - supposed to teach
freedom of speech."