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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1987)
Oregon Daily Emerald Love isn't always hugs and kisses See Page 6 Friday, February 13, 1987 Eugene, Oregon Volume 88. Number 99 ...... , _ . Photo by Maria Corvallis World-renowned Soviet pianist Lazar Berman (left) critiques doctoral candidate Meijane Quong’s (front center) and music school Professor Victor Steinhardt’s technique during a master class at Beall Hall on Thursday. Famed Soviet pianist 'speaks' universal language of peace By Steve Lundgren and Lisa Kosse (X I1m Emerald Few in Lazar Berman’s audience understood his words, but his language was unmistakably univer sal. Berman, a Soviet pianist, is considered to be one of the best in the world. He performed in the Hult Center for the Perform ing Arts on Wednesday night, and on Thursday afternoon he conducted a master class at Beall Hall and spoke on the history and musical interpretation of Russian compositions. Berman arrived in Eugene directly from Carnegie Hall in New York. Eugene was one of only six stops he will make on his first tour of the United States since 1976 and his only West Coast stop besides Los Angeles. Eugene welcomed him in true VIP fashion Wednesday in a ceremony at the Hult Center. "The universal language of the arts has brought us together,” said Mayor Brian Obie. In an event that has never taken place in the history of Eugene, Obie presented Berman with a key to the city. "This is the first key — the key to an open heart," Obie said. Obie said that he (and the Hult Center) were "proud to work in partnership with the University of Oregon and Berman." Obie was referring to the master class Berman taught Thursday. Berman, speaking through an interpreter, ac cepted the key "very gratefully.” He also was presented with a brick to be laid at the Hult Center. Berman said that he was happy to be back in the United States after eight years. He has been keeping the warmest, cordial desire to meet with American friends again, and his Soviet comrades share the same feeling, he said. "It is a difficult time between our people inter nationally,” Berman said. "The main obstacle is the absence of trust.” He added that art is playing a more valuable role than before. "Music is apt to create the trust we need for closer agreement between our countries," he said. "When the guns are speaking, the muse is silent. When the muses speak, guns will be silent." "We need to make sure our guns never speak; get rid of them altogether," Berman said. "Music will speak tonight," Obie responded. Hult Center marketing director Neil Archer Roan said Berman is one of his favorite pianists. When he discovered that Berman would be touring the United States, he immediately contacted Goss Konzert, Berman’s Soviet management agency and began negotiating to get Berman to give a perfor mance in Eugene. He was able to get both the ap pearance and exclusive rights to a national radio broadcast. Turn to Pianist, Page 3A Cooperative seeks aid for education, business By Chris Norred Of the Kmerald Any realistic plan for Oregon’s comeback must in clude a major role for the education, businesses and cities of the southern Willamette Valley region, legislators were told Thursday. I legislative issues rhe Southern Willamette Research Corridor, a cooperative that includes the University. Oregon State University, regional businesses and governments. sponsored a luncheon at the Capitol where University Vice President for Research John Moseley and other vSWRC members lobbied legislators to support the area's growing web of new research, technology and industry. Seven speakers representing the SWRC told legislators from around the state that economic growth and development in the southern Willamette Valley region will depend heavily on how much the state in vests to exploit the research strengths of the University and OSU, and how well those strengths can be linked with industry. "The old axiom, ‘You get what you pay for,’ holds considerable validity when you talk about higher education," said Charlie Varrs. mayor of Corvallis and an OSU economics professor. Varrs mentioned the speech Gov. Neil Goldschmidt gave at OSU on Wednes day for the fifth annual Tom McCall Memorial Lecture in Public Affairs. The governor talked about the importance of higher education, Varrs said. But the governor's speech "made me understand" that his top priority is public safety, and the first money must be used for a prison program to make Oregonians feel safe, he said. "The governor said he wished to be judged on what he did for higher education in four years when he’s running for re-election," he added. Although Varrs said he understands the governor's priorities, he emphasized to legislators that OSU and University faculty salaries are in urgent need. "I know it's difficult to be a politician and say peo ple who are paid $40,000 a year are paid too little," Varrs said. But the best professors are being offered more money by other employers, and the best professors need to be kept in Oregon because their research skills attracts grant and gift money, which creates jobs in the state, Varrs said. The University and OSU faculty are the lowest paid compared to faculty at similar colleges across the coun try, "even in Mississippi," said Eugene City Manager Mike Gleason. The problem is that 15 percent of the professors bring in 80 percent of the research grants, Gleason said. "Those 15 percent are the professors be ing offered more to go somewhere else,” he said. "If those people go, their grants go with them." Gleason plugged the proposed Riverfront Research Park in Eugene, which he said will serve as "a link bet Turn to SWRC, Page 3A IFC funds Oregon Student Lobby despite opposition By Scott Maben Of Um liwld Two members of the Incidental Fee Committee opposed funding the Oregon Student Lobby’s proposed 1987-88 budget Thursday night, but the group still received the $28,035 it requested by a 4-2 vote. The IFC granted three other University organizations a total of $7,368 during the budget hearing. Keeping with budgeting philosophies he’s maintained since the hearings began 11 days ago, IFC member Ron Mu nion said he felt OSL has fingers in pies not for the consumption of most students paying the required fees. Munion said he had no trouble fun ding groups taking political positions on campus issues, like financial aid, seeing such activity as adding to the diversity of the University. But when active off campus, Munion said lobbyist groups like OSL should deal only with broad-based issues benefiting the whole class and not just a few of its members. Munion criticized OSL’s stand on the gay rights’ bill, recently introduced in the Oregon Legislature, concluding this affirmation doesn’t promise to benefit all students. “What that represents is the overall philosophy of the OSL taking positions on issues that don’t have a broad base of student support,’’ Munion said. “I think if you were to take a poll on that bill, you wouldn’t find support on this campus for it. Now, that’s not necessarily fair to deal with that bill.’’ Included in OSL’s budget request was more than $2,000 to join either one of two national lobbyist organizations. But the request gained the opposition of IFC member Laurie Clark because the group hasn’t yet made the decision to join. “I’m not willing to raise student fees for something that they’re not even com mitted enough to take a stand on,” Clark said. The committee spent barely five minutes examining the $221 budget re quest of Alpha Kappa Psi before unanimously granting it. That’s $1 less than the current budget for the Greek fraternity. Women's Referral and Resources Center got $5,023, $14 less than it re quested, with five votes in favor and one abstention. The Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, a new publication by law school students, requested and received $2,124.
