Editorial
Tuition-waiver plan
offers just proposal
Affirmative action might make inroads to higher educa
tion this month.The State Board of Higher Education will be
dealing with a plan that, if approved, would pave an educa
tional path for blacks, native Americans and Hispanic*.
Financial constraints have locked these minorities out
of higher education for far too long and they need more
representation in Oregon’s colleges and universities.
Although currently just an idea, the State Board's plan
tentatively calls for waiving tuition and suspending fees for
the three ethnic groups.
Details have yet to be worked out. but the groundwork
has been laid. The proposal would affect minorities who
have graduated from Oregon high schools, and if enacted,
would take effect in fall of 1987.
Eligible minority students would be selected on an
academic and financial need basis, and they would receive
waivers for five years of college, with the cost of the program
running at an estimated $219,000 for the first year
The need for such a program is all too apparent. State
Board Chancellor William Davis correctly noted that blacks.
Hispanics and native Americans are underrepresented on
state system campuses — and statistics prove this.
Only 6 percent of the native Americans graduated from
Oregon high schools in 1980 enrolled in an Oregon college
or university.
I hal same year only 9 percent of the blacks and It) per
cent of the Hispanics who graduated from Oregon high
schools went on to higher education.
The average enrollment rate in higher education for
these three groups is roughly one-half that of whites and
Asians, according to Gary Christensen, the state board direc
tor of school relations.
Moreover, Christensen cited the trend of increasing
minority enrollment in Oregon's public schools, but a
disturbing declining or leveling off of minority enrollment
in Oregon colleges and universities.
The financial incentive offered minorities should go a
long way to alleviating .his underrepresentation, but the
hoard should look at some questions regarding its proposal.
For example, many minorities, particularly native
Americans, enter higher education institutions as non
traditional students.
Any plan that would assist minorities enroll in colleges
and universities would have to address this issue and would
have to offer a retroactive proposal to include minorities
who have graduated before the fall of 1987.
Similarly, the board would have to make good on its
promise to promote an active recruitment and retention pro
gram to insure an effective affirmative action plan.
In light of this, the $219,000 price tag may be a bit con
servative; however, the additional cost would be well worth
it.
Economic opportunity begins with educational oppor
tunity. The board's plan would be taking a big step to end
the cyclical malaise of financial and educational inequality
among minorities and would offer them a ladder to social
mobility.
I APPOSED-. JVAND
He ftaoepTHD?...
Letters
Political circus
As an aftermath of the elec
tion. charges of the supposedly
racist character of the new
Hrooks administration will be
bandied about even before the
new executive chooses its new
executive staff
To be forwarned is to be
forearmed. The new administra
tion will be setting itself up for
certain victory next year.
Ms. Hrooks can derail this
SPA campaign by doing what is
obviously required. If not. this
campus will endure more
political circuses of the sort
SPA has thrived on for the last
several years.
Andrew Beckwith
Physics graduate
Knit one
Congratulations to the
students of the University for
electing a woman with real
ideas!
President -elect kasey Brooks
has announced that her first
move as ASUO President will
be to take down posters and
rearrange the furniture in EMU
Suite 4 (ODE. April 24).
I'm so glad that someone's
going to redecorate! Finally a
president who understands the
Oregon Daily
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real needs of the Univeristy:
good taste and some fashion
sense.
Perhaps Kasey will extend
her plans to include rearrange
ment and redecoration of the
entire campus. We could get rid
of the icky ol' PIjC building and
put up something nice — how
about something in a colonial
style?
Thanks, Kasey, for reminding
us of the really important things
on a president's agenda. Maybe
while you’re at it you could
teach the IFC to knit.
Rebecca A. Staffel
Student
Name calling
I would like to formally
retract my statement (ODE.
April 27) saying that I have
respect for Jodie Mooney. After
reading her comments in
Wednesday's Emerald, I have
none (ODE, April 29).
I am disgusted by Mooney's
clarification of students who
voted for the SPA ticket
(l^chkar/Mooney) as mature
and concerned, and those
(mainly athletes. Mooney said)
who voted for the CSRL ticket
(Brooki/Caffney) as
unintelligent.
I was not aware that jodie
Mooney, as a former college
athlete and also a minority sen
sitive to prejudice of any kind,
could inflict such a derogatory
and untrue stereotype on any
class of people. It makes me
sick.
And let's get another thing
straight. I am damn proud of
who my father is. but let's not
forget that students elected me.
not my father. 1 think they know
the difference.
Do not attempt to minimize
my success by attributing it to
my last name. In doing so.
Jodie. you are just indulging in
another form of prejudice — the
fact that it is familiar does not
make it less harmful. I've work
ed hard to make my own name.
The students who voted for me
recognize that.
This is a democracy, Jodie;
there are winners and losers.
The losers are those who don't
vote. Insult me if you wish, but
don't insult students who were
concerned enough to make their
voices heard simply because
they voted for me.
Kasey Brooks
Law School
Temptation
1 would like to make three
points about Michael Cross' let
ter regarding the apparent
scourge of the Earth, liberals
(ODE. April 24).
His need to put iron-clad
labels on movements and peo
ple illustrates the super
simplicity of his reasoning. Mr.
Cross, maybe liberals, or
homosexuals, or whomever,
don’t all think the same way. as
1 hope all conservatives don't
think the way you do.
The need to put everyone
who does not share your beliefs
into nice, neat boxes highlights
your use of slanted stereotypes
to avoid considering a contrary
point of view.
1 am upset by the tendency in
politics today to pose the false
choice between right and
wrong.
Increasingly, Americans are
being asked not to contemplate
complex Issues and form a
judgement, but rather to make
the simple distinction between
right and wrong, good and evil.
To Mr. Cross, his opponents en
danger civilization. Nothing
else need be considered.
Mr. Cross' accusation that
liberals are totalitarians beneath
the surface is so hypocritical it's
funny. In his letter he called for
"cracking down" on practices
he opposes. In the next
paragraph, he explicitly favors
criminalizing lifestyles he takes
offense to. Why?
Mr. Cross claims homosex
uality's "effects on society" are
bad. Yet. where do the rights of
individuals fit into this crude
and subjective test of what
should or should not exist? 1
think that Mr. Cross has "effects
on society " which are negative,
but that doesn't lead me to think
he should be outlawed.
Well... .it is tempting.
Scott E. Baldwin
Political science