-Editorial
Offering ideas for
Ctark/Wyckoff exec
Andy Clark and Scott Wyckoff will officially as
sume the duties of ASIJQ president and vice president
one week from today.
We want to sincerely wish them well in beginning
their term of office. While we admit that Clark and
Wyckoff weren't our first choice for the job. they did
impress us enough to make us believe they will be able
to do the job. and do it well.
One prerequisite of doing any job well is having a
good solid plan of what needs to be done. This was
one area that was a Clark/Wyckoff weakness during the
campaign; too many times, the pair demonstrated a
thorough understanding of the problems facing the
campus but failed to provide adequate solutions or
plans to remedy those problems
With the transition time they have had. we hope
they have come up with solid ideas and programs. For
whatever it's worth, we'd like to comment on ideas
they have already proposed, offer new suggestions and
mention some continuing concerns.
• Dealing with the administration The one crucial di
lemma Clark Wyckoff will fate next year will la* in
dealing with new University President Myles Brand.
As this year will set the tone for future administra
tion ASUQ relations, it is likely that the success or fail
ure of the Clark Wyckoff executive will be measured by
the precedent they set.
Indie ations i oming from Ohio State are that Brand
will be an able president genuinely concerned about
the University: that is. there is no reason to fear he will
be another Nat Slcuro, the controversial former presi
dent ol Portland State. This is good news, and it
somewhat eases the concerns we had regarding
(’lark/Wyckoff*s plans
During the campaign the two expressed too much
willingness to take the administration's line in issues.
Their attitude seems to he that they can work with the
administration to smooth things out. Well. yes. com
promise is sometimes good. But it is important that
Clark and Wvi kofl remember that their position is noI
to mediate disputes between the administration and
students (hey are there to represent the students.
And there are some student concerns, such as student
control of incidental fees and housing, that they sim
ply must not budge on
• Reaching disenfranchised students. This was a real
strength of the Clark Wyckoff ticket. Several times
over, they demonstrated an awareness of the need to
reach out to students. Their idea to meet with dormi
tory presidents is laudable, so is their proposal to meet
regularly with the heads of the various student unions.
In fact, the "Minority Policy Statement” they pub
lisher! during the campaign is a solid platform The
only thing needed here will be to follow through
But even the methods ('.lark W yckoff intend to use
may not be enough to reach all students. What aland
off-campus students, for example? Clark Wyckoff so far
haven't adopted the “Executive Advisory Panel." a
cabinet of student representatives, that was an excel*
lent proposal of the Hughes Kirk team. Here’s another
idea. At University of Washington, the student body
president moves his desk outside to the student union
courtyard one afternoon every week This is an excel
lent way to add approachahility to the office: maybe
Clark would be willing to do the same.
• Lobbying for student concerns. Once Clark Wyckoff
have <i good idea of what students want, which we
fully expect them to do. they will likely find that their
constituents want continued lobbying on ongoing con
cerns — child care, racism control, campus safety,
computer registration, additional housing, student
control of incidental fees, ad infinitum
ClarkWyckoff didn't express any deep commit
ment to lobbying through Oregon Student Lobby or the
United States Student Association. They should learn
u> develop such a bond. The fact is. OSL and USSA art;
verv good at what they do, and the impact those lob
birrs have is much more than ('lark Wyckoff can accom
plish alone.
The task of guiding the ASUO bureaucracy can
sometimes hi; daunting, but Clark Wyckoff can take
some heart that, with their overwhelming success in
the primary, they do appear to have the students be
hind them. They can do the job. But they should take
advantage of all the means and suggestions offered to
them to help them do that job. OSL and USSA are two
such means.
OU.V/ELL,
beat^h.
beatsm
\
—Letters
Scarce
Reason is si art e these days.
Many people are using, in
stead. questionable ideas and
assertions that rest on rhetoric
or antagonism rather titan
sound principles and careful
thought
An extreme example is
i’timelia Settlegoode's attack
(OI)K. April 17) on William
Moore She assesses Moore
with incorrect presumptions
and attac ks his charac ter with
out evidence or reasoning, in
clear violation ot OUK policv
(if April 25: win was this
printed?)
Other responses to Moore's
letter are civil but not sound
Susan Price (OI)K. April 21)
reasons linm an admitted opin
ion without substantiating >1
Limi'ii Upshaw (ODE April
211 criticizes Moure lor "ill
flirting" his principles on oth
ers. hut inflicts hors upon linn,
i ontradirting herself
On another front. Ilert Tryba
(ODE. April UH) not only misin
terprets m\ letter (ODE. April
14) hut distorts his evidence,
quoting Bible* verses out of con
text in outdated English, in
venting contradictions that do
not exist under c loser scrutiny
These .ire examples of a gen
eral trend reasoning which is
inconsistent, fallacious, or de
pendent on uncertain presup
positions. Fundamental values
are ignored, vet they are usual
ly the root of pioblems Inter
change without common fun
damental assumptions is hound
to reach disagreement
Buildings with different
foundations seldom share the
same roof. I have seen many
current social, political and
philosophical issues argued ve
hemently on rooftops, to little
avail. Honest "building in spec
tion” hum the ground up
might gel better results
A.VI. Sauerwein
Music
No support
Imagine my shock and sur
prise* when I read in the Emer
ald's editorial on May 8 that
the ODE 'support(s) gay and
lesbian rights " Wow! Really?
How nice for the (-'morale).
What form does this "sun
port" take? Money? Well. no.
l)oes the Kmerald staff partici
pate in lobbying our congress
persons for gay rights? No.
Well, they must at the very
least write artic les and editori
als presenting the- gay and les
bian community in a fair, accu
rate light, right? No. in fact,
thev only report on sensational
and negative aspects and even
go so far as to attac k the legiti
mate concerns of gays and les
bians; worse, they often fail to
report anything at all so that
tin- sensitive egos of heterosex
uals will not be- offended If
th.it is support, no thank you. I
won't have any
Didn't your parents teach
you not to lie?
Scott Shoup
Asian studies
Perks
What has the Athletic De
partment done for my educa
tion (besides making it cost
inure)?
Mike Sw anson
Student
Isolated?
Recently, a lot of people have
told us that the Greek system is
Hood hut nets had press from a
few isolated incidents. Well,
those "isolated incidents" are
piling up fast, guys and gals
The mattress incident is per
haps the worst, showing how
fiats are willing to treat their
own Should the victim decide
to press charges, kidnapping
and reckless endangerment are
two that are very serious and
shouldn't he hard to prove
A few dangerous kooks c an
turn up in any organization,
but the test is lun\ the organi
/ation deals with them Will
Sigma Alpha Kpsilon expel its
members who perpetrated this
crime, or w ill they see it as a
"harmless prank"?
II SAK tries to sweep this un
der the rug. the rest of the
Greeks should ostrai ize the
whole fraternity. If the (.reeks
do nothin#, they are condoning
their violent brothers, and the
University should disenfran
chise them. You gotta start
cleaning your own houses.
Scott Jamieson
Eugene
Spectacle
With so many heavy issues
facing America now I find it a
pitiful spectacle of students ri
oting in tin? streets near a party,
lust look at the clout Chinese
students have over the destiny
of their country! We need a rev
olution here to change some of
the ills in our society, but riot
ing lor the sake of rioting is
juvenile and a waste of energy
and public resources.
Grow up!
Ililde K. Cherry
Kugene
No dignity
I've always wondered how'
fraternity boys go through the
week of degradation and hu
miliation known as "initia
tion." only to arrive at the con
clusion that. "I love these
guys, they're my brothers!"
"Poor fools," I always think to
myself. No self-respect. No dig
nity.
Kach term 1 hear new stories
about the latest techniques in
humiliation, but I've never
heard one I ike the SAK "fun”
of May 1 I don't know whether
this cruel stunt was for initia
tion. or simply an act of broth
erly love, but I do know that it
made me sick.
I hope that the victim ot this
incident has the courage to
stand up lor himself and press
charges against the "men" in
volved I hope, for the sake ot
his own pride and whatever
max be left of his dignity, that
he isn't out there somewhere
saying. “They physically and
mentally abused me in front of
everyone! Cod, I love these
guys, they're m\ brothers!"
Michael Keep
Rhetoric and communication