—Editorial_
System without PSU
will be overcrowded
Depending on whom you talk to. <i proposal made
last week to dose Portland State University is either a
bold move or a foolish one.
Last Thursday, the governor received a plan from
the Oregon Council of the American Klectronic Assw i
atiou. In it AEA-'Oregon called for closing PSU. with
the University turning it into a satellite campus Ore
gon State University would also gel into the act. t real
ing another campus at or near the Oregon Graduate In
stitute.
Supposedly, doing this would strengthen higher
education in the state by creating a Portland based i en
ter for science and engineering education and research,
to quote from the proposal
PSt! officials, faculty and students are irate Ore
gon State System of Higher Education Chancellor
Thomas Bartlett has called the proposal • premature
despite having said several times Oregon can't support
three universities. Mouse Majority Loader David Mix
(I)-Eugonnj has backed the plan. Gov. Neil Gold
schmidt is uncommitted.
To us, closing a campus — the second-largest uni
versity in the state — at a time when the rest of Ore
gon's colleges and universities are cutting back enroll
ment is a bad idea.
Attendance figures at the University have to be cut
drastically over the next few years. Students who oth
erwise are qualified are being denied an education.
While students would still be able to attend college
in Portland, it would be mostly for high-tech degrees.
Liberal arts majors would flock somewhere else, either
taking their resources and ability out of the state, or
overcrowding the University and OSU.
Portland contains nearly 60 percent of the state’s
population. Not having a major university in the area
is ludicrous. The AEA/Oregon proposal would polarize
the state system into separate groups Portland and
downstate, technical and liberal arts.
No one will deny that higher education m uregon
has a lot of problems Budget concerns are forcing ad
ministration officials to make cuts in programs they
would rather not have to make. Money is tight, and
drastic decisions have to lx? made.
But closing PSU is not the answer. Oregon schools
are already turning away enough people. There is a
danger of returning to the elitist attitude of the ltKtOs
when higher education was considered a privilege re
served for the wealthy and highly intelligent
A college degree is no longer just helpful for job
hunters; it's mandatory. No matter what the reasons to
the contrary. PSU should stay open as is.
Summit- Ags-nclr.'
Di?a«S arms-control agreemerTtb.
Review progress on strategic-arms
treaty-'
THK cwr v*vs to lmprrve ScVlet
economy
Summit Agenda:
TJV* •»
* UHMt hat
ASUO shouldn't meet behind closed doors
I hcri' s something insidious about gov
rrnillg bodies meeting behind ( losed doors
1 hat s v\ li\ we re disappointed with a rei ent
ai lion In the ASI ( ) I'Aei utiv e
i..ist Thursdav. .it its vvceklv stall meet
ing. the ASl'O was to discuss whether to
support a grievance seeking to prohibit ( l.\
recruiting on campus This grievance had
been presented b\ Shannon Oliver and Tim
Hughes ol Student (Campaign tor Disarm.!
men! at the statf meeting the week before,
and Oliver and Hughes had been invited
ha< k to hear Thursdav s deliberation
Shortly belore the meeting however.
Si ott Wyt koft ASI'() vie e president, moved
to i lose the meeting, i ding the reservations
some ASl’O members had over having their
disi ussion monitored Alter objec lions i ante
from Oliver. Hughes and the Oregon l)nil\
Dinrmlil (we were curious as to why ASl'O
wanted to go secretive on this). Wvckoff
pointed to an exc eption provided bv the Or
egon I’ublic Meetings l.aw
( iertainlv ASl 'O does have legalities on
its side; the ASl'O's ac tion isn't in violation
ot the letter of the public meetings law. Hut
it does brush against the spirit of that statute
the law dec lares that the business ot state
.tnd local governing bodies (including the
ASl'()) is best condut ted in the open.
Oliver and Hughes sav the\ wanted to
attend the stall meeting not to interfere with
the [iriH endings hut to simply listen. U u k
ot! and the other ASUO members appeal to
have believed that the presence ol outsiders
would have muffled the Kxecutive's deliber
ation on (!IA recruiting. II that’s the c ase, it
savs something about the courage ol our stu
dent leaders they should speak theii
views, yes. hut thev should expect to he
held ai i ountable for them as well.
In the end. ASUO dei ided lint to en
dorse St ill's grievance. Oliver said the l'Xei
olive had some justifiable legal concerns
that tune since been mended in a new griev
ance. hut after the shabby treatment she re
ceived. she won't go back to get ASUO’s of
li( ial support.
That's too bad. A student group such as
SUI) should he able should want even
to seek the support of all students of the
llniversitv If ASUO represents all students,
as it ostensibly does, it needs to welcome
the ( oik erns placed before it Quite obvious
ly. an open door is more welcoming than a
closed one.
-Letters—
Mistake
I w ish to point mil an editing
iTrnr On the "Letters'1 ser lion
in m\ letter "(deaner An
(oni: \dv <i) iiinri* was m.n
i male editing
Non printed lull (SB
lli tll) th.it would maket alitor
nia -. automobile emission laws
the toughest in llie nation
That makes it sound like the
lull Is aiming at California's
weak statldartls Wli.it wasting
inalh submitted was th.it (tali
forma's are the toughest m the
IS. and all other states would
also have to ( omph w ith the
standards making a national
standard under SB It. to
I’uneh \1oasser
TO
Social hub
In response lo K.«*l 1 \ John
son's It'iiiT |ODI Nov 7) I .on
surprised .m .ilumiuis would
make sue ii .i sli.illow observa
lion
The so i .died street peo
pie transients .ire there for as
mam reasons you have tor he
inn ilit ic It's .1 six i.11 liuli Ini
nian\ .inti personnlh I uni
imiif apprehensive ot the rtiv
mg packs o| lr.il Imi\s looking
Idi tun lli.in I .mi nl ,m\ tr.m
s li Mil
\u mu' slit it 1111 li'cl uinvi'l
i min' in .<n\ p.irt ut mu i ilv
.mil besides who an- vuu In s,i\
who belongs In'ii' .uni who
doesn't ■’
It voit .in' insulted by tin' t.n I
lli.il pi'iiplc .isk vmi In sp.trt'
sunn' change, maybe it's ,ilm>ut
timi' to ilu something .iIkiuI tins
problem 't on i ,m t pass In ilic
"ugly pcupli'" Mini entire life
It \mi really want tu be proud
nt your com mu it it \ do some
tlimg about tins problem, and
earn vour pride as easily as
these people may have lost
theirs
( ind> Huibn'Klw
Kugonc
Getting better
Thunks for vour front pagi*
.irfii It- iiIhiuI lhi‘ Native Anion
i .in Stiidont f’mon's full pow
wou Nov ! I've complained
in the past about your lai k of
i.nveraK'- of Native Amerir an
allairs but things seem to be
improvinn
Alter last spring’s Mar (aunt
powwow vriu printed a won
derltil picture on the Iron!
pa^e. and last month vou ran a
superli arlit It- about the Tl111y;11
dam e nroup that performed in
the I Ml Uallronm
It 's too bad that the I )m*i sits
Week activities sponsored In
the ASt't) ignore the Native
Anierir an r omrminitv (longrat
illations to the Emerald
though lor covering events
\\ hen they do happen
|ell Harrison
Student
Relevance
Kl Salvador Dot's tin* tupii
seem moot, or inspire v.uvns ol
boredom•' Well il shouldn't
lor over night years the tiin
t entral Amerii an nation has
Iwcn selectively thrust in .tin)
out of the Amrrii.aii news spot
light
During this time, the United
States has poured nearly $-4 bil
lion into the country, hoping to
quell <i popular rebellion
among its economically rfisen
tr.mi (used majority The polii y
has failed Land reform was
promised, hut not delivered:
two-thirds ol the population re
main landless
The prerequisites foi free
elections were pledged, but not
delivered The regime ol Presi
dent Alfredo Christiani "won"
the last ele< lion with less than
-ill peri ent ot the eligible vote
And lastly, the much touted
improvement in the govern
inent's human tights record has
proved to lie a sham Death
squads have killed tens ol thou
sands whilt? the 1 S -trained
Salvadoran air force has terror
i/.ed the countryside with
bombings, leaving over a mil
lion homeless
In the last vear. the situation
has grown worse Since Chris
tiani s ultra rightist AKLNA
partv assumed power, human
rights violations have est .dated
dramaticallv With this as a
bai kdrop. our fiends in Wash
ington continue to pump ovei
St million into HI Salvador e\
erv dav, making it the third
largest rei ipient ol I S foreign
aid in the world
This polii \ has made the
t'nited States an international
pariah "(' S out ol LI Salva
dor" may appear to be a worn
out slogan, but it has more rele
vance today than it ever had
Christian (.outlier
Lugene
-Letters Policy
I he Emerald will attempt to print all letters con
taining comments on topics of interest to the Univer
sity community. Comments must be factually accu
rate and refrain from personal attacks on the character
of others.
Letters to the editor must be limited to no more
than 250 words, legible, signed and the identification
of the writer must be verified when the letter is sub
mitted.