Forum
Candidate demands action on higher education issues
By Paul Hoibo
I .1111 .m optimist ! think tli.it
thr !)uik I not ball team will
have otifi of its liost seasons in
its history this I,ill The quiet
i onfidence of the i o.ii lies I’ve
t.liked In is one reason lor m\
views Another winning season
will lilt spirits m this slate
and help tinaiii e men’s and
women's sports at the 1 inverse
t\ (lo Duds' (food hit k to the
Heavers also.
Commentary
1 also believe that the 1 hover
silv and Oregon Slate Uni vers i
tv will continue to be members
ol tile f’.it ilit II) ( duterenc e
This membership is important
lor academic reasons as well as
lor athletic t onnet lions, and
leaving the conference would
only worsen the tin,nit i.d deli
i it nt the Athlete IJepartment
(,’ollege athletic s are vital In
schools sui h as ours
I'm.mi ing big-time i allege
athletics will he an increasing
problem, however, and not just
at the University and (INI A
rei ent study by the l-orum for
College Financing, titled ”Tis
cal Kitness:’ The Peculiar Kco
nomii s ol Intercollegiate Atli
letic.s," questions whether tile
most successful athletic pro
grams can continue as they
have done The University of
Michigan, with its huge foot
hall c rowds, projects detic its ol
$5.2 million by 1'l‘Ki Kduca
tioiial leaders and the NdAA
will have to address these is
sues more eflectiveh than in
till! riH fill past
Addressing the current defi
i it is the immediate issue in
Oregon I'he Oregon State
Hoard of Higher Education has
directed Oregon's publir uni
versifies to address this prob
lem in admitting more students
in order to i o\ er the costs of
grants in aid to athletes and
nthei expenses of athletic pro
grams
i'll is direi live will make the
rest of the 1 niveisitv tinam e
the athletii program, which
non gets no state funding.
Some higher educ ation offic ials
have attempted to argue tii.il
there will he little impac t
Budget offic ei Davis Quell/.er
hopes that marginal-cost eco
nomics will allow the 1’iuveist
t\ and OSl’ to handle the slu
dents with no extra costs that
i lasses c an he made lugger
Vice Chancellor Hill I.emman
s.ns that the J1K1 to BOO exlru
students will he "almost imper
c eptihle. tucked into c hisses
here and there on campus
Such arguments are a con
vincing c ase for making admin
istrators talk to students and
faculty more often There nl
ready is tremendous over
c rowding and unmet student
demand for courses at the- I'nj
versity herause it has been
chronically underfunded, be
cause Gov Neil Goldschmidt
ordered a programmatic budget
reduction in 1989 that cut
deeply, and because the 1989
Legislative Assembly failed to
provide the money for students
already enrolled.
As a result of tire chronic
underfunding, the College of
business Administration has
restricted enrollments tor sever
al years, and the Department of
Economic s followed suit when
it was overrun with students
who could not get into business
courses lint Department ot
i’hvsit al Ktliii at ion took the
same ,ii turn more ret cntlv |I
relei to I’K teat hum courses
following an earlier budget i nt,
PI! activity classes must sup
port themselves hv special fees
charged to participants !
Past year, rhetoric and com
mu nit alums students waited in
the halls all night m order to
sign up lor t lasses \s a result
ol the PIH'I budget cut
rhctcomrn and leisure studies
eat h ot vvhiuil have had
large enrollments will cut
the number of their students
nest \ear Among smaller pro
grams affected hv the 1089 t lit
lire the graduate program in
counseling psychology and
classes in American Sign lan
guage
Ante ipated budget
stringency caused the acting
dean ut arts and s< ieiu es this
spiring to suspend the popular
American studies program
Faculty and students have
asked that tins suspension he
reviewed next tall hut no new
majors will he admitted in
1990-9 1
Some have argued that slu
dents who want American
studies i an take six iologv oi
Fnglisli courses I'he painful
facts are that tills past winter
term, every seat in every ( lass
in sociology was tilled livery
seat in every upper division
Fnglisli i lass was Idled hv the
morning of the first day of reg
istration Hverv seat in every
i lass in psychology also was
filled, and the same was true ot
other departments
It is not possible to add a lew
more students to each i lass
when students are already sit
ting m the aisles and when
there are long waiting lists lor
openings
Seniors have priority in leg
istr.ition, lint nuinermis seniors
.ire un.ltile to take tile < hisses
thev want One senior told me
recently lli.it this spring lie got
only three .>t his five selet ted
t hisses A p.irent ol .1 sellioi
s.nd that his daughter dropped
out bei .iuse she i mild not en
roll in the classes she needed
Virtually every week a student
tells me ol his or her problems
most recently a student in
politii al si ieiu e l lie situation
is especially severe toi soplio
mores and tuniors
it is going to get worse I he
psvt hologv department a
world class program has t.JOO
majors and understandably pro
poses to admit no more I lie
mathematics department is
considering teaching calculus
in sec lions ot 2ri() or even 4at)
l 'Diversity Vice (’resident
Dan Williams, who is responsi
hie tor athletic s. is l ightly i on
cerned that some otliei unit on
campus will have to pay tor the
costs of athlete programs
(liven competition lor si an e
resources. I come down firmly
on the side of ai adeinn priori
ties, despite Illy respei t tor the
fine athletic program dev el
oped at this university One ol
the reasons I bei ante a legisla
live candidate was my growing
concern that our undergraduate
students are being neglected 1
have disc ussed the shortage ol
courses with Chancellor Thom
as Bartlett and with Dave
Frohnmayer. both of whom ap
preciate the situation
President Myles Brand, who
did not create either the ai a
demic or the athletic problem,
deserves praise for stating that
hi' will not shit! funds trout .u
udemies to athletics Hut the
situation hand'd lum .it
cepting several hundred oi
linin' new students presents
.1 ddtu ult t halienge given the
I .mi king ut existing student de
maud for i nurses
\ 11 nppurtuuitv must he
made ul tiie i rtsis The fiuan
< nil detn it in atllletu s should
lie used to make the puhlii
aware of tiie largei financial
problem ut higher edui .itum in
Oregon It this issue is under
stood and at ted upon both ath
letii s and ai .ulemu s i mild hen
efit I hev both deserve help
fills will iei|llire the stale's
leaders to fat e luiidaiiiental is
sues involving higher edut a
turn I hev hav e not been vv ill
mg to do so to! a del atle, ex
i epl during the PIH.VH7 hienitt
mu although tormei President
Paul Oltim and others tried re
peatedlv to get the attention ot
legislators
The Legislature should he
ashamed of itseli fur refusing to
provide for the ai ademii allv
iiualdierl and motivated stu
dents who need and want to at
tend Oregon 's institutions ot
highei edm atuin We have the
best students .it the l mversitv
m its history We also have the
best fai ulty members hut we
do not have enough ot them to
teat h the students who are here
now W e are also relv mg far loo
heav ily on graduate tear long
fellows and on temporary or
adjoin t lai ulty PSt is iniiiei
enrollment pressure and t )M
isn't far behind
Ke< i-iit legislatures have not
faced tlii’ir responsibilities to
pruvuit* tin1 education needed
lor Oregon's fntnri’ l'here lias
In-cn I it t if recognition ol the
need to (IimI with thr present
overt rowded classrooms. fv«■ 11
less with .1 larger problem
ahead
rlus veai I'l'tn marks the
low point in the number ol
high si bool graduates in ( lie
gun B\ 19VI4 there will he
;i,flOU more high-school gradu
ates in Oregon each veal lortv
to ">o pen **iit of them w ill uant
to go on to higher ediif ation
H\ liUOO there will lie 10.(100
more high school graduates
eat h Near than there are tod.iN
U here are lliev to go' I nless
preparations begin soon,
there’ll he no room .0 Oregon’s
inn ot higher education.
What to do ' l ilt’ first step
to elect oftu i,iIs nv ho are i on
corned about these issues whu
promise to make the l.egisla
lure deal with issues ul edttca
Iiiiii and liighet edui ation at
UO BOOKSTORE
131H AND KINCAID I'M M6-4MI
MOMMY IRIOAY KJO bOO
tlit' beginning ot eat h session
The second step is to insist
thev translate talk into action
i housands of Heaver anti I Jut k
tans could help might il\ to pro
vide the needed political pres
sure serving athletics and
(he umvi'isiiv .it tin*
s.iiih- time Co U(*ii\fTs’ Co
I Hu ksf
I’.ml llolho is l nivvrsit\ ifn1
/>n>i ast tui .it .ulrmii .ill.nrs
■ mil ,i h’r/nihhi .in i .iiulid.iti- far
Si,tlr San,ilr /listrii I
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THE FAR SIDE
By GARY LARSON
My sonar s got it at 12 feet away and closing
... 11 teet .10 teet . . . God, it's enormous! . .
Nine feet