EDITORIAL
Ethics education?
So, what’s next?
Character education in the public school system?
Scary.
Oregon's Board of Education will hold its first pub
lic reading today in Portland of a policy that could re
quire the state's public schools to teach its students
qualities like respect, empathy, responsibility and hon
esty.
The policy stems from a report submitted to the
state Legislature by the board that lists character educa
tion in its definition of standard education, the re
quired curriculum each school must provide.
The platform is also in response to an obscure,
rarely enforced law. which states public schools are re
sponsible for teaching ethics and morality. Education
officials fear school districts that don't offer such les
sons could risk losing state-funded support.
But whose morals will the schools teach? Whose
ethical standards win
be preached? Which
value system will be
enforced?
It seems the Oregon
Education Department,
from where the policy
originated, didn't ac
count for the multitude
of perspectives regard
ing character definition
in this state.
Seeing as how this
policy comes from an
arm of our benevolent
government, it seems
probable the depart
ment would pick a
norm that's no doubt
Those attempting
to enforce the
development of
character need to
consider the
diversity of ethical
stances present in
this country before
setting some
ambivalent
standard for the
ideal’ American.
best fur us; that would serve to protect us from our
selves, us well as make its job of control a little easier.
The most predictable standard is the white, mid
dle class, patriotic, hard-working, basic "Leave-it-to
Beaver" norm. This grade of behavior exemplifies what
America is "supposed" to be; the* imaginary image of
we, the masses, held in the minds of the few ruling
elite.
Reality is .1 bit different, though. Americans come
in a variety of shapes, colors, sizes — and value sys
tems. Those attempting to enforce the development of
character need to consider the diversity of ethical
stances present in this country before setting some am
bivalent standard for the "ideal" American.
And that leads to another point; There is no ideal
moral standard by which to measure. Because we all
have different life experiences, our individual person
alities are inherently different.
No group, and especially not our "democratic, lib
eral" government, has the right to dictate what our eth
ics and morals should be. Granted, some qualities are
more desirable than others and more conducive to our
society, yet the "teaching" of character still treads on
shaky ground.
And besides, consider the current condition of our
school systems. The declining reading, writing and
mathematical skill levels of our graduates show these
areas need our fullest attention right now.
The policy is expected to be accepted by the board,
which will hold another public reading/comment
meeting during its Nov. 21-22 session in Salem before
making its final decision.
It's in our best interest to further evaluate this pro
posed plan before its approval; should it pass, Oregon's
children will be subject to a system of enforced churac
ter forming that may soon extend beyond the bounda
ries of "morality ”
CJ •*£>*'
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LETTERS
Shortsighted
In r <■ s p o use to K y o n
Mat Tetter's attuc k of Laurie
McMillon (DDK. Oct 10)
Me Mi lien states that she ran
do without people like Jon
Wullandrr despite her support
for a diverse society
It I at ke t ter s adolescen t.
shortsighted response accuses
her of hypocritically providing
,i "disservice to those gays and
lesbians tolerant of true diversi
fy."
To express distaste does not
i ontradict the concept of toler
ance McMillan's distaste for
YYollandcr's views is not a re
lection of his right to exist
Just because she "could do
without him," as I'm sure many
of us could, doesn't imply that
Woliander. or anyone else (or
that matter, doesn't have the
right to express him or herself
For example, besides agree
ing wholeheartedly with
Me Millcn atiout lielng able to
d o w i l h o u t the likes of
Woliander. I could also do
without people like itlai ketter.
McMillan's so-called "radi
cal" distaste for Wollunder's
views does not provide near
the disservice to the gay and
I e s b i a n c o rn m unity as
Wollunder's militant intoler
ance, and Dlai ketter's petty ar
gument over semantic s. which
tremendously undermine and
jeopardize the struggle for true
diversity within the community
as a vs hole
Kathleen Bender
Anthropology
Thelma & Anita
I wonder if Tht'lma and Lou
is<< hftd Ivon nuidi' in Ihe early
eighlieN it Aniia Hill would
have handled her sexual ha
rassment differently.
For those of you who still
have not seen the movie, or
thought it ended poorly, or
thought it was just the wrong
message to give to America,
what we witnessed in regard to
Hill and how she was treated is
the reason Thelma and Louise
was made
It's just like how Louise tells
Thelma, Who's going to be
lieve that' We don't live in that
kind of a world
The treatment of Anita Hill
proves Louise is right. For this
woman, 1 was with Thelma and
Louise to the end and I wonder
il Anita Hill now wishes she
had gone over the edge, too.
Kehekah Shelley
Theater Arts
Thank a cop
Until rending the "Reporter's
Notebook" articles of Oct 20
concerning police-student rela
tions. I was unaware of any
problems between the two
groups 1 finished reading the
pieces and decided to make a
police officer's day and tell him
that 1, for one, appreciated the
thankless effort he and his fel
low officers (Hit in every day
trying to make the campus a lit
tle safer for students like me
During my conversation with
Officer Scarborough, lie sug
gested a way to ease tensions
between students and polite
He proposes that if students
were more responsible lor their
own behavior, and behaved
with common sense and re
spet t lor other people and lilt
laws of our area, there would
be less need lol police officers
to confront students, issue cita
tions, or take other such at -
lions.
Since (ivory student is a self
professed adult, this simple
doctrine of courtesy toward one
another and our laws would
not seem to be an outrageous
idea, but obviously it is too
much to ask of some people,
and the result is the need for
police officers to act as socie
ty's keepers Perhaps those stu
dents that are resentful of the
presence of officers should look
at their own behavior and moll
ify it to a more mature course
of action.
Ileatherle Himes
Journal ism/Histury
Lies
Do you get the fooling that
someone is lying in Washing
ton' For example, during Rob
ert Gales' confirmation hearing
for CIA director, the testimony
was contradictory.
Did Gates intentionally slant
intelligence reports to over-ex
uggerate the Soviet threat? Did
he lie to Congress about his in
volvement in illegal covert ac
tivities?
The witnesses strongly dis
agreed If the senators are con
fused, whore does that leave
us?
We can start bv learning all
wo ran about government se
crecy and the lies of govern
ment officials. You art! invited
to hear Rev. Bill Davis' presen
tation. ''Government Secrecy:
The Constitution in Crisis,” on
Oct 28 at 7:30 p m. in Room
150 Columbia
It's time to set limits on what
government officials do with
the money and power we give
them.
Scott Reeves
Portland State University
"T'uii mux, t&jpo* r t I
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