EDITORIAL
Condom availability
a must for students
Condoms don't cause sox. Seems pretty obvious,
yet that fact has apparently boon lost on parents and
administrators at South Eugene High School.
Their ignorance was made clear during testimony
Wednesday concerning a proposal by the school to in
stall condom dispensing machines Many parents who
testified expressed foar that access to condoms would
encourage abstinent students to I income sexually a<
tive.
Instead, they prefer the school teach abstinence as
a method of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and re
ducing teen pregnancies. Certainly abstinence should
be promoted as one method of dealing with these prob
lems. but it is not the only one. and it is one that many
students simply do not follow,
It is a fact of life that some teenagers ate going to
have sex. condoms or no condoms ll is the no-condom
group trial is at greatest
risk of spreading sexually
transmitted diseases and
that will benefit from the
installation of condom
machines.
It is also a fac.t of life
that many young people
are simply too embar
rassed to purchase con
doms at a store, or they
It is a fact of life
that some
teenagers are
going to have
sex, condoms or
no condoms.
cannot attortl them at retail pnt es.
Increasing their ability to got condoms may in
crease tin* odds that they will use them. It will not in
crease the amount of sex they have.
As for those students who are abstinent, the lure of
easy condoms is probably not sufficient to corrupt
them in the manner many parents fear. If the decision
to be abstinent stems from a student's morality, access
to an elastic piece <»( lubricated rubber is unlikely to
sway their beliefs.
Modern society requires students in* aware of sexu
al issues, including pregnancy and STDs, and how to
avoid them. Abstinence is unquestionably tin* most ef
fective method for avoiding these potential problems.
The second-best method requires the use of con
doms. Unfortunately, for many high school students
the second best method is the equivalent of Russian
roulette, taking their chances even with full knowledge
of the risks.
installing condom machines in the high school is
like making taxis available to drinkers All the educa
tion in the world isn’t going to slop some people from
driving to bars and drinking. Hut the availability of tax
is increase the odds they will get home alive. Nobody
would propose making calls unavailable with the hope
that would encourage people not to drink and drive.
The same goes for condoms. Students will contin
ue to have sox. The only question parents and adminis
trators have to answer is whether it will be safer sex.
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1
COMMENTARY
Faculty believe in University
By f van T i< k
A ret i'i)! i ornmentnrv by Daniel I Frank.
I Diversity i'din ation nut mi great" (()UT.
|an S). ((included that Oregon ((immunity
i ol leges arc superior to the 1 Umersilv in several
.is[mi I*. Ihe author stains ••dm .ition at this uni
versity is "a poor dollar -for-dollar value
For tin* most part I dtsagnxr with tins unsup
ported ((inclusion although ( crtam complaints
ring true I’rimorily. Frank equates tin* entire
University to his own experience, which is
grossly unfair to mans disr tplines that an* a Ih*i
tor dollar saim* here than in community col
legos, or i*si*n Ki*cd ( i (liege and others ( ited
(.ooii examples of this, in ms experiem i*. an*
tin* hard sciences. computer science, tin* fmsi
ness si fiool and others Ffiesi* tix hnical fields
are greatly strengthened by the research active
ties of tin* fa( ults The lei turns are, lis and
large, not ''laboriously delivered with a sense of
apathy." There is intetai lion lx*tssi*en lei Hirers
and students, and creativity is stressed
Frank's commentary ssas sufficiently un
founded and misdirei ted to engender sympathy
rather than ( ritu ism He quotes a friend as say
ing: "They don't teach sou at tin* University
You ten* li yourself " Sut h a situation is. in fai t,
"not so great." but not for the reasons stated by
Frank, svho appears primarily motivated fry get
ting high grades
I ssonld rephrase this as "They don't teai h
you at ans Igood) University They teach you
boss to teach yourself Then sou teach your
self.”
Life is far too i omplex to imagine that a
school can teach you everything needed for
sour future professional, cultural and emotional
lite !j>( tores that are "twisted and tangled" are
so either because they are poorly taught or ix
i a use the material is genuinely c omplex.
As Kuistein said "Things should lx* made as
simple as possible, hut not simpler" After grad
uation. a student faces the "real svorld” is hem*
the lessons learned must lx- applied in unfamili
ar situations
Again, in technical fields this is espec lalls
true Ixmk knowledge learned m computer
science sstll he obsolete usually svithin five
years But that does not condemn universities
for tear hing from Ixxiks The student must find
tfie maturity to learn how to learn
This is not to say that Frank s dissatisfaction
doesn't reflex t a real lai k of concern for teach
mg and resean h among some faculty at this
university As budgets tighten (concomitant
ssith increasing tuition, svorsening students'
perceptions further), course loads increase and
less time is allocated for course preparation,
problem-set construction and careful grading
Unlike Frank. I do not compare our university
to community or teai long colleges; 1 take a tar
more ambitious view — ( omparing it to the top
private research universities In this higher
light, you get more for your money here
The University has shown adequate success
at producing ext client graduates — this sin ie\s
rate can and should lie improved
Evan Ti< k is an assistant professor in tin
computer si ieni e department
By Kathy Saranpa Anstme
In response to Daniel T. Frank's ooimnentarv
[ODE. )an 5), let me go on record with what
may In' a xIhm king revelation: 1 am an assis
tant professor here at the University, and 1 read
the Emerald 1 do so because l care about the
i (immunity of whit h 1 am a member and be
cause I am concerned about the welfare and in
terests of nn students. Win else would I have
joined this profession'
Permit me to make vet another potentiallv
shocking statement University professors are
people w ho t are so min h about teaching and
research that thev have made it a lifelong pur
suit We spend long years to earn a Ph i) but
t an never hope to have an income anywhere
near as high as, for example, that Of a physician.
In oilier words, we are not in it for the money.
My colleagues, in this department and others,
are devoted, professional and caring individu
als Nonetheless, professors are humans as well.
There are "bad" professors just as there are
"bad" janitors, "bad" politicians and "bad"
therapists There are instructors who, for some
reason, turn their Ink kx on those whom they
have originally set out to serve.
Nevertheless, these individuals are in the mi
nority 1 am very sorry Frank seems to have re
ceived ill treatment from one sin h person. How
ever. 1 take offense at Ins lumping all of us in
the same negative category. It's unfair to as
sume, first of all, that such treatment is univer
sal or even common, and second, that it goes on
at the I hiiversity, but not at a smaller college
The members of the University faculty work
diligently often during evening and weekend
hours to prepare classes that are interesting,
i hallenging and worthwhile All human beings,
professors as well as non-professors, have off
days or cornu into personal or ideological ( (in
flicts with students
Hut believe me. we are here to serve you, 1
can t believe that a majority of us fee! apathetic
about the subjects we teach, or rely on prepat k
aged le< lures from publishing houses. or desire
that our students emerge from our courses as
cookie-i utter ( opies of ourselves
Frank is quite right. One of the prime goals of
a university is to help students develop into
"people who (.an think independently and ef
fectively express their views and opinions." I
assure you that most professors work toward
this goal w ith enthusiasm and dedication.
If it was one particular professor here who
embittered him against the whole profession,
did he try expressing his grievances against him
or her face to face? Or did he write a constnn
tive evaluation at the end of the professor's
course?
Unless we receive feedback from our stu
dents, we can not know how to improve our
skills I am very happy that Frank was able to
recognize and appreciate the fine teaching he
received at a community college Hut this uni
versity is also full of instructors "anxious to
share (their) wealth of knowledge and experi
ence with students "
Katin Saranpa Anstme is an assistant profes
sor of Herman and St.andinavian.