EDITORIAL
Struggle for diversity
not won by retreating
No problem has ever been solved by running away from
it. yet that is exactly what some of University minority
students are proposing to do if the administration fails to
respond to their needs.
Students of Color Building Bridges Issued a list of
demands Monday, in which the group called for increased
efforts from the University in its attempts to foster a mul
ticultural environment on campus.
The strongest of the group's complaints is the low num
lier of minority faculty at the University The group wants
the administration to make available a list of new minor
ity faculty and to improve techniques for identifying and
hiring minorities.
Of course, the administration immediately turns to
1990's Measure 5 as an excuse for slow progress in recruit
ment. The students respond by alleging the administra
tion's reliance on Measure 5 as an excuse is only a smoke
screen for lack of commitment. But the tax-limiting moa
sure is a reamy. »
The budget cuts thaloave already taken place, and the
budget cuts to come, make it extremely unlikely the Uni
versity will go on a hiring spree any time soon.
The group also wants to separate Ethnic Studies from
the Folklore department. Again, a legitimate request (who
wouldn't be offended to have their culture identified with
folklore?), but, again, change is unlikely without a real
istic funding plan to accompany the demand. A person
doesn't have to look far to realize the University is elim
inating. not creating, departments. This is not an excuse
pulled out of thin air.
One attainable goal the group has listed is the hiring of
bilingual admissions counselors and advisers. Univer
sity students are expected to learn a second language;
there’s no reason the administration and its employees
should not bo required to meet the same multicultural
expectations as the students.
Sensitivity seminars for students, faculty and staff are
another of the group's demands. This goal could be
attained by fixing the multicutltural curriculum, not by
requiring "re-education’' seminars. Sensitivity cannot bo
taught but is acquired as a result of exposure to other cul
tures and environments.
If these and other demands are not met by as oarly as
March 12. the group has threatened to begin a campaign
of disinformation, telling local high-school students and
their parents about the “oppressive nature" of the Uni
versity. Perhaps the University isn't a bastion of multi
culturalism. but no campus in Oregon is as accepting of
diversity as the University.
The group has also threatened to leave the University
as a last resort. Rathor than staying to fight for change, its
members would rather give up. pack their bags and move
on to more diverse pastures. This may be an option for
those who can afford out-of-state tuition, but it is acad
emic suicide for those who must remain in Oregon. They'll
have no place else to go.
If these students are interested in building, rather than
burning, bridges, they will stay and carry on the struggle.
Change will come — running away will only make it take
longer.
Oregon Doily
Emerald
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SOON
OPINION
Fight the real evil, tear up ‘TV Guide’
We Are Outraged! And
We're Not Going To
Put Up With It Any
Longer! Or so streamed the
headline in a full-page adver
tisement in the Forum Motion of
Thf Sunday Otvgonian
Egads! And just what terrible
injustice are we to lie Outraged!
about? Clinton's tax plan? Ser
bian war crimes’ Anything said
by the OCA? Dan Quayle being
allowed to roam free’
Nope. No such trivial issue at
hand here We've brought out
the big typeface to tackle the big
issues this time, and the target
for our Outrage! is — the enter
tainment industry. Certainly
you're familiar with the enter
tainment industry. That bastion
of cultural elitists who dared
bring us a pregnant Murphy
Brown, a Wayne's World movie
and Madonna naked on top of a
dog
Giving the ad's sponsors the
lienefit of the doubt. I read on.
The sponsors, the ad says, are
' mothers, fathers, grandparents
and other citizens who are out
raged at how today's movies, TV
programs, music videos and
records are hurting our children,
our families and our country "
No small list of dilemmas
there. Thank God we re getting
to the heart of these problems
Sociologists have spent years
looking for the answers to soci
ety's ills — when all they need
ed to do was read the A&E sec
tion of the local paper.
Bearing the gravity of these
problems in mind. I read on.
The ad says the members of
the American Family Associa
tion. who purchased the ad. are
DISMAYED that millions of girls
between the ages of 15 and 19
get pregnant each year. They are
SHOCKED when they learn two
thirds of all births to girls ages
15 through 19 are out of wed
lock.
They are also FRIGHTENED
"at the way violence and crime
are spreading everywhere.” Not
FRIGHTENED specifically at
violence aiui crime, but rather
the wav tit which they are
spreading. Maybe i( they were
spreading a different way. we
would lx* all right
So where is this ad going? 1
read on
"We sa\ it's time to put the
blame where we think it
belongs." screams the next line.
And where would that be On
abusive parents who mistreat
their children ' Economic condi
tions that make it more prof
itable to sell drugs than got a
job? A glaring lack of sex educa
tion in the schools?
Nope
The blame falls squarely on
the shoulders of the Board of
Directors of music, companies
who put out records and music
videos "which blatantly encour
age sex and say’ to our children
that sex is proper at any age."
Damn 1 missed those videos —
not for lack of looking
SHAME, says the ad, on those
in charge in Hollywood for "an
endless stream of PROFANITY.
NUDITY. SEX. VIOLENCE and
KILLINGS." It's common knowl
edge that in society at large,
these problem behaviors occur
much less regularly than Hoi tv
wood would lead us to believe.
In case I am too dense to rec
ognize VIOLENCE and SEX
when I see it. the ad provides
me with an example. "The giant
hit ’Basic Instinct' features mur
ders during orgasms." Yikes! Of
all the rotten times to be mur
dered But hey. when your time
comes, that’s it
Hoping the ad will give me
further advice on what to watch.
I read on.
SHAME on NBC and Satur
day Sight Live for performing
"skits about masturtvalion. mor
ticians having sex with dead
people, etc., etc., ad nauseam."
Damn (again). I missed those
skits. Where have I been?
Slowly compiling a list of
"must see" movies and TV
shows, I read on.
According to the ad, TV direc
tors KNOW that TV violence is
implicated in 22 percent OF
ALL JUVENILE CRIME AND
HALF THE HOMICIDES in
America. No kidding. But. has it
ever been proven? Has anyone
ever said. "Yes your honor, after
watching The Cook, The Thief,
His Wife and Her Lover for the
six-hundredth time. I decided to
‘The giant hit Basic
Instinct features
murders during
orgasmsOf all the
rotten times to be
murdered.
kill and eat my wife's lover."
Look for this one on Law Sr
Ordrr soon.
At last, my eyes have been
opened I now know what's
wrong with this country. And
just think, by mid-1994 we ll
have 500 channels of the devil's
work to choose from. I can feel
my soul blackening even now.
But wait! Try as l may to
repress it, the voice of reason
pokes its nose into my moral
business. "What about freedom
of speech and expression," the
voice whines "Shouldn't peo
ple take some personal responsi
bility for their children's behav
ior?'
What? Personal responsibili
ty? Never! We are all victims of
the establishment, which seeks
to oppress us and keep us brain
dead by feeding us whitewashed
information through the elitist
media.
Wait a second — that would
be me. Never mind.
Coming back to my senses. 1
take up the censorship argu
ment. The ad. always one step
ahead of me. already has the
answer.
"Spare us the censorship lec
ture — you in the entertainment
industry “ They can't mean me
I didn't get Murphy Brown preg
nant. I didn't turn a two-minute
comedy skit into a two-hour
movie, and I've never taken pic
tures of anyone simulating sex
with a dog (not for lack of try
ing). Obviously. I'm not in the
entertainment industry, so I may
continue my censorship lecture.
Perhaps Cod's greatest gift is
the remote control and our own
sense of right and wrong. These
societal ills existed long before
television and will likely never
completely disappear as long as
there's cable.
I wonder what time the video
store closes?
Martin Fisher is an editorial
editor for the Emerald.