Professor put life in Shakespeare By Katy Mo«ll«r Oregon fWv f m*r#M With the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in full swing and the University’s last performances of King Unr this week end. it is easy for Shakespeare connoisseurs to indulge themselves Hut wait Recall the first time you dove head-first into the text of Troilus and Cressidn and had more than a question or two If you were lucky, vour professor did more than help you navigate through the "thees" and "thous For hundreds of current and former University stu dents, the unparalleled instruction of former professor Gloria Johnson brought the plays to life Though Johnson, professor emeritus of English, retired in 1990 after an illustrious teaching career, her reputa tion as one of the foremost educators lingers on. Johnson's dedication to teaching did not go unnoticed during her 34-vear tenure at the University She was awarded the University's liighest honors for teaching — the Ersted Award in 1972, and tlie Burlington Northern Award in 19H6. Johnson's former students, many of whom continue to keep in touch with her. can still vividly recall the her classes "She goes through the literature and she points out things as if they are jewels and wants to share them with you. Once she has shown you where the jewels are. it's so rich you want to share it." said Johnson's student Bon nie Lee, who successfully defended her dissertation Fri day. Emily Harnish, a 1992 graduate of the University Eng lish department said. "She's a wizard. She had insight beyond any other professor I've ever had. Every person in class would have their book open as she went through each line,"she said. One of Johnson's colleagues even admits to trying to find out what that special something was about her class es. "She's terribly modest. I never understood what mag ic she had. I stood outside her classroom to figure out what she did. I never knew.” said George VVickes, former head of the English department. Lee said. "It's not a method of teaching. It's not what she does, it's who she is. She is real She is a treasure." Johnson said one of her greatest joys in teaching came from seeing that students enjoyed reading the plays. She said she always tried to tailor her classes to the interests of students. One of Johnson's greatest pleasures came from teach ing Honors College students. Like many Honors College students, Johnson showed a high a degree of academic motivation. Johnson was awarded a New York State Regent's scholarship in 1940, which she used to attend Barnard College, a women’s college. "We used to laugh because the dean kept talking about ‘trained brains ' She would say. 'Every woman has to have her own career. You can't depend on your hus band,’" Johnson said. After receiving her master’s degree from Columbia University in 1946. she began working on her doctor ate. With funding from a Fulbright scholarship, in 1949 she went to London Her primary focus was on the history of melodrama, an area that Johnson said hadn't really been explored. She found a rich resource of playbills and reviews in the archives of the British National Museum. Because most of the material she needed had to lie moved for protec tion during the war, Johnson spent much of her tune doing research in a bomb shelter Courtwy pMo O to rim Johnson, pro lassor smart tu a of English, la ona ol tha Uni varsity'a moat honotad pro lasso rs Before getting married to an Oxford University forest ry student. Johnson returned to the United States to teach English at Girnell University. Though she said she enjoyed teaching at Cornell, she admits that being the only woman in the department was odd "It was lonely. I was invited to faculty wives' lunch eons. I wasn't married at the time They thought 'This is a strange creature.’ " she said. After getting married in 1954. Johnson and her hus band lived in London for two years. "I liked it much, much more than New York City." she said emphatically. When she started at the University in 1956 she was raising a family. She began teaching part-time and tu tored students in her home "1 tutored five football players in a survey of English literature in my living room. It was quite an amusing experience. They were amazingly receptive," she said. "We had to have sturdy chairs." she added. Johnson enjoyed taking students to live performances in Ashland and even brought England’s Royal Shake sfware Company to campus in 1979 "I spent the entire summer trying to raise the 510.000 it cost to bring them here. It was worth it.” she said Perhaps it is Johnson's personal love for literature, combined with dedication, that made her a well-re spected and well-loved professor, tier favorite play is Amg Lear and has been since the earliest days of her ca reer. "You can come luick to Ijear at so many stages in your life. Every time you read it. something new leaps out at you. It is full of despair and full of hope. I see the end of the play as hopeful." she said. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Johnson comes from a colleague. Thelma Greenfield Greenfield, the first woman to become associate and full professor in the English department, has known Johnson since 1959. "I've never seen anyone like her. She takes the burdun of the world on her shoulders. She helps one person at a time. She does it person by person I am awed at being in the presence of a saint,” Greenfield said. Bill may change sex education By Martina Joffe "«ti OrQOf' Cmy f Thu Traditional Value* Coalition introdoi ed a hill, currently in work scssums at tin* House Edu i at ion Committee. that would change the way s<-\ education is taught in Oregon publii w hoots. The hill would require leechers to emphasizenlwti nance and "teach honor and respect lor monoga mous heterosexual marriage " [ he hill will Imi the subject of an Edui ation Com mittee public work session today This marks a strategic change m political and reli gious groups' reasoning (or abstinence-based sox education classes instead of focusing on the bibli cal morality of abstinence. Christian groups testi fied iii hearings and in their documents about the threat of AIDS and other sexually transmitted dis eases for teenagers. However, the materials and testimonies given by the Traditional Values Coalition. Northwest fam ily Services and other individuals did not speak about the portion of the hill that teaches respect for heterosexual relationships Deanna I-akell. a health specialist from the Port land School District, opposes the hill l^ikell said the school system currently teaches teenagers that abstaining from sex is the ties! possible method of disease and pregnancy prevention. She also warned that the hill would act to shame i hildrun from fam ilies who have either homosexual or unmarried par ents. lauren Moughon. from the Women's Rights Coali tion said teenagers shouldn't have sex, hut conceded that many do. She said if the hill passed, many teenagers needing help from schools would be failed by the system Moughon also expressed concern for the children of lesbian and gay parents, and for teenagers who are lesbian or gay. "We can't leave them Imhind liecause they make choices that some of us disapprove of." Moughun said "We've got to provide good, complete infor mation. and we've got to let them make their own mistakes and have their own victories." Earlier in her testimony. Moughon was met with derision by a few members of the audience who gasped when Moughon identified herself os a Chris tian. "As a Christian, l imagine Oregon schools which teach children tolerance, love and respect for all people,” she said. jane! Aarons, who represented the American Civ il Lilierties Union, also opposed the hill "Wo do not believe that school or government is the appropri ate place to enforce family values," she said. Aarons also said the hill would violate the private right of individuals to choose their own religions and lielief systems Howvor, Bill Casey, the chairman and lobbyist for the Traditional Values Coalition of Oregon, expressed a dissatisfaction with the success of sex education us it is currently taught in public schools Casey said one study suggested that an abstinence curriculum resulted in fewer pregnancies. (asev. who wants public schools to toach a straight abstinence message, said, "Many educators have openly belittled the abstinence message with the 'Well, they're going to do it anyway’ mentality." I 'll Mil >ll lllfi <1 JMuf I I'U ihi . ' 11 I liiui huit ' lit iiil;tihli on f» ip<« \f The Department of Leisure Studies and Services has purposefully scheduled classes to compliment the majority of the University of Oregon's Summer Session classes. Campus wide, more than 90 percent of classes are offered Monday through Thursday (or Friday) Each of the workshops start at 12:00 noon on Friday until 4:50 pm; 8:00 a m to 5:00 p m on Saturdays and Sundays While the academic assignments vary, generally a paper or project report is assigned and due within two weeks of the completion of the workshop The Environmental Awareness workshops give students a rare opportunity to truly understand the many facets of our region Students will be close to the things they study: see. smell, hear and touch in order to gain a wide perspective and a magical appreciation for Oregon Attendance and satisfactory completion of the assignment are mandatory to receive a passing grade Following are one to two credit workshops currently offered in Leisure Studies and Services during Summer Session: Eif inmeBiii ivamess Deschutes Headwaters June 10-13 River Recreation June 16-20 Deserts.June 25-27 Volcanic Cascades.July 9-11 Crater Lake.July 16-18 Tidepools. July 23-25 Rivers.July 30-August 1 Dunes & Beaches.August 6-8 Lakes. August 13-15 Environmental Projects August 18-22 Wilderness. August 27-29 Sihsiaicc test Prtindu Prsiraii OART . June 30 July 2 Research Adolescent.iuly 28-30 Substance Abuse Adult Child of Alcoholics.July 12-14 Alcohol College Student August 4-5 Drugs 8 Sports .July 8 9 AAH E/BEST.July 19-21 OR Institute of Addiction Studies.July 26-30 Conference at Lewis & Clark College Tobacco Prevention Conference, July 14-16 Hazard Compulsive Behavior Conference, July 21-23 Organization ft Operation June 28-30 Peer Helper Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. June 21-23 Drug Abuse.June 23-25 Prevention Education AIDS ft Other STDs July 26 28 BecrcafiM ai Tnrtsi Leisure/Work Motives June 18-20 Event Management June 18-20 Consumer Behavior .June 25-27 International Tourism July 2-4 Computer Information.. July 9-11 Systems in Tourism Festival Management.July 16-18 Delivering quality leisure Services July 23-25 Canadian Tourism July 30-August 1 Oregon Tojrism Issues August 6 8 and Opportunities Sustainable Tourism August 13-15 and 20-22 thu is» 3 credit d*»