Tanzania limits education, maintains control for ncn
By Colleen Pohlig
For the OroQ-rn l . , I
SAI.AAM. Tanzania — It's liven six
weeks since I’ve slopped font in tins Host
African country to study for one year My
first thought off of the plane was that this
is definitely not the national news any
more — thi> pain of third-world poverty is
now staring me in the face and there is no
remote control to flip the channel
Tanzania, with a population of 25 mil
lion and still widely agricultural, is one
of the poorest
countries in the
world. With a
gross national
product of $572 a
year. Tanzania relies on donor aid for H.'t
percent of its budget.
The now multi-party government, run
by the Chama film Mapinduzi party, con
trols its people by whatever means nec
essary. The CUM owns and controls the
media, and most newspapers have noth
ing hut token articles praising the gov
ernment Any private papers that dare to
criticize the leaders are often shut down
or their advertising is banned
The government also had a large Field
Force Unit, who h is a group of men
trained spe< ifically to suppress protests
by means of physical force
Since arriving in Tanzania the word
"corruption” has taken on a whole new,
human meaning for me. Mere, the rich are
REPORTERS
NOTEBOOK!
few hut have all the wealth: the poor are
the vast majority, and every day is literal
ly a struggle to survive.
This is proven daily ns (X'M drive their
shinv, new air-conditioned Mercedes
past severely malnourished < hildren in
the streets and young pregnant women
straining under the weight of the child on
their hacks and water hui kets on their
heads
Students and professors alike at this
university, the only institution of higher
edui ation in the country, seem to hover
in the ha lame between frt>e thought and
personal safety In the United Slates. I
never hesitated to rip on the greedy and
destrut live politic s of George Hush and
Konnld Reagan
Mere, people carefully measure their
words When someone dares to criticize
the CX'.M. shy and nervous giggles are
heard from the rest of the students, their
eyes darting to the door as if Field Force
Unit soldiers would appear with sticks
This image isn't unrealistic either as a
police station is c onveniently loc a ted on
campus. Any protests against the govern
ment are strongly discouraged, with
threats of permanent expulsion from the
university
What more could he expei ted from
President All Hasson Mwinyi. who only
lias an eighth-grade education Although
the government says Mwyini was "demo
cratically elected" two years ago, the
choice for Tanzanians on the (vallot sheets
was either Mwyini or the "shadow box."
whir h was a blank spac e because no can
didate! was allowed to run against him.
Kven more absurd. Mwyini is also the
chant ellor of the university and has the
power to shut down the school at any
time for any reason, as he did two years
ago to punish protesting students
I remember other things I took for
granted only a few months ago at the Uni
versity of Oregon — things like available
books, computer*, desks and even profes
sors
A huge shortage of books results in an
over-crowded library, and there arc* very
few c omputers here, whic h students have
no access to. It's also common to st*e stu
dents hoisting desks on their shoulders,
walking from classroom to classroom
trecause of yet another shortage And pro
fessors are paid so little that their other
jobs sometimes c onflict with their c lass
times, fore ing them not to show up and
teach
1 recall being happy when a professor
at the University failed to c ome to lecture;
here, students go to c lass and wait for half
of an hour, and then leave, feeling frus
trated
Never in the United States have I seen
the intense hunger for education that
burns in the eves of the Tanzanian stu
dents Although unemployment soars
above 50 percent in Tanzania and thure
Never in the United
States have I seen the
intense hunger for
education that bums in
the eyes of the
Tanzanian students.
are few |<>bs once students graduate. «*du
i at ion at least offers some hope for the
future.
However, this is even questionable as a
good Tanzanian friend said to me the oth
er day that "we study so hard — doing
nothing but studying — and for what? To
graduate knowing many things, but no
jobs to expend this knowledge."
Tanzanians jokingly refer to their coun
try as "Ubongolano" because in order to
live hero, one has to use their brain —
"Ubongo" in the national language of
Swahili — to survive in such a poor
country.
But unlike most jokes, the reality of
"Ubongoland" brings little laughter.
Colleen Pohlig, n fonner Emerald staff
member, is on exchange from the Univer
sity of Oregon to Tanzania for a year.
Greek system implements policy
By Daniel West
Oregon Dotty £ mar aid
In fear of losing University
recognition, the Intorfraternity
and I’anhnllonic councils art? tak
ing steps to successfully imple
ment their new alcohol policy.
This poli< v was created by the
two councils, governing the
social atmosphere through
stricter regulations of alcohol at
chapter parties
Although the policy was draft
ed last year, this is the first year
the policy took effect In the
beginning of the year, a couple
fraternities violated some of the
regulations of the policy.
This caused the University
administration to react with a let
ter to each member of individual
chapters. The letter was sent from
the office of Gerry Moseley, the
University vice provost.
"1'he letter suggested that the
gniek system had failed to uphold
the regulations of the policy.
Also, (f the greek system
wouldn't follow these rules that
they treated and agreed upon
themselves, then the University
would have to take ui lions into
their own power. This may
include revoking the c harters of
individual houses who were
repeat offenders," Gordon Seeley
said in summary of the letter
Seeley is the current Interfra
ternity Council president and a
memlier of the Delta Upsilon fra
ternity He has also been his
chapter's president, public rela
tions chairman and complex
coordinator, the person who
makes sure all house jobs are
completed
"I was excited and nervous
about being president. I had
talked to a lot of people They
said it was a lot of work and i om
mitment. But. I was honored by
the fact that I was chosen " See
ley said.
The new social policy has
become n major issue for the
Kiwf system Although thepres
ident has plenty of work, he has
already devised a plan to sih
cessfully implement the policy.
"The letter was a wake-up call
for the greek system It kind of
gn\v us a goal to accomplish This
isn't the image that we want to
portray It tears down all the pos
dive wo ve done." Seeley said.
"Currently, we re trying new
ways to implement the policy,"
he said, "We're trying to change
tin* image that greeks have of the
(Kilicy. Some of the chapters view
the policy as 'us against them,’
This isn't the case
"The policy is actually risk
management that follows the
polit ies set by many national fra
ternity organizations We also
want greeks to understand that
the policy isn’t taking away from
the fun and excitement, but a
measure of protection." Seeley
said.
COMMUNITY UPDATE
• Lane Transit District is offering free bus service Friday
through Sunday to avoid traffic: jams after the Thanksgiving
holiday
LTD buses will take people to the Festival of Trees at Valley
River Inn, the Tree; Lighting Ceremony in downtown Eugene
and the Tree of Joy at Gateway Mall, along with any other LTD
destination.
• The United Way needs volunteers for the following posi
tions: c raft bazaar coordinator for Emerald Nursing Home, one
to two hours per week; gift wrapper for F.aster Seal, two hours
per shift: holiday tree cutter, Dec:. 12 from 1 to 5 p.m.; advocate
for crisis line or child care volunteer for Womenspace, two to
four hours per week; warehouse assistant for BRING Recy
cling. four hours per week. For more information call the Vol
unteer Connection. 683-9000.
• The U S. Marine Corps Reserves is asking the community
to donate gifts for the Eugene-Springfield Toys for Tots pro
gram
Donated toys will be distributed to parents and guardians
who would otherwise not be able to give their children a
Christmas toy Wrapped, new toys can be dropped off before
Dec 17 at all Eugene and Springfield fire stations or the
Marine Corps Reserve Center. 1520 W. 13th Ave.
LATE NIGHT
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