CREDITS Continued from Page 1 been overwhelming In some sense we have tieen way behind the times," Wright said When vou look at other universities and look at the carrying load of the stu dents. it's more like four ( lasses, because it's typically •i-credlt ( lasses Professor Tim Gleason, the chairman of the School of Journalism and Communica tion curriculum committee, agrees "Most of our peer universi ties are on a 4- or 5-r.redlt model." he said "Wo are one of the few universities that used tlie 3-credit model." The 3-credit model frag ments both learning and leaching, said academic adviser Marliss Strange. Stu dents and teat hers will be better aide to concentrate after tin* 4-credit conversion However. Strange said, community colleges are not changing to a 4-< redit model She said this will make the transition to the University complicated for transfer stu dents lor example, a student at a < (immunity college on a 3 credit model takes the first class of Introduction to Liter ature during fall term. To fin ish the sequence at the community college, bo or she would take two more terms of tins class, for a total of nine credits If the student transfers to the University winter term and enrolls in the second class of Introduction to Liter ature, he or she will miss one-sixth of the course con tent because that year-long course has been condensed into two 4-credit classes. Registrar Herbert Uherei k said he does not expect non transfer students to be con tused when registering under the 4-credit model However, the course catalog describing the changes will i ome out two months after students register for fall 1994. The change will require some bureaucratic juggling, the curriculum committee said, hut the committee fur ther justified the change by saving it will give students greater responsibility for their own learning experience The < urriculum committee (tied Brand's 1992 strategic plan for undergraduate edu cation. which says 4-credit classes will "foster intensity of learning through courses emphasizing in-depth study and guided, independent work." Despite the increased num ber of students enrolled in classes, departments will require teachers to give assignments that require crit ical and analytical thinking, to lead group projects, to increase the amount of class discussion and to encourage students to relate different types of material to each other In lower-division classes, three hours of lecture will l>« accompanied by an hour-long discussion class, n method already used by the history and anthropology depart ments In Knglish classes, students will he required to write papers that are reviewed one on-one with a graduate teach ing fellow and then rewritten Knglish Professor Mike Stem told the University Assembly that the opportuni ty for students to discuss and improve their papers with GTFs would be a valuable experience that is not possi ble under the 3-credit (.lass structure. Wright said that taking on challenging coursuwork is invaluable to students’ learn ing. " As we do this we re giv ing students a bigger share of the responsibility lor their own learning. Wright said Ultimately that is what we hope students would come away from here with -- the ability to learn lor them selves RACISM Continued from Page 1 Asian-Ameru-ans nationwide experience similar violence. l,ast (all. the Japanese American Citizen's league had two of their Ixw Angeles offices firwbombed In Texas, ac tivists worked for about a year to change a road named Tap" to "Japanese", and the town wouldn't budge Kven in the University's own slide col Ice tion located m I^wrem e Hall, the classification used for Inpanose or Asian is either "Jap" or "Oriental " Both words considered derogatory by most Asian A inert cans Hut mostly. APASU members say the discrimi nation against Asian-Americans here is more sub tle "People don't know how to deal with you because they look at you and you speak in English," said .Sc ott Kukumoto, co-director for APASU. Jan Hnrada. another APASU co-director, said Asian-Americans face that kind of subtle discrim ination daily in class. "(A professor) will sav something about Asian history and turn to you and say. Isn't that right?' and you're expected to know bec ause you look Asian." llarada said Tmn koida, another co-director for AFASU, said she ran into a similar problem in the payroll office at the EMU when a clerk asked to see her passport. "Yes. I have a passport, but I don't know what good it's going to do because I am an American cit izen and was !>oni here," Koida remembered her self saving "She just assumed. I never had anyone ask for that before." When looking for examples, all of the APASU members point to the University’s Office of Mul ticultural Affairs Members say Asian-Arnericans art* ignored in both the OMA's policies and the minority schol arships they administer. The Underrepresented Minority At hievement Scholarship represents one of the group's biggest concerns "You could get a leadership award from the OMA. but you couldn't gel a financial scholarship,” Fuku moto said. "Their reasoning was that Asian-Amer itans were overrepresented as a minority, but I think that what they overlooked in that thinking was that in the Asian-American group, there an* a lot of dif ferent ethnic groups." Marshall Sauceda. dim tor of the OMA, said fie couldn't agree more. "The scholarship is something we have tried to educate folks on yearly,” Sauceda said. "People just don't get the message ' The UMAS. he said, is only managed out of the University's OMA office It's the Oregon State Sys tem of Higher Education that sets policy on the scholarship, he said The OMA has pushed to change state policy for several years. Sauceda said, agreeing with APA SU that the state's definition of Asian-American is too broad and doesn't further define those peo ple. like first-generation Laotian-Americans, who have real needs for the money If you take people who are Japanese-American or Chi nose-American, they might have been here LETTER Continued from Page 1 After students complained about the letter. Brand sent a hand-written reply on Jan. 13 saying. "The mistake was the result of a hur ried response made during the press of daily business Hut, that’s no excuse I was wrong, and I apologize."' Christopher Simpson, director of the Uni versity's communication and marketing department, said the December letter wasn't even written by Brand but by his staff instead. Simpson agreed that although Hrand didn't write it. he is ultimately responsible because he signed it. Af’ASU members point to the letter as a prime example of how deep ignorance against Asinn-Americans runs at the Univer sity "That's exactly it. and that's the problem," said Jan Harada. APASU co-director. “People will look at us and think we re foreign when we're American." "He was trying to tell us that it was a busy day and that he had a lot on his mind." said Scott Fukumoto. another Af’ASU co-director. "So. you just forgot that we're American." Harada said. for four generations or more, whereas if you take people from Laos .. they are first-generation and a lot of them need that financial aid," Fukumoto said. "Because they include everyone hut us, it's like saving we're not a minority anymore," Harada said. Robin Brown, director of scholastic relations and academic affairs for the OSSHK. was not available, but her assistant Barbara Nehring said the OSSHK excludes Asian-Americans from the scholarship tKtcause they are not underrepresented. According to the data OSSHK uses to make that decision, more Asian-Americans go to college than any other minority group, she said. Nehring couldn't break the data down further and also could not answer why the OSSHK doesn't break the Asian-American classification down to into smaller ethnic groups. Although there is more the OMA could do for undergraduate students, Sauceda said there is, at least, a scholarship open to Asian-Americans entering graduate school. "Racism, prejudice and discrimination are not as overt as they were when racial segregation was sanctified in this country Asian-Americans have come a long way," said Jimmy Tokeshi. the region al director for the Pacific Southwest District of the JACK. "Now there is a much more sophisticated level of racism." Sugiyama agrees, but says discrimination is one fight he will always stand up to "I'm going to face racism anyway, throughout my whole life." he said "I can't just run away from it and stay in safe places." POLICE BEAT The following incidents wore reported to the University Offi< e of Public S.if«-t\ and the Eugene police deportment |an. 18 26. • A student reported her wallet stolen on the 181)0 bloc k of Ferry Street Jan. 10. According to |M>lite re|K)rts. tiit* wallet was stolen during a party the woman was attending. The loss amounted to $-15 • Three people were charged lor theft and criminal mischief on the 1700 bloc k of Columbia Street Jan 20. According to police reports, the suspects were i aught while they were breaking into a c ar. and police found cars in the neighltorhood that had just been entered. Cassette players, speakers, tools, compact discs and a vac uum cleaner were among the items the sus pecis had taken. Two of the suspects were University students. • A theft from a vehicle was reported on the 1700 block of East tilth Avenue Jan. 20. According to police reports. $300 worth of property was stolen, including a stereo, speakers, compact discs and an amplifier. • A student reported a $200 bicycle stolen from the 1300 block of Agate Street Jan. 20. • A 19-year-old male was cited for sec ond-degree theft and second-degree forgery on 29th Avenue and Willamette Street Jan. 20 Aelonging to a student • A female student reported a theft from her room on the 1500 block of Agate Street Jan. 21 According to police reports, the student had been away on vacation and found her wallet stolen when she relumed. The wallet contained choc ks, credit cards, cash and a driver's license, amounting to a loss of $200. • Criminal mischief was reported on the 1300 block of Hast 13th Avenue Jan. 21. According to police reports, a $700 trash can was found broken into pieces at the University Physical Plant According to police reports, the trash can must have ijeen tippet) over, rolled about 100 feet and then rolled over an edge, causing the trash can to break. • A male student rejxirtod his SHOO bicy cle stolen from the 1200 block of Hast 13th Avenue Jan. 21 • A vehicle was reported stolen at Hast 15th Avenue and Kincaid Street Jan 21 According to police reports, a University catering van had been stolen and then recovered at hast 18th Avenue and llilyard Street Jan 22. The keys to the van wore left inside just before the theft occurred. • A noise complaint was reported on the 1400 block, of Kincaid St root fan. 22 According to police reports, a group of yelling people was observed by an offi cer who heard them scream, "Phi Delta, party party " Then one of the members of the group threw an object through the front window of a car belonging to a female student When the officer appeared, the people ran away, and polite are now look ing into the episode. • A female student reported second degree criminal mischief on the 1200 blin k of Alder Street Jan. 22. According to police reports, the student found three of her i;ar tires slashed, which caused $140 worth of damage. • Second-degree menacing and crimi nal trespass were reported at the Kappa Sigma fraternity Jan. 22. According to police reports, three skinheads hud knocked on the door of the fraternity and started yelling and screaming: "Heil Hitler." Some fruternity members told them to leave the property us one of the skinheads broke a beer bottle and threat ened them to fight. Police officers were dispatched after a phone rail, and the three suspects were arrested. • A student reported a burglary from the 1400 block of East 19th Avenue Jan. 23. According to police reports, somebody entered her unlocked room ami took S3 in cash. • A Lane Communitv College student was cited for minor in possession and for giving a false name to police officers on Hast Ifjth Avenue and Patterson Stniet Ian. 23. • A 30-year-old male transient was arrested for trespassing on the 200 block of Last 13th Avenue lan 24 • Two 19-year-old males were arrest ed for shoplifting on the 200 block of Hast 13th Avenue Jan. 25. • An offic er was dispatched to a sus pected graffiti vandal at the EMU Jan. 24. According to |>olice reports, the officer was paged by an OPS officer who requested cover of a disorderly person writing graf fiti in the basement of the EMU. The offi cer tried to contact the other officers over the radio to chock if they were safe, but no response was given OPS tried to reach them, but still no contact was made. The officer realized that this was a situation that could be violent and used his lights and sirens to reach the EMU as quickly as possible and also to warn pedestrians and traffic. When the officer reached the EMU, the suspect was allowed to go, as he had actually just been reading graffiti.