EDITORIAL
Withdraw! policy
limits class choices
Without a doubt, the University’s decision to decrease
the length of time students t an withdraw from a (lass
without gaining the ugiy ”W” was a step to reduce
'‘class-shopping” by students and open additional seats
early in the quarter for high-demand courses.
Adopted by the Undergraduate Council last Novem
ber and implemented fall term, students who wish to
exit a class and avoid a minor stain on their transcripts
must do so after the first week of classes. In this rase.
Or t. 3. Promptly withdrawing also saves $10 in hs-s
Proponents of the new poll* y (relieve it will open
more seats to truly dedicated students and penalize
those who sign up for a class and don’t show up. Bv
forcing students to choose qui< klv or pay the prir e. $10
plus a "\Y” re< orded on tin* transcript, the instances of
class-shopping will probably decrease. This could make
additional spai e in classes with over-filled waiting list-,
early enough In the term that late entrants will have
more success.
But one week isn’t enough time for students to make
a fully informed dor ision whether or not to shed a CPA
killing class or tough it out. A lot happens during tint
first week of th*- year, situations come up that are clear
ly out of a student’s control.
The first week offers very little in terms of getting n
true reading of an instrui tor’s persona lit). 01 the work
load of the course. Most classes moot briefly on the first
day where syllabi are distributed before early adjourn
ment. A syllabus arguably presents tins class workload,
but not all of the intrkai ies needed to make an informed
decision Such a judgment takes more time than one or
two meetings, esper ially in crowded sections.
The new policy also presents an interesting Catch-22.
Students who are holding on to a class as a second or
third choice while awaiting an opening in a top priority
class pay a price. Even with the new policy, openings
most likely won't come up until after the second week,
if at all. This is too late for the student hedging against
the system in the race for graduation.
Some argue the new policy is aimed at eliminating
such a situation, students should not hang on to a i lass
as a second choice while waiting for another to open.
However, such expectations are unrealistic.
Students should have the choice and the opportuni
ty to sample a class or two during the initial weeks of
the term. By retaliating against students who like to
shop around for their expensive education, the Univer
sity is placing ill-conceived constraints on the students.
While the reasons for the new policy are sound, its
implementation is not. Instead of i hanging from a three
week grace period to one, the University should trv for
the middle ground. Two weeks would be more appro
priate This will give students time to settle into a rou
tine and make better decisions.
In the rush of things, we often forget that the students
are not here for the University; the University is here for
us.
Oregon Daily
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■ LETTERS
CIA blunders
Why are we keeping the CIA
going at an exorbitant price to
taxpayers when it never seems
to tie able to inform us (The
president. Pentagon) on the true
conditions of the c ountry being
invaded?
Mow come our soldiers had
no idea of the terrorism in Haiti
and what they would be up
against' How were* they briefed?
What did the president actually
expect' This whole Haiti affair
seems so ill-conceived that they
already talk in Congress of lim
iting the troops' time there in
the usual "quagmire " Can't yve
plan any better' It appears that
the not so saintly |unmv t arter
tied American hands in an
untenable deal yxith some real
thugs and terrorists Sure, yve
avoided a shooting-mate h inva
sion, but we traded a gutless
compromise (Clinton tradition)
that yy ill ai ecuuplixh little 1 he
terror of the old Tonton
Macoutes and the attac lies will
return the minute our troops
leave A Somalia scene revisit
ed! Does the CIA understand all
of this? The ageni y appeared
very busy a while hac k spread
ing some blatant lies about the
mental condition of Aristide
Are there really only inept
advisors in the Cabinet' Their
policies are very opaque. )immy
( airier should be kept away from
peacemaking missions and
"observing" elections and
should not be portrayed as the
lily-white saint he is not He has
always supported the elite and
U S interests. Did the president
really not know that all along
Texaco was selling oil to the
military in Haiti while he tried
to enforce the embargo? All we
saw were buckets of gas black
marketed over the Dominican
border We need some sirong
and honest leadership
Hilde K Cherry
Eugene
Needless death
On Ocd. :t. 1077. Rosie Jiminez
died in McAllen General Hospi
lal in Texas whore she; had boon
brought following on illegal,
Imi k-alley abortion An unsteril
i/.ed folloy i atheter (a long rub
bt*r tube) had boon used by the
abortionist Within 24 hours,
she had control ted an infection
similar to tetanus that progres
sively worsened until her death
Who was Rosie limine/.1’ She
was a 27-vear-old Mexican
Amernan woman, one of 12
children, the daughter of
migrant workers she had
been one as a ( hild. A mother,
raising a child alone on wel
fare and working part-time in an
electronics plant A university
student, six months from grad
uating with a bachelor's degree
in education She had a $700
scholarship t bet k in her ptx ket
when she died She refused to
use that i bee k for i legal abor
tion because that would have
meant abandoning her educa
tion.
The woman who performed
the alxirtion was the means, but
she was not the reason for
Rosie's death. Rosie died
because she did not have access
to a funded, safe and legal abor
tion She was tin* first known
victim of the Hyde Amendment,
w hu h denies women federal
Medicaid funding for abortions.
Unfortunately, she was not the
Inst victim The conditions that
foried her death still threaten
many women's lives — espe
cially the lives of poor women,
young women and women of
color.
Both the Mouse of Representa
tives and the Senate have
recently voted to continue the
Hyde Amendment. The Hyde
Amendment is a direct threat to
the lives and health of women.
We must continue to oppose it
in our ongoing struggle for
reproductive freedom for all
women We must let the leaders
of this country know that we
will no longer tolerate the
inequality in access to abortion
ami other health services.
Sarah Sanford
Chairwoman, Lane County
NARA1,
Mandi Hood
Students for Choice
OCA is fickle
Not surprising that Oregon
Citizen's Alliance Director l.on
Mahon and OCA employee
Loretta Neet have turned on
Republican gubernatorial candi
date Denny Smith when he
rightly opposed the OCA's dis
criminatory Ballot Measure lit
In a suit, Neet huffed, "Smith
doesn't stand a chance and we
won't help his campaign.”
How reminiscent of the
(XIA's failed attempt to ns .ill 30
legislators (both Republican and
Democrat) who passed House
Bill 3500, legislation negating
disi riminatory local measures.
Similarly, the OCA tried (and
failed) to recall Albany's mayor
for bis efforts opposing the
OCA Now the OCA aims its
enmity at Denny Smith.
Lane County Republican
precinct i ommittee workers will
elei t ,i new ( mitral Committee
in November Currently, our
"leadership” includes Neet and
other OCA members such ns our
chairwoman, Kathy Phelps
Mainstream Republicans must
take this opportunity to send
these switch-hitting, single
issue carpetbaggers packing. We
must get our Republican Party
working instead on valid con
( erns such as crime, education
and jobs The OCA’s (Phelps,
Neet & Co.) obsessive anti-gay
ngendu has torn our party and
our state apart.
Denny Smith took the right,
just stand in opposing Ballot
Measure 13. lait's remember that
the (X'A now turns against
Smith on one issue. Precinct
committee workers should espe
cially remember this when the
time comes to elect new leaders.
Mainstream Republicans should
get involved so that our party
may never be afflicted again
with the destructive, divisive ill
doings by extremist, single-issue
narrow groups like the OCA. We
have far better concerns to
address.
Ciarol Berg
Eugene