EDITORIAL
Student senators
should retain seats
The University Assembly Committee on Governance
Reform, headed by associate fine arts professor Laura
Alpert, meets today to plan a series of campus forums
that will give students and faculty a voice in making
changes to the University Assembly and University
Senate.
The assembly, a body of more than 1,000 members
that includes faculty and the 18 members of the
Student Senate, and the University Senate, which is
currently made up of 36 faculty members and the 18
student senators, makes decisions on curriculum and
other important Issues. These student senators provide
the student body with an important voice in the work
ings of the University.
Currents have been stirring among faculty in both
bodies to reduce half the number of students sitting on
the University Senate Faculty, it seems, has lost
respect for student representatives. A string of unrea
sonable zealots have led some faculty assembly mem
bers to conclude students are an impediment to
responsible governam e
Students will loso a valuable opportunity if the
foibles of their forbonrers cost them these seats An
education in democ racy ensures that students become
responsible citizens capable of stepping into the lead*
Kttslp roles tli.tt await them Redut nig the number of
students on the University Senate runs contrary to this
democratic ideal, anti deprives students of the oppor
tunity to learn the mechanics of governing
Strong beliefs poorly resoart bed and ardently pro
moted endanger student representation. Too often, stu
dent representatives have been under prepared, less
than cooperative and ignorantly enthusiastic
Last year Student Senator Hillary Aitken sat on the
Assembly Committee on Multicultural Education that
wrote the new multicultural curriculum requirement.
Aitken impeded the pace of ACME by coming to meet
ings without a thorough understanding of or. it
seemed, a desire to grasp the important and complex
decisions facing the committee. She compounded her
ignorance by loudly insisting on her prejudgments —
holding up votes and discussions with opinions she
brought into the room, headless of the faculty mem
bers’ reasoned debate.
Current Student Senate President Martin Fisher is
committed to changing the faculty's perceptions of stu
dent representatives. He hopes the student senators
will not sit together or vote as a block. By promoting
the image of students as reasonable, open-minded
adults rather than adolescent ideologues who blindly
vote along popular lines. Fisher hopes to preserve the
lB-soat student voices on the University Senate.
Aitken should serve as a warning to this year's stu
dent senators. Democracy requires more than simply
voting your opinions. Responsible representatives
must openly discuss and defend their opinions as well
as voice them.
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■ LETTERS
Library needed
A recount hits confirm**! that
tin* munsurt to build a now
Eugene Public library full short
by a handful of voles in the
November election. The margin
of defeat was so narrow that the
I MU precinct's under vole
(ballots cast by voters who
skipped this measure) * mild
have easily (.hanged the out
come.
We would like to stress that
the need for ft new public
library will not go away. Of the
State’s major cities, only
Eugene has added no public
library space since the 1950s
In that time, the city's popula
tion has more than doubled,
and the public library's circula
tion has increased by a factor of
six.
It is interesting to note that
University students check out
nearly as many books each year
from the crowded. 1950s-vin
tage Eugene Public Library as
from the University's spacious,
modern Knight Library. Many
of the public library's popular
novels, travel guides, children's
books, and other materials are
simply not available in a uni
versity library designed for
research purposes
We would like to thank the
hundreds of dedicated volun
teers who gave their time, ener
gy and resources in the recent
library campaign. With each
election. Eugene has moved
closer to endorsing a bond mea
sure.
Uni longer Kugene (inlays
building an adequate, cost
effective. up-to-date public
library, the greater tha need
will b*Hiime.
Ann* Carter
President. Eugene
Public Library Foundation
Abortion wrong
It seems ironic when I read
today's front page {Register
Guard. Dec 7) A man it being
sentenced to death, having
committed the crime of mur
der. Vet there are so many who
commit this crime and are not
punished at all Men like the
one who was the victim, in this
particular (awe
Murder is a particular kind of
action. This action may not
even cause a person's death for
some time (infecting someone
with AIDS, for example), but it
in stiii murder V*>! at least one
sui h action is still quite legal,
nmf in rnanv i axes even sup
porteil by our government
against innocent Americans!
When an action alters the
future well-being of any
huntan. a crime has been com
mitted. So. a woman sits in a
clinic today. If no action were
taken, she would have a
healthy baby in five months
Yet in a few moments, a delib
erate action will be taken to
ensure that this is not going to
be (he case, i agree, let's not
delve into this woman's body.
Hut in five months. I'm going to
expect an investigation. Where
is the baby? It was. by logical
definition, murdered But not
by the law of our once blessed
country.
I think there are lots of peo
ple much more worthy of the
death penalty than the man 1
read about today. And they
would say the same thing "I’ve
done nothing wrong.”
Bob Wet get
Eugene
Care limited
Jennifer Ulum, spokeswoman
for Sacred JJeart General
Hospital, repeated the mantra
"Not on our time, property or
by our physicians," when she
explained hospital policy for
bidding doctor assisted suicide
[ODE. Dec 5). Three weeks ago
another Sacred Heart Hospital
spokeswoman. Bev Mayhew,
intoned the same "Not on our
time, property or by our physi
cians" dictum forbidding artifi
cial insemination or abortion.
Both Ulum and Mayhew pref
aced their comments with con
cerns about meeting communi
ty needs, but the reality is that
the Vatican's sledge hammer is
closing more doors to legal
medical services.
If physicians at Eugene
Clinic and Women's Care PC
are forced, financially, to join
Sacred Heart they'll be forbid
den from providing these three
medical services. Citizens con
cerned about Sacred Heart
erecting unreasonable barriers
to safe, legal medical t;are must
make their voices heard. Urge
Sacred Heart to put substance
behind its so-called concerns
about community health needs
by at least not forbidding "its"
physicians from providing
these services at facilities away
from the main hospital premis
es
Sacred Heart gobbles deeply
from tin* pubih trough vla its
tax exempt status as a ‘‘non
profit" religious institution.
Now it bites the very hands of
the public from which it feeds -
Call or write physicians at
Kugene Clinic and Women's
Care PC, Contact Sacred Heart
to reverse its irresponsible
stance that potentially prevents
patients from seeing their own
physicians for these medical
services.
Sacred Heart's monopolistic,
oppressive attitude is akin to
words spoken 1,995 years ago
— "There's no room for you at
the inn." Slam!
Carol Barg
Eugene
Gender or sex?
From the Pocket Oxford
Dictionary.
gender, n.. grammatical clas
sification or one of classes
(masculine, feminine, neuter)
roughly corresponding to two
sexes and Sexlessness
From Fowler's Modern
English Usage
gender, n , is a grammatical
term only. To talk of persons or
creatures of the masculine or
feminine g , meaning of the
male or female sox, is either a
jocularity (permissible or not
according to context) or a blun
der
Contrary to popular miscon
ception. words in and of them
selves cannot he sexist, only
genderish Similarly, an
employer cannot hire or not
hire on the basis of gender, but
rather on the basis of sex.
Furthermore, to insist that the
gender of our words rigorous
iy-not-loosely matches the sex
of the items referred to is chau
vinism. which Webster defines
as "excessive devotion to a
cause or ideal." A ship may lie
(ailed she. the pronoun he may
sometimes embrace a woman,
and either sex may hold the
position of chairman without
requiring the change of his job
title to a piece of furniture.
Earl Gosnetl
Eugene