Oregon Daily
THURSOAY. JANUARY 19. 1995
EUGENE. OREGON
VOLUME 96. ISSUE 80
Russian lecturer Tatyana Tolstaya
offers intellect, talent to University
Culture: Writer says
many Russians want
the past back
Colleen Pohlig
Omgon Ctesv I'metM
Visiting Russian author
Tatyana Tolstaya has found
that freedom is difRcult to
enjoy if people aren't used
to it
Tolstaya, who is ,i visit
ing author and lecturer in
the Russian department this
month, said she has seen
Russians change dramati
cally since perestroika, and
many don't know how to
handle the resulting free
dom — or even want it
Tolstava. who is a rela
tive of War and Peace
author Leo Tolstoy and a
granddaughter of writer
Aleskei Tolstoy, said
despite suffering under n
socialist government, many
Russians pist want the past
hack
"Americans think when
the controlling government
was destroyed, that
Russians would embrace
each other and democracy
would come overnight,"
Tolstaya said. “But
Russians are suspicious and
unfriendly; many don’t
want democracy at all.
“They want the old
regime hat k even though
they suffered because then
they knew their responsi
bilities.” she said. "There is
great protest about freedom
Many Russians think ot
democracy as a license —
that they can do anything
thev want now that there is
no authority "
Russian writer and lecturer Tatyana Tolstaya on her way to speak at the Gerlinger Lounge W«Ktnea4ay
Huskies lecturing on contem
porary Russian literature.
Tolstaya said slu- tries to rul
Americans of the misconcep
tions they have of Russians in
her lectures.
Tin a walking piece of my
culture." Tolstaya said. i t an
he a vehicle for sending my
messages.”
Additionally. Tolstaya said
Americans who only read
newspapers but don’t study the
country aren't getting an at cu
rate picture of current activity
lit Russia
"The (American] media is so
distorted (in its Russian cover
age).” she said, “that I myself
don't even recognize it
Tolstavo, who only writer in
Russian ns a prim iplu. is soon
as tho mosl original and lumi
nous voire in contemporary
Russian prose, said Nobel
Laureate Joseph Brodsky
Tolstaya is the author of two
short stories titled (>n the
Golden Porch (198ft) and
SleepHVlker in n Pog (1 991)
Russian professor Albert
l.eong said having Tolstaya
here is an in< redible opportu
nity for the department
"It's a great honor and a treat
to have one of the most impor
tant contemporary Russian
writers of the century here,"
l.eong said "She is creative
and is in touch with all the
major Russian writers Sin* pro
vides us with very good
insights
"iTohitayai tins (hanged the
fate of modern Russian litera
ture through her very force.
|her| vigor and the images she
< feutes,“ he said
Tolstaya didn't begin to
write until she was .12 She
said tea a use must of her Alices
tors were writers, she was
rehu taut to write herself
Initially she began writing
because she said she was tired
of the dull stories on the
shelves He fore HWi, a govern
rnentuon trolled writer's union
Turn to AUTHOR, Patje 4
University
considers
government
reforms
Proposal: University
Assembly and Senate
may be restructured
Pat Daly
fjtefciy l trwt&kn
StutloniN a nil fa< uliv will
express their views again today
on how to reinvent tin*
Uni varsity governam» system.
I lie University Assembly 's
Committee on (.«>v «<
K.-lut!,|| has spinismod ,i publu
forum on both Tuesday and
Wednesday of tins week flu
(ommiltee will draft pruposals
later this year to restructure tho
University Senate and
Assembly \ third forum will
take pliK ft today from I to 5
p m in tint Walnut Room of
tin- I Ml
Com nut ton chairvv union
haunt Alpert said thn first step
is to d.-turmiuu tin- problems
with thn . urr.’iit system l or
uuiru than forty ytirt. tho
University So on It- has pro
posed legislation to tin- assom
Idv for ratification.
A lai k of faculty involvo
mont m University governance
is a koy problem, sovoral
speakers said In rvi out years,
loss than half of the eligible
faculty have tome to meetings
Journalism professor lames
l.emert said fin ully members
get u message that service to
Iho University is loss Important
ih.in research within their
departments
"Now faculty are in effect
discouraged from golfing
involved in University govur
n.iiu e,” lamiert said.
Student representation has
Turn to REFORM. Parje -1
Regulation, sexual content issues
have started surfing the Internet
On-line: First Amendment rights
clash on computer networks
Brian Womack
Oregon D&ty im&&d
As the information superhighway continues its
rapid growth, questions surrounding the rights of
users vs society continue to create roadblocks
At Carnegie Mellon University in November,
the administration took three "erotii " news
groups off their news server The administration
considered these groups, which included picture
files, to b« "obscene,” said Don Male, vii« presi
dent for Carnegie Mellon University Kelotions
Tom Bury, lab assistant at the KMU computing
center, said the University does not restrict
access to news groups that are tagged "erotic.''
But the Internet can he regulated when what
happens on it falls w ithin the lines of current
law.
Paul Bruno, of Albany, N Y . was arrested and
charged with a misdemeanor for sending, via the
Internet, sexually explicit photographs of himself
to teenagers, according to an Associated 1‘res*
story by David Bander
In response to cases like this. Sen William
Sears, K M V , has proposed a bill that would
make it a felony for an adult to hold a sexual con
versation with a minor or use the computer to
induce a minor into “immoral or obscene behav
tor “
1 he problem exists on campuses as well
Tiro Gleason, associate professor of journalism,
said certain people "have been barred" from
using the Internet at universities where patterns
of questionable hehavior have become a problem
Most of the complaints regarding the Internet
have been due to sexually graphic material and
what could be termed "hate speech," Gleason
said,
"Regulation is an open question." he said
"There's no c lear answer The question is what
exactly is |an elec tronic! bulletin board? A bul
letin board on campus? Is it a classroom or a tele
phone or a bulletin board on campus or in a
hall?"
Turn to INTERNET, Page 4
■ GOOD MORNING
► State auditors began an
investigation into the Oregon
Economic Development Depart
ment's expenditures for Rose
Bowl business trips, said Greg
Parker, spokesman tor the
state's Division ol Audits
The department spent about
$35,000 in lottery revenue to
send t6 poopte on trips to the
Rose Bowl
The inquiry is expected to take
around two months to complete,
Parker said A report will be
issued to the development office
and the public at that time
The idea for the audit came
from members of the auditor's
office early last week. Parker
said, because the trip was an
unusual event and required
expenses that were not normal
costs, which is something the
office looks for in an audit.
"Going to the Rose Bowl is a
unique event," Parker said "You
can't go off a state price list lor
Rose Bowl tickets"
The auditor's otlice will now
look lor ,i paper trail and verity
expenditures Often, he said, no
rule has been broken, but maybe
one needs to be made
The expenditures mcludwl
S3./9? tor /9 Rose Bowl tickets,
most of which went to represen
tatives of businesses that have
expressed interest in investing in
Oregon.
► SPOKANE. Wash. (AP) — A
nurse who accidentally dropped
a donated human heart, then
threw it in a trash can without
telling transplant officials, was
reprimanded and lined, officials
said Wednesday
Fearing she had contaminated
the organ. Wanda R Condon, a
registered nurse, discarded it
and then falsified documents to
indicate the heart had been
shipped to a tissue recovery lab