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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS EOlTORtRLS OPINIONS LITTERS TO THE I0IT0R Drop-out rate isn’t just the UO’fe responsibility ■ OUR OPINION; A Jack of siudeni locus and passion »s part ol the problem Whose fault is it? Ac curding to statistics frown the University, one mil of four first -year students here will not return nest fall. Five years from now. only half the freshman class will have a University diploma hanging on their wall*. Some will drop out and pursue careers, others will transfer to smaller schools, or schools with better weather, and still others will |ust disappear into that nebulous mas* we call the real world While that may sound dis turbing to some, that 77 per cent-retention rate i* higher than it was 12 years ago and is 5 pen ent higher than the national average Certainly the University should con tinue to find ways to make the campus a more fresh man-friendly environment Hut in the end. student drop-out rates say more about the students than about the University, Mwl young people t!at hie to attend college Imk hum it is something they are "sup* pawd to do " They satmd good grades in high school, ami their parents just assumed that their child would continue on to higher education. Pew freshmen, it swm*. have a focused rea son to Isa in college other than "l don't want to »[xmd my life working at Burger King" Thi* is a valid reason for attending college, hut it doesn’t help motivation much when the mid-term* are piling up. 300 pages of Bemmlf are waiting to tie read, and there's a party at the coolest fraternity house on c ampus Under these conditions. and with no rani passion for their major*, it’s no wonder these students head for home? when things became difficult. To that end. that level of apathy for one s major does n’t seem to change much even when the students do stick around Walk into any class on this campus and ask the student* why they are there Menu of them will say they need the class to graduate, or it fulfills a major or minor requirement Few, it seems. would claim an intellectual curiosity on the subject or a desire to become an export in a given field. Even fewer students will be able to explain how ihev expect their major to lead them into a career. With all that shoulder shrugging going on. It's a wonder the drop-out rate isn't higher This streaks more to the nature of youth than it does to the nature of higher edu cation College has become a lima for bright teenager* to figure mil who they are among a lot of other bright teenagers If* fun and enlightening, but il doesn't form a strong foundation for the financial and personal storms that batter at students' windows This may explain why mom freshmen drop out than more senior classes and why older returning students tend to stay, get higher grades and graduate High school graduates who attend college without a clear sense of who they are and what they want to do will be more prone to leave under a cloud of stress We shouldn’t worry to much about It They'll make it back if and when ih«n fig ure it out t*« KM*®* CM lmmm * mtmm ** »»™ew *e«r *«*» *»*» •• «BNrt w» m» 'uut m ttanpat «*•«<* e» MM* b, «* i’ewjw an* Immmt Hm»m) 6» «* *f«» vmmrft * &W l agan* <M»*. * «**»* « MMKUIW nm <mvm «•»«■> «M<Mriiii»njm>A«e oncMK law »«**•»■* >*»»—«m«<*—»ppan* «»»Km.»w<«yw,m—>*»» IM»tM ;i**« >**K tfe|Kii|i^4tif HMuf . i--*Iihb*' UNMn^fc ‘ .pmmf ^r, H«l»* -<m > XM-m lP«Wr «M» PiIimMi MMHtUMtK ijW«» l®(®®* (Pip®®®® *4P® *Mgm* ®*aaP ®MH ®HWMft JHWM®M JiCAHHp MMkMMt «Mw tMthii hMefcic WHpimwp ®w% *<mii fcw*n «M» ***** nr**** whim m®» i)pm»i mm km® txHVfMBMMMftibattllMkaMMk. 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TORCH) Tt> Pur TlfliiR *YW£V Wfo A *NotE £Ju*K« S6c#4UV UNPfiOCXA TH/e iNV&TMeW accAMse mev MAvf m pav pRo&Kiuii/e «Arts fNEV* DOtJ T WAV* £NOi/<fti (NCtsJTlrt TO rtM£ Sr 7U£i* A/yoNCV S£#St9tX TW£ «?CC£0/MG S0O4U.V u*jpftoovcnv£ /Mvcsr^E^r «M0 ro«? by "* irt^e **bcs FO« P$€StD€UT CoMAI/rrff towintf Of OWE UTTERS" Ad Club important Monday evening I attended tho ASUQ Progrwu Finance Committee budget hearing for the University Advertising Club, • student chapter of the Aim-fu an Advertising non ! do not want to debate the nmmnnoo's dec nuun lor the Ad Club to n»wni* its goal state moot I do want to address on# (amniiiiw) member's mtjutsi lion of whether pre profession •I societies should receive student foe* imifu’y Thu person quMtlonod whether a prepro fmaionat mm toty, such a* tho Ad Club, promotes cultural and Ax physical development at tho University Students may nobly say lhoy re bore to ' broaden their Iwriion*" or to bec ome 'more responsible citizen*.*' but it’a common know lodge that moat students attend college in order to get decent fob* after gradua tion In the University's (tiumtl i»m school, il is also l ummon bowMgi that gnimaluin rtu d»nl*. in advertising or any other fourrialum sequence, muil participate in pw-pml«. sional airtivtliet in order to find employment after graduation Any toumaiism professor wilt loll you thal ju*l doing your ctasswork won'! land you a job Kmptoyef* want to see that stu dents went out of their way to gam work ekpenerure Without the Advertising Club, which present* intern' *hip* to it* member*, fund* the University Advertising Team: provide* student advertising opportunities fur nonprofit organization*, and facilitate* connection* between students and advertising professional*, I would be lacking the pre-pro fessional esperieme I need to get a job nest year I am thank ful for all the opportunities the Ad Club afforded me that my < lasses do not. The Ad Club facilitates stu dents' move from the School of journalism and Communication into the field of journalism. Il enables students to procure jobs in their chosen field* 1 think that t« the moat important phys fcal development the Universi ty provides to students, don't you? Ruth Bartmess Journalism New car degree A* • new student to the Uni versity. I’m amaxed at the things l loam each day I'm not talking about what is learned in the classroom or in te&tbooka. but rather what I learn about roy fellow students. Many students tell stories of financial need and what a pain it is to eat Top Kamen noodles all the time However, I wonder how many people era attending this school without any finan cial help from their parents Some people are lucky enough to be ham into families that are able to support their children through college or after graduation. Maybe that doesn't include paying for everything the student would like, but mans student* do get at least some form of help I was stioMied the tuner day when 1 heard a couple of stu dents talking of their ensuing graduation presents — cars* Graduation presents? Shouldn't a degree from a university be rewarding enough? Do they really need to he materially reinforced for their efforts? Shouldn't receiving an education he an intrinsic value? Michael Bros! Psychology River threatened lane County Commissioner ferry Rust was correct to observe that "We've got some of the worst environmental destruction on the planet right here ... the great public lands of the Northwest are up for grabs" f Of*, Jan. 25). Certainly these are bad times for the few remaining parcels of ancient forests But. as tragic as this it. we shouldn't overlook the environmental destruction occurring righi here in Eugene along the south hank of the Willamette River — and we should not forget the crucial role Rust continues to play in advancing this destruction. In ta»8. Rust's support for the Riverfront Research Com pies was pivotal in undermin ing the efforts of University student activists and Eugene citizens who fought to stop this ill-conceived project Oppo nents to the project, including the ASUO president and mem bers of the University Survival Center, succeeded in getting the issue before Eugene voters But. they lost the election, largely due to Rust's overt support tor the complex Rust's role in advancing the destruction of the Willamette River and in undermining efforts of local activists didn't stop m 1988. however As recently as last month. Rust, along with his political assort ales {including a few muddle headed faculty members from the University's School of Architecture), managed to get the Eugene City Council to rub ber stamp another til-conceived plan K implemented, this plan would lead to the overdevelop ment ol the river in the vicini ty of the Kerry Street Bridge a* well a* seriously degrade the organization of Eugene * public realm These plan* to urbanize Eu gene'* magnificent Willamette River acMtic corridor are part of a far-reaching development objective that will define Rust '» legacy more than anything else Rust, like every "successful" politician, hat learned that staying in office mean* not crossing certain line* — espe cially the line* drawn by the local economic development (lower brokers Studeni activist* mutt help stop the bulldozer* from push ing toward the river and keep Jerry Rust from advancing urban sprawl over Eugene s moat valued natural resource Thomas Lanier Eugene
