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MONDAY: Opinion
TUESDAY: Politics
WEDNESDAY: Opinion
THURSDAY: Politics
FRIDAY: Opinion
editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
R
l
Did last night’s
presidential debate
change the way you
feel about a
particular candidate?
Frohnmayer talks, we talk back
During his State of the University Address on Oct. 2,
President Dave Frohnmayer urged faculty and staff to
improve the “quality” of their work amid budget
cuts, enormous enrollment increases and fun
damental change on all levels of the University. The
newly-inducted president had plenty of ideas and plans f
for his employees to tackle. But did he give enough direc- >
tion and practical steps for them to fully accomplish these A
goals? %
ON RANKINGS
FROHNMAYER: “Our educational capabilities have been rec
ognized this year in a variety of rankings ... our overall acad
emic reputation rose to 55th in the nation out of all universi
ties ... according to U.S. News & World Report.”
EMERALD: The saying "accentuate the positive" was no more
true than in the beginning of Frohnmayer’s speech, as he stated
all the great things about the University’s last year. But in de
scribing our academic prowess, all-too-important facts were left
out. Indeed, U.S. News did rank us 55th among national universi
ties in the single category of "academic reputation” according to
polls of University presidents across the country. But the real rank
ings were judged by a combination of seven categories and the Uni
versity didn’t come out too well — as usual. Out of 229 schools di
vided into four levels, we ranked in the third tier. That’s
second-to-last. Even Oregon State beat us, falling into the second tier.
ON TUITION
FROHNMAYER: “High tuition is a serious problem tor our students,
their families ... [it] has shut the door on many students just
when we should force it open.
It is our duty, as faculty and staff, to repay the
sacrifice of their investment with superb teach
ing, responsive support, and an open and ac
cepting campus atmosphere.”
EMERALD: Frohnmayer has admitted the ris
ing tuition problem isn't going away. Students
will continue to pay more and more. But don't j
worry, we all have "superb teaching,” “re- /
sponsive support" and an open campus at- f <
mosphere to look forward to for $11,000 a f j
year. What do these things mean? Frohn
mayer didn't seem to give any adequate
specifics as to how faculty will achieve
these goals. To his credit, however, Frohn
mayer can't do much for his staff except
provide an environment where they will do
their best work. Fie is more busy as an "ex
ternal" president, he says, and he does a
good job at it. We just hope the job will con
tinue to get done at home as well.
ON GROWTH
FROHNMAYER: “The future demands that we become better at
what we do. While state cuts have made it impossible to increase
the size of our faculty significantly, we are going to face an in
crease in the number of students here. ”
EMERALD: The number of students will increase 12 percent, Frohn
mayer said later. That's 20,000 total students. In the next few years
student population, for some odd reason, will grow incredibly. With a
90 percent acceptance rate, according to U.S. News, one wonders
why we are setting our standards so low when we just don't have the
resources to accommodate such a growing student body. This is the
time to be selective — not welcoming — if we don’t even have the
money to hire any new professors.
Goals set forth by Frohnmayer to accommodate the new students
ranged from “new marvels” of technology to new teaching methods
to serving with “maximum goodwill and energy." While these very
brief and very broad goals are all noble aspirations, the fact is that
three years from now when classes are larger and professors are in
creasingly overloaded and the work is passed on more and more to
inexperienced assistants, we won’t be receiving as good an education
as we are now.
ON THE FUTURE
FROHNMAYER: “No one in Johnson Hall can tell you how to accom
plish these ends. Only you, through your own creativity, and that of
your colleagues, can find the best ways of improving the quality of
your work.”
EMERALD: This is, in short, the heart of Frohnmayer's speech —
a call to faculty. He gave them many goals for the future.
Some of the goals will be hard to understand or execute,
some are very clear, but none are easy. Even if our
higher education won’t be quite as high in com
ing years, the university will no doubt be
trying hard to preserve as much
quality as possible. The ques
s tion lies in whether it will
"V succeed. Frohnmayer's vi
sion is a gallant one, but
not one he can see to
fruition himself. It’s all
in the hands of the
faculty: They know
where they need to
go. But do they know
how toaet there?
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
This editorial
represents the
opinion of the
Emerald editorial
board.
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LETTERS
Staff says hello
In a week, the Student Orientation staff
will be in touch by phone to inquire about
you new students and your life at UO. Fall
"O” Up is our project name, and we are ex
cited about having another chance to say
hello and offer our help after having met
many of you at IntroDUCKtion or during
New Student Orientation Week.
Not only do we have the answers to any
questions you might have, but we are also
ready to share success tips and give you
the latest scoop on campus events and ac
tivities. Also, should you need or want in
formation from other campus departments
and resources, we can ease your search by
giving you the right referral.
It is our goal to help all new students
have a successful transition to life here at
the University. We’ll be calling from Oct. 6
through Nov. 1 and look forward to listen
ing to your comments and answering your
questions.
We’ll be in touch!
Lenore Pointer
Fall “O” Up Student Director
Night rides available
Project Saferide is a rape-prevention or
ganization on the University of Oregon
campus. We are striving to create a safer
campus atmosphere by ensuring that no
woman is forced to walk alone during the
night. To reach this goal, we offer free shut
tle service to female staff, students and fac
ulty between the hours of 6 p.m. and 12
a.m. On Friday and Saturday nights we op
erate until 2 a.m. If you need a ride, please
call us at 346-4239.
Our organization would like to stress
that we are concerned with the safety of all
students on campus, regardless of sex.
However, as we are primarily a rape pre
vention organization, we are only able to
accommodate female riders. This policy is
in accordance with Saferide’s ASUO by
laws.
In alignment with our desire to increase
safety awareness on campus, we would
like to mention transportation alternatives
to Saferide. The Designated Driver Shuttle
(DDS) is designed to transport all Universi
ty students from licensed drinking estab
lishments — including restaurants that
serve alcohol — to their homes. DDS oper
ates Thursday through Sunday from 10
p.m. to 3 a.m. their number is 346-0621.
Another option for both men and women
is the Office of Public Safety, which can be
reached at their non-emergency number,
346-5444. They are available for night-time
rides in the campus area.
Project Saferide is always looking for fe
male and male volunteers. Our volunteers
participate in bake sales, gassing cars and
help with various fundraisers and events.
We also need female volunteers to drive
during operational hours.
Patricia Drew
Carrie Whipple
Co-Directors, Project Saferide
Fox for House
I would like to express my opinion about
a person running for House District 41.
Norman Fox is a person of high integrity.
Norman Fox is not a professional politi
cian. Norman Fox is very involved in edu
cation and says education is his “priority
one”. Norman Fox is also concerned about
crime. While the rest of the nation is seeing
a decline in crime, our area is seeing an in
crease. I feel Fox will bring fresh ideas on
improving our community and I encourage
everyone to vote for Norman Fox.
Arline Link
Springfield
LETTERS POLICY
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ter for length or style.