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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1997)
FRIDAY. JUNE 6.1997 INDEX Opinion 2A News 4A Rhythm & Reviews 5A Sports 9A Classifieds 13A Graduation 1B TODAY Oregon Ballroom Dance is offering lessons for begin ners tonight at 7:30 in Room 220 Gerlinger Hdi Cost is $2 for students. INSIDE The track and field teams meet disappoinment ■■ . in the second day of the NCAA championships *■ * <*&> wvfmnv Eugene’s Human Powered Parade this Satur day will recognize alternate transportation WEATHER Partly cloudy. High 70. Low 50. University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon An independent newspaper Volume 98, Issue 166 AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE _ . . MICHAEL CRISP/Emerald Beth Ticehurst, a deaf student at the University, uses an interpreter while attending a survey class in Lawrence Hall. Students struggle to learn ASL, but the UO won’t recognize it as a foreign language By Amy Palanuk Higher Education Reporter In a silent world, the language of the spoken word becomes transformed. Transformed into another language, a language with its own culture and own meanings — a language called American Sign Language. History major Beth Ticehurst agrees with that statement, especially after hav ing to learn the language so late in the game. Ticehurst is deaf, and before coming to the University she did not know sign language. She managed to get through high school by communicating with teachers through lip-reading and written notes. But when it came to deciphering lectures at the University, an interpreter was needed, so Ticehurst learned the language. Learning the language was the firsl step. Getting the language recognized as filling an academic requirement for for eign language became the problem. Many individuals and institutions dc not recognize ASL as a language require ment, including the University. In 1994, the Undergraduate Education Policy and Coordinating Council recom mended to the University that American Sign Language not be considered as a foreign language. After a lengthy process, the committee made the con clusion that ASL did not involve the dis tinctive cultures of a foreign language, said committee chair William Braugh. Only two public secondary education al institutions in Oregon recognize ASL as a foreign language. Western Oregon Turn to ASL, Page 10A Cross will be moved, court says ■ RELOCATION. A last appeal was made by the American Legion, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied it By Jennifer Schmitt Community Editor The latest chapter in the Skinner Butte Cross saga is closing as city officials and the Eugene Bible College prepare for the reloca tion of the cross. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ruled to deny the last-ditch appeal by the American Legion, according to a court clerk. . No official writ ten word from Jus tice Day O’Connor has been received yet by William Wheatley, attorney for the American Legion. WHAl S NeXT ■ The cross will be relocated to the \ Eugene Bible College on Monday j or Tuesday. we nave heard trie rumors, and we have been told that she signed the denial and sent it Tuesday, but we haven’t seen anything yet,” said a representative from Wheatley’s office. The last-ditch appeal argued that federal courts never should have considered the case once the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that the cross was a war memorial, and thus constitutional. In April, U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin ordered the cross to be relocated by June 15. After considering alternative sites, Eugene Bible College was chosen by the City Council to receive the cross. The cross was scheduled to be relocated to the Eugene Bible College on Saturday, June 7. City officials now have postponed the relocation until Monday or Tuesday, de pending on the availability of the machinery needed to remove the cross. “They went up to the cross today and put 2,000 pounds worth of pressure on it,” said Robert Whitlow, president of the Eu gene Bible College. “It didn’t budge, so they Turn to RELOCATION, Page 9A Portland State University named Daniel Bernstine, as its new pre sident Thursday. Bernstine replaces Judith Ramaley, who left to become president of the University of Vermont. Story oa page 4A ILWffSqP DISTANCE EDUCATION} University expands independent study, web-based courses ■ LEARNING: Both on- and off-campus students who have tight schedules enjoy the flexibility of on-line courses \ \ | By Sarah Kickler Oregon Daily Emerald The University got a step closer to the virtual classroom this fall when it began offering classes over the Internet to stu dents off campus and on. Through the distance education pro gram, the University has been offering two economics classes, two political science classes, two geology classes and three as tronomy and physics classes in an inde pendent study, web-based format. The economics classes were first offered for both on- and off-campus students this fall. The other social science classes have been available in self study format to on campus students for about three years, said Jo Anna Gray, associate dean for the social sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. Curt Lind of the University’s Continua tion Center said the geology classes have been offered through the Oregon State System of Higher Education independent study program for many years and were first included in the University’s regular course offerings in winter term 1997. Students read on their own, get notes off the classes’ web pages and take tests either over e-mail or in a proctored lab. On-cam pus students take the tests in the Social Science Instructional Lab in the basement of PLC, and off-campus students take tests at proctored locations in or near their hometowns. “We’ve been very careful in developing proctored, secure testing for the off-cam pus students,” Gray said. Gray also said that the organizers of the distance education program wanted to make University education available to Turn to LEARNING, Page 3A
