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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1998)
r-wmsmmnm^ NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 E-MAIL: ode@oregon uoregon.edu ADDRESS: Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. BOX 3159 Eugene, Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon.edu/-ode mm EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Holly Sanders Higher education technical training can go too far A recent report suggests the need for high technology> education is less than believed ■ 1 or several years now, the Oregon’s h igher ed ucat i on JL system has been that stu dents need to receive an education that will prepare them for “the real world.” In particular, that world is per ceived as being made up primari ly of “skilled" jobs, positions that often require specific training in science, math and technology. The University of Oregon and other state schools have increased their involvement with business and added more classes to teach about computers and other high tech industries. Additionally, Oregon schools have taken other steps to cater their programs to industry. The assumption of those pushing these changes has been that cor porations will request more tech nical training and a greater num ber of high tech-ready graduates. For example, in November the Oregon State System of Higher Education Board (now called the Oregon University System) voted to implement a new set of perfor mance indicators. These indica tors rely in part upon surveys of graduates and employers about the usefulness of the student’s de gree in the job market. In fact, OSSHE Chancellor Joe Cox specifically pushed for em ployability to be considered a high priority among standards of performance, according to an arti cle in the Emerald (ODE, Nov. 24). There are certain philosophical and social problems with pushing so hard for business-oriented edu cation and especially with em phasizing high tech. As many critics of recent changes have pointed out, flood ing the market with high tech trained graduates will not only save businesses money in training (amounting to an additional sub sidy of an industry that already dominant mentality in AN EMERALD EDITORIAL 4/ CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald reaps major rewards from local and state government), but it will also create a glut in the labor mar ket, artificially lowering wages and making it hard for graduates to become employed in this sup posedly booming field. In addition, more fundamental questions exist about the degree to which corporations should shape the curriculum. If the primary fo cus of the university system is to tailor graduates to the needs of in dustry, we stand to lose more than just humanities and arts classes that are perceived by companies as being of little use in the job mar ket. We also face the greater risk of censoring professors, classes and departments that represent a threat to the dominant, pro-corpo rate view that higher education administrators seem to hold. Whether done in the name of progress or politics, such propos als would greatly weaken the abil ity of free-market capitalism’s foes to organize, educate against and combat the omnipresent forces of the market. All of these arguments have been made before, of course, and will be made again. Now, howev er, there is new evidence that, re gardless of the desirability of preparing students exclusively for the job market, high-tech training might not be the right path to take. A new study, reported in Tues day’s New York Times, suggests that the majority of new jobs being created nationwide are in middle management, not high technolo gy There are, of course, certain problems with the study. The question of what constitutes mid dle management is a valid one, as the researchers created the catego ry for the purposes of the survey. Additionally, the study reflects national, rather than local, trends. Nevertheless, we think the re sults of the survey warrant consid eration. According to the story, only 8 percent of new jobs created between 1989 and 1995 were in high technology, while 37 percent of the jobs were in management. Those jobs, according to re searchers from the Educational Testing Service, require only ele mentary training in problem solv ing and creative thinking. Such an education can be given through most “traditional" liberal arts pro grams — although employers did show a preference for those schooled in business classes and their often pro-corporate rhetoric. Realistically, in fact, many of these jobs don’t require college training at all, which suggests that a diploma's crucial role is not, and should not, be enabling its holder to get a job. Rather, college ought to be primarily about pro viding students with a broad edu cational background that allows them to understand their commu nity, the world and the social, po litical and artistic landscape of the time. -*■ Even in Oregon, the majority of jobs will never be in technical fields. Opportunities in these ar eas are not rising as quickly as predicted and training the re quested number of students will only help lower wages. Instead, the Oregon higher edu cation system (and it is still a sys tem, rather than a collection of in dividual schools) should work toward creating critical thinkers. Such students are capable of fill ing the jobs of the coming century, but they are also capable of alter ing the structures that create those jobs. After all, it is worth noting that this rise in management came in the midst of downsizing that low ered even management wages and eliminated many lower level jobs (replacing them not only with use less layers of management but also low-paying service positions). Although it may seem hypocrit ical, the thing universities most need to teach is that students should question the very exis tence of elite institutions of learn ing that funnel different classes into different rungs on the corpo rate ladder. That would be higher educa tion than we have today. Ihis editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial Ixxtrd. Re sponses may he sent to ode@ore pon.uorepon.edu IETTEBS TO THE EDITOR ASUO needs Hunter Ln regards to next year’s proposed budget elimination of staff member Cheryl Hunter (ODE, Jan, 27), the Club Sports Executive Committee implores you to reconsider the ASUO proposal. The severance of Hunter’s position is a regressive ma neuver that will inevitably set back future ASUO leaders. We give ourselves as an example. The Club Sports team coordinators would not be as effective in their leadership role without administra tive support and guidance. Through out the years, our director’s (Sandy Vaughn) actions as a general facilita tor, organizers and representative of student needs have kept this program running smoothly. We see Hunter’s position as synonymous. In response to ASUO cries for “autonomy,” the Club Sports Executive Committee manages to make all our budgetary and management decisions without administrator interference; rather, we are advanced by Vaughn’s adminis trative and advising experiences. We understand the desire for the 1997-98 ASUO to leave behind a visi ble legacy at the University (“This is Ben and my watch,” (Miner) said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to slam dunk it, to do what a lot of other administrators saw was needed but couldn’t do anything about” (ODE, Jan. 27).), however this is not a productive nor endearing contribu tion. On behalf of the student body, we hope the ASUO channels its en ergy into more effective campaigns. Think before you “slam dunk.” Donna Goode Peter McCormick and three co-signers Club Sports Executive Committee University needs cash While I may not like what busi nesses like Nike do overseas, I’m not certain institutions like the Universi ty can afford to turn away large cash donations. State funding of higher education is on the decline, and not just in Oregon. If someone like Phil Knight gives $25 million to hire more professors and build a new law school, with no strings attached, then the University should take it and run. If there is any oversight to be done re garding from where and from whom the money comes, it should only be to determine if any conditions are at tached. Does the University give any thing to a donor in exchange for a large donation? If the answer is no, then the money should be used for a good purpose, regardless of what we think of the donor's politics or busi ness practices. St8ve Williams Graduate student Safe campus needed In the recent years, students have worked hard to try to guarantee a safe campus environment. In creating a conduct code that supported sur vivors, students said campus needed to be a safer place. Now that process is in jeopardy. With the current ruling concerning sexual misconduct, the safety and ef fectiveness of the code are in ques tion. Because an alleged offender is being allowed back on campus after four separate findings of guilt, the code is proving ineffective. That is unacceptable. Students need a safe campus. Students need to stand to gether to demand a process that gives survivors the protection they need. If a strong code cannot protect the cam pus environment, then students need to both help and protect themselves. One in four women are survivors of sexual assault during their college careers; giving support to survivors to know their rights and to empower them to do something is important if we all truly want to see a decline in sexual violence. Demonstrating con cern and a pledge for help will not solve the problem, but it will go a long way to start finding solutions. It is true that not every person has heard the specifics of any case; one does not need to know the specifics to support the findings. One needs to trust in the system that students created to make campus a better place to be. If students cannot trust themselves, who can they really trust? Bill Miner ASUO President Ben Unger ASUO Vice President CORRECTION The story “In tern files to im- - peach ASUO Ex ecutive" (ODE, Feb. 11) con tained an error. The story should have stated that the Student Senate can also for ward a brief to the Constitution Court opposed to the grievance against the ASUO president and vice presi dent. The Emer ald regrets the error.
