LECTURE
Women urge peace
Galia Golan and Zahira Kamal spoke on
the importance of women to the Mideast
peace process in a speech Tuesday
PAGE 6
SPORTS
Golf team in last place
The women ’sgolf team shot a 22-over-par
310 at the NCAA Championships, which left
them last in the 19-team field
PAGE 7
THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1998
-1
TODAY
USC Professor
Lynn Spigel ivill
speak on art and
TV at 3:30 p.m. in
333 Gilbert.
WEATHER
Today
Cloudy
High 63. Low 45.
Tomorrow
Partly Cloudy
High 65. Low 50.
Continuing Education
Life-lone learners
The University’s Learning
in Retirement program is a
chance for retirees to satisfy
their educational needs
By Amalie Young
Higher Education Reporter
Imagine a classroom where most stu
dents are there not to fulfill a last-minute
requirement or to inflate their GPAs but
because they want to learn.
Courses offered through the Learning
in Retirement program, such as Mayan
civilization, Flemish painters or consti
tutional law, draw crowds of curious and
eager students 55 and over.
“Students ask more questions; they’re
taking the class because they want to,”
said Paul Holbo, professor emeritus in
the history department and a founding
member of the organization. “Faculty
find it refreshing when students have
strong opinions and they participate.”
UR began operation in 1992 and is af
filiated with the continuing education
department. It was established to meet
the educational interests of the growing
number of retired men and women in the
area.
The organization has a great deal of au
tonomy as a self-supporting, cooperative
and member-led organization that de
pends on its members to organize and fa
cilitate many of its courses. Ideas for
courses are submitted to the Curriculum
Committee for evaluation.
Members pay a yearly fee of $100 that
gives them access to all courses offered
by LIR, use of the University library sys
tem and a discount at the University
Bookstore.
LIR enables members to access some
of the University’s resources, but it also
provides a close community that is im
portant for those who have lost a spouse
and need the human contact, said Les
Conley, an LIR member who takes cours
es and facilitates an open discussion
group called “News and Views.”
“One could easily get isolated in re
tirement,” he said. “Many of these peo
ple had a social life on the job and their
colleagues meant a lot to them.”
George Mattox, a retired Eugene busi
ness owner who participates regularly in
Turn to UR, Page 4
AMANDA COWAN/Emerald
Members of the Learning In Retirement program listen while Les Conley talks about
politics last Thursday morning.
Students
back faculty
with letters
Organizers of a letter-writing
campaign are hoping Gov.
Kitzhaber will budget for
increased faculty salaries
By Chris Kenning
Student Activities Reporter
University faculty — who are among the
lowest paid professors in the country — are
getting help from student organizations
concerned that as more qualified faculty
members leave for financial reasons, the
quality of education will drop.
The Oregon Student Association, the
ASUO and eight other Oregon universities
are hoping to get Gov. John Kitzhaber to in
clude funding in the next state budget to
raise Oregon’s university faculty pay to the
national midpoint by inundating his office
with letters from students.
Currently, Oregon university faculty are
ranked 44th out of 50 states in pay when
contrasted to comparable institutions. For
example, on a per capita basis, Oregon uni
versities are dead last in pay out of 11 west
ern states.
Uregon state schools are notoriously
known for not paying faculty well,” said
ASUO President Bill Miner. Only Alabama
and Idaho provide less money to a state uni
versity system on a per capita basis.
Today, Rep. Susan Castillo will join “Ac
cess to Quality” campaign organizers at a
table in front of the University Bookstore in
an effort to get as many student letters writ
ten as possible. The letters, which will in
clude personal stories by students who
have been influenced by a particular pro
fessor, can also be written and dropped off
at the ASUO office. The groups hope to
gather 500 letters.
Organizers said sending letters to
Kitzhaber is the first step in a critical cam
paign that will include lobbying the Legis
lature in January.
"If you can’t offer competitive salaries,
you’ll lose the good faculty you have; you’ll
also not get the talented new teachers,” said
campaign organizer Matt Swanson.
“Next year there is a projected $1 billion
surplus in the state budget, and there’s no
reason why it shouldn’t be used for higher
education,” Swanson said.
University President Dave Frohnmayer,
who supports the effort, said the number of
Turn to BUDGET, Page 4
Women’s march symbolizes the fight against sexual violence
Tonight’s Take Back the Night
march and events ivill include
speakers, singers, self-defense
workshops and testimonials
By Chris Kenning
Student Activities Reporter
The 20th annual Take Back the Night
march, an event that has come to symbolize
the fight against sexual violence, begins
tonight at 9 p.m. in the EMU Amphitheater.
The march underscores women’s right to
live in a community free of fear and violence,
said Rebecca Farmer, one of the event’s orga
nizers.
“The women of the campus and the com
munity will not tolerate sexual violence,”
she said. "We’re here to break the silence and
send a clear message.” The march is orga
nized by Sexual Assault Support Services
and the ASUO Women’s Center.
Take Back the Night, which attracted
more than 500 participants last year, will be
gin at 6:45 p.m. in the amphitheater, where
along with speakers, singers and testimoni
als, there will be informational tables and
self-defense workshops. Sign-making mate
rials, candles and arm bands representing as
sault survivors will be available for partici
pants.
At 9 p.m. the march will begin, continu
ing downtown to the area of Eighth Avenue
and Oak Street. Free transportation will be
available for those unable to march.
As the group convenes downtown, the
drumming group Womyn at Play will per
form.
Once all marchers arrive, there will be sev
eral short plays, more speakers and a speak
out, during which women, and later men,
can briefly say how they are feeling or tell
about experiences with sexual assault.
"It’s a really powerful experience,” said
Farmer, who has attended the march for sev
eral years. “There are so many women out
there supporting each other; it’s a really em
powering feeling. ’’
Event speakers will include Lynn McKin
ney, who will address violence against
Turn to MARCH, Page 4