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Creating a balanced education
Many
people were shocked af
ter former ASUO President
Bill Miner and Vice Presi
ueiu neu unger nmsnea meir June 13 commencement
speech. In front of thousands of people who presumably
value the university degree, they criticized the higher ed
ucation system in Oregon for a lack of diversity.
muaents, tney saia, snouia not be attending
the University and choosing business majors
simply to subsist financially in the future.
Higher education is a luxury, and students
should feel free to experiment intellectually.
Simply completing the required courses for a
marketing major is not enough, they said.
Although their statements prompted jeering from some
troubled students and families, it seems that the University
has given the nod to Miner and Unger by announcing the
addition of two new majors a mere six days after their
speech. The new majors — women's studies and Judaic
studies — rank near the pinnacle of diverse majors. These
are two historically oppressed groups of people that are now
being recognized as having a
past we can learn from. But, by
adding these two majors, the
University shows, con
KILEY ARROYO/Emerald
trary to Miner and
Unger’s argument, that
there is still student
and administra
^ tion interest in
diverse studies.
Directly addressine
Miner and Unger's arguments, it is true that these majors are
not as useful as a business degree for most people. They are
correct that this mentality has funneled more students into
business majors because they can’t make as much money
with a more diverse degree. And women's studies—which
has been offered as a minor and graduate program on cam
pus for more than two decades — has had the opposite
problem. It has been losing students for years —
but to other Universities that offer a major, ac
cording to women's studies program director Ju
. dithRaiskin.
Student emigration to schools with
women’s studies majors is a definite indica
tor that there are students out there pursu
ing personal interests, as well as profes
V sional interests. This is exactly the kind
A of activity the University should be
1^^ encouraging, and it is the activity
Miner and Unger were referring to.
The Judaic studies major is an
other subject that appeals to spe
cific interests. There has been a
push for the major on campus
for 15 years, according to
Richard Stein, chair of the
Judaic Studies Steering
- Committee. The subject,
wmun win ue orierea in ivnm
^ as a major and a minor, is
strengthened by a University study
abroad program in Israel. Students who fol
low this track of study are not the stereotypical
student, and the University is acting in students’ best in
terests by presenting more options such as this.
Neither of the new majors will be easy. Judaic studies, for
example, will require two years of modem Hebrew. Both
new majors may work closely with the ethnic studies pro
gram, another recently added major that will begin in the
fall. These programs will provide students with more of an
opportunity to study what interests them, and they are rec
ognizing employers’ perceptions of the degrees.
The women's studies major will require a minor, and it
encourages a second major to provide a broader education
al experience, Raiskin said. This is the right thing to do be
cause students can pursue their interests and still attain
marketable job skills.
Miner and Unger have received their wish, but now it’s
time for students to take advantage of opportunities such as
these two new majors.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial
board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon .uoregon .edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Education threatened
Every now and then, I believe that indi
viduals in our society are waking up to the
realities and responsibilities of the world
beyond their own self-serving interests.
Then I read the Emerald. Tuesday’s letter
to the editor (ODE, June 23) called Bill
Miner and Ben Unger’s commencement
speech “incoherent, babbling, nonsensical
nonsense.” Obviously, Dayna Terry
missed the point of the speech and the en
tire educational experience.
Bill and Ben did take a chance in writ
ing a speech that challenged not only our
university but the graduates. What was the
point of their speech? The point quite sim
ply was that our university, the education
al experience, and our ability to make a
difference is being threatened by corpo
rate-driven, profit-oriented, self-serving
interests. Education for education’s sake is
at risk. Make no mistake, even if you don’t
see it, our world and education is driven
by the consumer mentality. “Go to school,
make more money, buy a bigger house, get
a promotion, buy a better car, etc...” Who
benefits from this? The corporate, the up
per crust and the wealthy at the expense of
the rest of us. This is the reality.
Bill and Ben’s brave commencement
speech was intended to challenge us to
take risks, support education for educa
tion’s sake, and to make a difference in our
crippled society. That was the point, even
if you missed it.
Melissa Watson
Political Science
Neutrality impossible
In February 1997, MEChA (Movimiento
Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan) collected
more than 400 student signatures support
ing PCUN’s boycott of Gardenburger on
the University of Oregon campus. The
Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers
United (PCUN) called a boycott of NOR
PAC Foods after NORPAC growers fired
workers when they went on strike for bet
ter wages. According to PCUN. “Member
growers repeatedly violate farmworker
rights by refusing them decent housing,
livable wages, the rights to breaks and
overtime pay, and the denial of basic
rights of workers.” In addition, as PCUN
points out, “Workers who dare to struggle
to change these conditions face eviction
from these grower-owned housing, firing
and even physical violence.” NORPAC
Food Sales is the sales department and the
executive sales agent for NORPAC Foods.
PCUN called for a boycott of Wholesome
and Hearty Foods for not respecting the
NORPAC Foods boycott by using NOR
PAC Food Sales as one of its distributors.
University President Dave Frohnmayer
said the administration would not support
the boycott because the University must be
“politically neutral” (ODE, Feb. 18,1997).
In the past, the University of Oregon ad
ministration supported the farmworkers’
boycott of table grapes. Why the shift in
policy? We believe that the recent increas
es in corporate investments into universi
ties shifted the balance of power and im
posed constraints on Frohnmayer to side
with agribusiness in this political struggle
between the farmworkers and the owners.
We found extensive financial ties be
tween the University of Oregon, Nike and
NORPAC. In 1994, Nike acquired full mar
keting rights in Japan from Nissho Iwai,
the large Japanese trading company. In ad
dition, Nissho Iwai has a contract with
NORPAC Food to supply Japan’s market
for frozen and canned corn. The North
west produces about two-thirds of the
43,000 tons of frozen sweet corn con
sumed each year in Japan, and perhaps a
third of the 84,000 tons of canned com.
We wonder how “politically neutral”
the University of Oregon may be given
Nissho Iwai’s and Nike’s financial contri
bution to the University. We also wonder
how we may be neutral given the balance
of power between the growers and the
farmworkers. In a different historical time,
when boycotts were used to break Jim
Crow laws, we wonder what neutrality
would really mean. A position of “neutral
ity” would have meant support for the
racist White Citizens’ Councils. During a
political struggle, we can’t be neutral. The
question is: What side are you on?
Julia D. Fox
Sociology instructor
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