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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
Salary limits could send new teachers packing
OK, students, creative visualization time.
Imagine that you’re just about ready to
bolt out of the graduation gate. Suppose
you got lucky and are about to head
into the post-academic fray with a degree in a ma
jor that is not only personally fulfilling but also in
high demand. You’re feeling pretty good about
life right now, aren’t you? Good. Hold on to that;
it will be important later.
There are few noble professions left in this
weary world, and few would deny that teaching
is one of them. It’s also undeniable that teachers
get jerked around in a way that few other profes
sionals do. And like the rain, it just
keeps on coming.
Earlier this week, state
Sens. Gene Derfler and
Neil Bryant introduced a
proposal that would allow
individual school districts
to place a cap on teacher
salaries and benefits.
Just the phrase “salary cap”
calls up images of
overindulged professional
athletes quibbling with their
equally bloated management
over that extra million dollars.
This is hardly the case with
Oregon teachers, whose salaries
average about $42,301. Sure, this places
them among the nation’s top 20 with regard to
pay, but it’s not as though they’re in the league
with Michael Jordan or Albert Bell.
Just last week, the University’s School of Edu
cation was ranked 16th in the country by U.S.
News and World Report. For years prior, the pro
gram has earned other accolades from a variety
of sources both statewide and nationwide. It
seems the school is amply prepared to meet
one of its primary goals: to produce top-notch f
teachers.
What good can come of producing these
teachers if they need to leave the state to find
a competitive wage? Now it’s time to recall
that warm fuzzy feeling you had earlier. Do
you feel it fading just a bit?
If this bill passes, instead of saving money, it
would only serve to disenchant Oregon’s cur
rent and prospective teachers. Those
fresh out of education programs
such as the University’s, those
with their options wide open,
might see a salary cap as a cap
on their growth potential
and choose to take their
skills out of state.
The bill’s sponsors argue
that this is a way to manage the
largest single cost school dis
tricts face — teacher salaries.
Proponents point to similar
measures that have suc
cessfully curtailed
school district
£\
spending in Wisconsin and Washington.
Teachers in those states say that the cap has in
tensified tension between districts and teachers'
unions. The Oregon Education Association
has already voiced its opposition to
the bill. As the largest teachers’
union in Oregon, the OEA
worries that a salary cap will
seriously damage its ability to
bargain with school districts.
With the state in the midst
of a teacher shortage, the Ore
gon Legislature should consid
er any action that has poten
tial to drive qualified
teachers out of the state
ill-timed and ill-ad
vised.
This editorial rep
resents the opin
ion of the
Emerald edi
torial board.
Responses
maybe
sent to
ode@ore
gon.uore
gon.edu.
Thumbs
THUMBS UP
To giving a
second took:
As the National
Geography Bee
approaches, The
Oregonian reports
that schools are
putting new em
phasis on the oft
neglected study of
what goes where.
To charity:
Standing behind
their commitment
to the region, sev
eral NATO coun
tries are opening
their borders to
Kosovo refugees.
THUMBS DOWN
To irony:
The U,S. barge
Alaska is ground
ed near the en
trance to Young’s
Bay. It Is owned by
Crowley Marine
Services, the
same company
that helped free
the NewCarissa.
Letters to the Editor
Condoning sexism?
When will it end? When will the Emerald
realize that permitting sexism is promoting
sexism? On April 2, 1999, the Emerald
printed an appalling column of one man’s
version of a good vacation. The overtly sex
ist, rape-oriented, violence-condoning,
ODE-degrading language within the col
umn is a serious problem. I understand that
the views of this column “do not necessari
ly represent those of the paper” and as a so
cial justice activist, I fully understand the
implications of the First Amendment. How
ever, there are ethical standards in journal
ism to which the Emerald should hold itself
accountable. This sexist writing is neither
permitted nor published in The Student In
surgent, The Register-Guard, The New York
Times or other reputable newspapers. To
permit is to promote. Discrimination is dis
crimination. No one has any right to dis
criminate against women, against anyone.
W. Douglas Serrill
The Survival Center
Not so sweet
I’m responding to the column “Short and
Sweet” by Vince Madeiros (ODE, Apr. 2).
Mr. Madeiros describes the wonderful vaca
tion that he had during last spring break.
What’s wrong with what he reveals? Plenty!
Vince Madeiros depicts the joys he and his
friend had purchasing women for sex in
Mexico and Las Vegas. Viewing women as a
mere commodity — to just use and discard
— is aberrant to me. Prostitution is not a vic
timless crime; the prostitute is degraded in
the process. Our society will never be a real
ly loving one until we stop objectifying oth
ers. The Perspectives page will be better
served by a life-affirming approach than to
drag us all down to the trash heap of human
ity.
Ron Seymour
Eugene
Vivisection unnecessary
Vivisection should no longer be tolerated
on the University campus because it has no
validity and is highly unethical. There are
ways of obtaining the same desired informa
tion without experimenting on animals.
This university allows scientists to exper
iment on various animals including Rhesus
monkeys, rabbits, owls, rats, mice, zebra
fish, lizards and frogs. For example, psy
chology professor Richard Marrocco studies
the attention abilities of Rhesus monkeys on
certain drugs. Marrocco permanently im
plants surgical steel caps into the monkeys'
scalps and a coil of wire into their eyes. Dur
ing the experiment the monkeys are screwed
into a “primate chair” by their steel-cap im
plants so they cannot move their heads.
Instead of causing these animals great
pain and suffering, the University should
promote alternatives to vivisection. Scien
tists could analyze tissue and cell cultures
taken from human volunteers, biopsies and
post-mortem specimens. Noninvasive imag
ing techniques, such as cat scans and MRI,
can also reveal how the human body works
and can monitor the progress of disease and
response to therapy.
We need to realize that we cannot take in
formation gathered from one species and ex
pect it to help another. Animals vary in re
sponse to drugs. For example, penicillin has
saved countless human lives but is fatal to
guinea pigs. Many people have died from
drugs released to the public after they were
safety tested on animals.
It is time to end this fraudulent research.
Educate yourself and realize how ineffi
cient, unethical and what a waste of money
vivisection is.
Melissa White
Journalism
LETTERS POLICY
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ics of interest to the University community.
Letters must be limited to 250 words. The
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for length, clarity, grammar, style and libel.
Letters may be dropped off at EMU Suite 300.