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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2000)
Thursday Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu May 18,2000 Volume 101, Issue 155 Effierald he heat is on. Weil almost, anyway. In about four weeks, students will have walked out of their last spring final, ready to take on whatever summer may bring. Can I get a big ‘woohoo!’ from you all? Traditional summertime images include old friends catching up, swimsuits and beaches, career oppor tunities, fami ly excursions, kids playing in sprinklers... you know the scene. The bottom line is that the summer is known for al lowing many students the time to do things they didn’t have a chance to do before. But not everyone accepts this homework-free time period; some choose to — get ready for this one — take summer classes. Of course, many who choose to take the shortened courses don’t in tend to give up the summer excite ment. They often still plan to main tain a summer job, hang out with friends and participate in every fun filled weekend adventure they can. Unfortunately, this kind of wishful thinking can be completely shot down once students find that sum mer classes, which include longer hours, daily homework and intense testing schedules, will pretty much take over every day of the month. There won’t be much time for the popular summer events. Before committing to the shortened cours es, students should do some re search and know exactly what they’re getting into. Beta Mostafavi Taking summer classes is a great way to catch up with credits or to get some classes out of the way, but anyone thinking about registering for the four-week sessions shouldn’t plan on devoting themselves to much else. Teachers who have taught summer courses are aware of some students’ unrealistic goals to accomplish more than what is feasi ble during the summer season. “It’s really easy to get behind in a four-week summer course,” said John Lukacs , an anthropology pro fessor who has taught summer courses for more than 15 years. “The biggest problem is that people get into it with the attitude of, ‘Oh it’s just another class’ and forget that the goal is to do three months in only four weeks. I’ve had students taking 18 credits and then not hav ing time to do all their work. There are lots of people who see [summer school] as a way to finish up and consequently overload themselves and then become disappointed when they don’t pass. It’s incredible what people think they can do.” James Long, a chemistry instructor who has taught summer classes for more than 10 years, agrees that the in tensity of classes doesn’t allow stu dents to take on too much work. “(Students) can’t treat summer school as a regular term,” Long said. “For example, no one should take three courses. Students who try to take extra classes have trouble be cause that’s too much information in too little time. My students prob ably spend two of the three days’ break (between classes) studying.” Summer term is also not like spring, when students feel all right about the sunshine enticing them to stay outside and skip a few classes here and there. Usually a class ab sence every now and then isn’t the biggest deal in college, de pending on the class and circumstance. But skip ping one class period in summer is almost the equivalent of missing three days. Courses do vary and there are ses sions that run eight weeks or 11 weeks, but it’s the four-week sessions that will get you. Be cause of the in tensity, these summer classes need extra focus and attention. This can take away from some of the classic sum mer opportunities, such as making that extra wad of cash at a full-time job or hav ing that summer fling. So there you have it. These perspectives shouldn’t discour age anyone from taking summer classes, because they’re actually very beneficial if students are will ing to work hard and make some summer sacrifices. But prospective students should take all facts into consideration so that they don’t find themselves burnt by more than just the summer rays. “The first day of classes I give my students a little spiel,” Long said. “I tell them that they can’t work more than 20 hours a week and also can’t be falling in and out of love during.this time.” Beata Mostafavi is a columnist for the Ore gon Daily Emerald. Her views do not nec essarily represent those of the Emerald. She can be reached via e-mail at bmostafa@gladstone.uoregon.edu. * Bryan Dixon Emerald Letters to the editor Making voices heard In a society where one in three women will be raped in their life time, something must change. In a society where rape myths are still firmly believed, there is a need for education. In a society where every six minutes a woman is raped, there is a need for action. Rape is any unwanted sexual intercourse. Rape is about power and violence. We must all educate ourselves about rape and sexual assault and then take action to bring about change. For, in one way or another, sexual violence af fects us all. May is Sexual Assault Aware ness Month — 31 days in which we can focus our efforts on sexual assault education, prevention, awareness and activism. The Take Back the Night March takes place during this month. The year 2000 is the 22nd An niversary of the march, which has come to symbolize women protesting all forms of oppression but rape and sexual assault in par ticular. Take Back the Night is a time for women to walk through the streets of Eugene; one night without fear, protest violence and making their voices heard. Take Back the Night begins tonight at 7 p.m. at the EMU Am phitheater with a rally and then a march to the East Park Block at 8th and Oak streets, where there will be a Speak Out. To the women and men of Eugene, please come and share your voices. Heather Mitchell women's studies, environmental science Men can help With Take Back the Night hap pening tonight, I wanted to ad dress the hard work of Men Against Sexism on campus. We are small but growing, and every time someone new gets involved the circle gets bigger. Though perhaps misunder stood, MAS is working for change in society through mutual educa tion and support and by getting in volved directly with the Women’s Center in planning Take Back the Night. Take Back the Night is a great op portunity to learn more about physical and sexual violence and how violence affects both men and women. This event is for the com munity to get involved and raise awareness to help end sexual abuse and the silence that often goes with it. This issue affects us all. I am a pro-active volunteer and feminist supporter. As a man, I urge other men to come to Take Back the Night, where there will be opportunities to hold discus sions with other men, meet MAS members and march behind the women’s march. Everyone, please come show your support for those who live around you and whose stories have not been heard. Jonathan Gudstadt Men Against Sexism member
