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