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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2000)
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Associate Editors: Rebecca Newell, Jeff Smith Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Tuesday August 8,2000 Volume 102, Issue 14 Emerald Where’dyou get your diploma, a box of CrackerJacks? “Obtain a prosperous future, mon ey earning power and the admira tion of all.” So begins the e-mail I receive at least once a week, sent under the subject line “University Diplomas.” How, you ask, can a person attain all of the above, basically a short list of those qualities each student likely strives for by attending the Universi ty? (OK, the “admiration of all” part is a bit of a stretch.) Simple. One quick phone call to a business in south Florida — at least that’s what the number’s area code reflects — and you can receive a diploma from “prestigious non-accredited universities based on your present knowledge and life experience.” The e-mail goes on to state that there are “no required tests, classes, books or interviews” for bachelor’s, master’s, MBA and doctorate diplomas, avail able in the field of your choice. No one is turned down, confiden tiality is assured and lines are open 24 hours day, seven days a week, in cluding Sundays and holidays. Whoa, the joy of instant gratifica tion. With summer commencement ex ercises scheduled for Saturday, maybe now is the time to assess ex actly what students are getting out of their college experiences. Although I will not be receiving my diploma this weekend — as a fourth-year jun ior, the once-ridiculed phrase “six year plan” is suddenly sounding more realistic —1,129 degree candi dates are eligible to participate in the ceremonies. The awards include 719 bachelor’s degrees, 289 master’s de grees, 61 doctoral degrees, 57 certifi cate recipients and three doctor of jurisprudence degrees. So, are these people stupid? With the push of a few buttons, they could have had a diploma in their hand by now and be well on their way to that “prosperous future.” Uh, yeah, right. “College is a tremendous experi ence you keep drawing on for the rest of your life,” said Karen Sprague, biology professor and vice provost for undergraduate studies, in between laughter after hearing about the offer from “University Diplomas.” As a University adminis trator, Sprague, of course, is required to toe the com pany line. But, she makes good arguments for taking the stay-in-school path, instead of trying the wing-it approach. There’s the opportu nity to debate important issues in a classroom set ting, she said, and interacting with people who can lay out the logic of certain points of view. Your stance on issues gets shaken up in the process, which only adds to the learning process. “For a great many people some thing special happens during the pursuit of a college education,” Sprague said. 1 hat pursuit ot happiness comes . at a rather daunting cost, of course, and the price is escalating. N. Tuition and fee rates for in-state res- \ idents at the University have in creased more than 225 percent in the past 10 years, according to the Oregon University System. The difference in annual costs between the 1988-89 and 1998-99 school years rose from $1,649 to $3,771 for undergraduates. For non-residents the financial burden jumped from $4,517 to $12,555 dur ing the same time period. That’s a lot of special somethings. It should be noted, however, that the U.S. Department of Education re ports the average college costs for undergraduates at the nation’s pub nc institutions run about $8,000, in cluding room and board expenses. So, what are we getting for our Grover Clevelands and our Ben Franklins? According to in formation on the National Center for Education Statistics Web site, the medi an annual income in 1998 of year-round, full-time workers aged 25 years and older, with a bache lor s degree, was $51,405 for men and $36,559 for women. Those workers with just a high school de gree skimped by on $31,477 and $22,780, respectively. Beyond the higher influx of dead presidents, what are students really getting for their investment, though? Not much, if you believe William Beaver, who is a professor of social science at Robert Morris College in Pennsylvania. The good professor took time out of his busy teaching schedule to attack everything that is higher education in the summer is sue of American Outlook, a quarterly magazine published bv the Hudson Institute, a public policy research or ganization in Indi anapolis. Beaver wrote that higher education has become “less of a haven for the elite and the academical ly qualified and more of an expected destination for everyone.” Institu tions, facing a possi ble decline in en rollment when the last of the baby boomers entered college in the 1980s, responded with publicity cam paigns, lower standards and scholar ships, all to attract what he called less-qualified students. When the courseload became too difficult for those students, he continued, col leges relied on remedial courses and in flated grades. He makes col-. lege sound like a gussied up ver sion of the WWF, but how accurate are Beaver’s disparage ments? Sprague said that Y Beaver s viewpoint is worth while to consider, mainly be cause it forces institutions to think about what they’re offering and forces students to think about what they’re getting out of their four year — or more — commitment. She also ex pressed concern about declining stan dards at the higher education level. In response to his opinion that parents and high-school counselors emphasize getting a college educa tion too much, and overlook the pos sible fact that a student might find higher pay scales as skilled, industri al workers, Sprague agreed. “I know my plumber makes more than I do,” she said. “If simply mak ing money is your sole concern, then maybe you should go that way.” Sprague did get in a plug for the higher education system, lest you think she is falling down on the job. She related a story about her friend who went to school, received his college degree, but in the end found that barn-building was his true pas sion.Without that intermediate step of the university experience, howev er, she doubts her friend would have the same perspective on life. In a very long and circuitous man ner, the point of this commentary is to prompt you, as a student, to think about what you are doing on this campus. Whether you are graduating this weekend or whether you are ready to scrap it all and become a carpenter, you have choices. A college degree is certainly to be valued, but it isn’t necessarily all that and a bag of chips. Especially if it is just a phone call away. Jack Clifford is the Oregon Daily Emerald’s editor in chief. i ( College is a tremen dous experience you keep drawing on for the rest of your life ...Fora great many people something special happens during the pursuit of a college education. Karen Sprague vice provost for undergraduate studies Quoted “The guy just came out of the crowd and grabbed it. I guess I just had time to think, ‘What’s going on?'” —Linda Colcott, who was carrying the Olympic torch through Frankston in southeast Mel bourne when a man jumped out of the crowd and grabbed it.OSA To day, Aug 7. “Sometimes you don’t need to be told if you’re right or wrong, you don’t need any thing fixed, you just want to be heard.” —Scott Lubbock, a trained drugand alcohol counselor who recently opened ‘‘All Ears.” Located above Eu gene’s L&L Market, Scott will listen to whatever a person wants to talk about The service is $5. The Register Guard, Aug 7. “i don't think any one can calculate the effect of hav ing a Jew on the ticket. If Joe lieberman were Episcopalian it would be a slam dunk” —EdRendell, De mocratic Party chairman, said last week, in response to the possible se lection of Lieber man as Gore’s run ning mate. Gore announced Mon day that Lieber man is his choice. USA Today, Aug 7. Word If you could choose anyone as president of the United States, who would it be and why? “[Green Party candidate] Ralph Nader because I think he’d be a good presi dent. I like what he stands for and his honesty. I think he’d really care about the people of this country.” —Junior Tova Moore journalism “I would choose [George W.] Bush. I think that he cap tures and articulates a polit ical movement greater than any other politician today. ” —John Adams political science s “ Ralph Nader because he represents all the values I stand for: human rights, civil rights, anti-corporation and the environment. I’d also vote for him because I want the Green Party to get 5 percent of the vote so at the next election they get funding. ” — Rachelle Hancock undeclared “Tom Green because he’s a funny guy and I’d think he’d have a great platform. He’d make the news inter esting. He’s my hero, I’d vote for him any day.” —Junior Gabe Silverman multi-media “Larry Flynt because out of everyone in the U.S., he probably upholds the con stitution the most. He fights for free speech whether people like what he’s saying or not.” — Senior Christy Lardy art history
