SMOKE
Dorianne Laux spins her magic Monday
night, in a reading from her new poetry
collection Smoke.Come celebrate with
us as Ms. Laux offers up the familiar
universe, giving it to us afresh.
Monday, Oct. 30th *7:30 P.M.
Browsing Room, Knight Library
FREE and open to the general public
REELECT VICKI WALKER
YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Vicki Walker Supports:
S Affordable Higher Education
✓ Oregon Need Grants & Student Child Care
y Continued Funding of Oregon Health Plan
y Consumer & Environmental Protections
The ONLY pro-choice candidate in HD 41
Vicki Walker, Proud
Parent of UO Students
REELECT
District 41 ■f'
P.O. Box 10314
Eugene. OR 97440
465-9720
www.continet.com/walker
walker
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DEMOCRAT
vwalker@continet.com
Authorized and paid for by Vicki Walker for State Representative
interested gM
IVl
Internship?
an
Attend our CDIP Orientation Meeting:
Thursday, November 2
EMU Alsea-Coquille-Metolious Rooms
3:30 ■ 5:00 p.m.
Sign-ups for interviews will be available following the orientation
on a first-come, first-served basis.
Position description available starting October 30 in 244 Hendricks Hall.
career development internship program.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON CAREER CENTER
For questions call 346-6001
515 High St Eugene open daily485-4224
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The Oregon Daily Emerald is always looking for young writers who want to
learn and grow at a real newspaper.
For information on how to freelance for the Emerald call346-551/.
Teaching America’s youth
■Teach for America places
college graduates in under
funded urban and rural
schools across the country
By Kristy Hessman
Oregon Daily Emerald
University senior and English
major Tami Daley wants to make a
positive difference in the lives of
children, which is why she is eager
to spend two years teaching in one
of the nation’s low-income schools
as part of the Teach For America
program.
“I am absolutely ecstatic about
the opportunity to teach kids who
need it,” she said.
Teach For America is an Ameri
corps program that recruits recent
college graduates from all majors to
commit to two years of teaching in
urban and rural under-resourced
public schools across the country.
At least 25 other University stu
dents attended an informational
meeting about Teach For America
last week in the EMU.
Chosen applicants, known as
“corps members,” are placed in one
of the 15 rural and urban sites
across the country, from New York
to California, to teach in under
staffed and impoverished commu
nities.
“The experience is an eye-opener
to me,” said Brett Wilson, a Univer
sity graduate and current corps
member. “I came from a middle
class white school that had lots of
money and good teachers, but what
you see is that education is not like
that for the majority of students in
this country.”
Wilson chose to continue teach
ing for an extra year after his two
year commitment ended. He is not
alone: According to TFA statistics,
about half the corps members go on
to teach a third year. Wilson is cur
rently teaching languages and litera
ture to third graders in an elemen
tary school in Oakland, California.
“When you first start, you are
learning as you go,” he said. “It’s
like learning how to fly a plane by
taking off.”
Applicants are not required to
have any previous teaching experi
ence, and according to recruitment
operations manager Dennis Chiuten
the majority of people who apply
are not education majors and have
never taught before.
“We usually pick people who
wouldn’t ordinarily decide to go
into teaching,” he said. “This adds
to the pool of outstanding individu
als who want to make a difference.”
Senior Lindsay Slechta attended
the meeting and said she is plan
ning to apply to this year’s program.
Slechta is a psychology major and
plans to become a school counselor.
“I was so excited when I found
out about the program,” she said. “I
have a little brother who learns
things slower, so I know what it is
like for these kids to need these
teachers.”
Before corps members begin
teaching at their sites, they are re
quired to go through a five-week in
tensive training course in Houston
during the summer.
During the first week, the teacher
trainees learn different tools and
class management techniques, and
by the second week, members are in
the classroom teaching in Houston
summer high school and elemen
tary school programs. In the
evenings, they attend teaching sem
inars.
“It is intense, but it is good solid
training,” Chiuten said. “Some peo
ple have said that the TFA training
is more effective than masters
courses.”
Corps members rank their prefer
ences by city, and Chiuten said ap
proximately 85 percent of members
receive their first choice. Once
placed at a school, members receive
the same salary and benefits as the
other teachers in their schools. Af
ter completion of the two-year peri
od, they receive a stipend of about
$9,500, which can be applied to
past loans or future graduate school
tuition.
Last year, the program received
24 applications from University
graduates, ranking it third among
the 60 West Coast schools that par
ticipate in the program.
And while many people apply,
not everyone is accepted.
According to Chiuten, only about
25 to 33 percent of the applicants
are accepted, and many who apply
are from prestigious colleges on the
East Coast.
“We look for people who display
outstanding achievements academi
cally and extracurricularly,”
Chiuten said.
While most members do not be
come lifetime teachers, wherever
they go after the program, they have
the background and experience in
education, Chiuten said.
“They have seen the severe prob
lems with education in this country
and will be lifelong advocates of
promoting education,” he said.
Application deadlines are Oct.
30, Jan.16, and Feb. 26. Applica
tions can be picked up at the Career
Center or the Office of Multicultural
Affairs, or can be downloaded from
the Teach for America website at
www.teachforamerica.org. More in
formational meetings should be
held on campus within the next
year.
■ With the help of an
interpreter, Ajiza Mango
detailed the horrors of life
under the Indonesian militia
By Beata Mostafavi
Oregon Daily Emerald
Ajiza Mango was only a year old
when her family fled from her
hometown of Bahagia in East Tim
or to live in the nearby mountains.
After Indonesia invaded East Tim
or in 1976 for
economic and
political rea
sons, Mango’s
family, along
with many oth
ers, went into
hiding from the
militia.
Through in
ter prefer
Agatha Sc
maedick, a re
cent International Studies Univer
sity graduate and tour coordinator
for the East Timorese Action Net
work (ETAN), Mango spoke to
about 80 people Friday in
Willamette Hall about her frighten
ing experience of living in East
Timor during the 24 years of inva
sion.
Mango, who has since earned an
economics degree from the Univer
sity of Sebelas Maret in Solo Java,
an island in Indonesia, came to the
U.S. to present her story to people
in 32 different cities. ETAN, an or
ganization that supports human
rights issues for East Timor, organ
ized her visits to help encourage
people to write to Congress and in
sist that military aid to the United
Nations be halted until refugees can
return home safely and reconstruc
tion efforts increase. Her visit to Eu
MANGO
Economist speaks about East Timor
gene was sponsored by the
Women’s Center, Black Student
Union, Sexual Assault Support Ser
vices, ASUO, Survival Center, Al
liance for Democracy, Student Life
and the YMCA.
Mango shared her memories of
watching family members, includ
ing one of her sisters, and other res
idents die from illnesses resulting
from difficult living situations or
being killed by the Indonesian mili
tia.
Mango, a founder of the East
Timorese Women’s Forum for
Peace, also emphasized the vio
lence and sexual assault many East
Timorese women endured. She
talked about women who were co
erced into marrying Indonesian sol
diers or becoming “comfort” wives
and constantly being sexually vio
lated.
“Women were systematically
raped and had to take care of chil
dren when they didn’t know who
the fathers were,” she said.
When Mango was four years old
and malnourished, her family left
the mountains and moved to Dili,
the capital of East Timor. During
this time, a few guerilla groups
formed to resist the invasion and
two women’s organizations also
joined in the struggle for independ
ence.
Last year, after 78 percent of the
people in the country voted for a
referendum to become completely
independent from Indonesia, Man
go’s family went to the East Timo
rese House of Diocese, where the
Bishop lives. It was attacked by the
Indonesian militia.
“I remember seeing soldiers en
ter the house and hitting anyone in
the way,” she said. “The militias
were shooting their rifles over my
head. I was traumatized but kept
telling myself I had to be strong for
my little sister and mother while
hearing the sound of the shots go
ing over my head ... I can never for
get that sound.”
Scmaedick said she admires
Mango for sharing these experi
ences and is happy to help her tell
her story.
“It’s amazing that someone who
has faced such trauma can talk
about it so calmly,” she said. “It just
shows her courage and determina
tion for the truth to be heard.”
Mango said the country’s recon
struction and attempts at seeking
justice for crimes committed
against the people has been a slow
process, and the U.N. hasn’t made
a great effort to speed it up.
She mentioned that many
schools and infrastructures haven’t
been restored and the country has a
75 to 80 percent unemployment
rate. She added that the U.N. has
been setting up a new government
without local people’s involve
ment. Women who have been sex
ually assaulted also don’t have any
way to get legal assistance for
crimes committed against them.
Elisha Harig-Blaine, an OSPIRG
campus organizer, said the speech
was eye-opening in many ways.
“Events like this help raise
awareness of how fortunate we are
to be in this country,” he said. “It
also raises the feeling of responsi
bility to help others and to act on
behalf of people who can’t act as
strongly themselves.”
Calla Schmidt, a freshman geol
ogy major, said Mango’s presenta
tion shed light on issues that have
been hidden in the media.
“I can’t believe news coverage
about this has been so little,” she
said. “Listening to her speak made
me aware of so many issues in East
Timor I hadn’t heard much about
before.”