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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2001)
Monday Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com become as common as Saturday morning car ioons for a six-year-old ttending college has — it’s a part of life that is expect ed and awaited, and people are even treated differently if they choose not to participate. Higher education has become necessary because of the impor tance our society places on it. We believe that unless you earn a college degree, you won’t be suc cessful in the real world, and you won’t get a good-paying job. We don’t live in a time where jobs are earned through apprentice ships, and high school diplomas are at the top of our education standards. Instead, we live in a society that is well-educated because of this trend to ward higher education — a trend that should be considered valuable, re spectable and worthwhile to everyone, including students who think their time in college is just another four years of high school. There are several reasons why higher education is beneficial to our society and to us individual ly. Economically, earning a col lege degree is the most viable so lution to making a good living. People with college degrees make more money than those without. In 1999, the U.S. Census Bureau found that the annual av erage income for a person who graduated from high school was $24,572, while the average in come for those with a bachelor’s degree was $45,678. According to a Federal Document Clearing House press release, the gap in Today: Carol Rink writes in support of the college experience. Wednesday: jack Clifford writes in opposition to the college experience. earning po tential, over a lifetime, be tween a high school diplo ma and a bachelor’s de gree or higher exceeds $1 million. However, higher educa tion isn’t just about economics and how much money you’ll make after four years. College is a learning expe rience; here’s an environment where thousands of people with completely different back grounds come together for one reason: to earn a degree. Some times. this is the only thing you have in common with each other, but you learn to accept, appreci ate, and gain a new perspective on life because of these people. Real-life experience often fails to Giovanni Salimena Emerald teach you these things. In college, we also participate in activities that we wouldn’t do elsewhere. We attend football games and other sporting events with roommates and peers. We get involved in extracurricular activities and clubs. We play team sports. Sure, these are all things we can participate in without attending college, but the activities and organizations we give our time to are valuable because they are unique. There’s nothing like the combination of a college atmosphere and a group of students getting together out side of the classroom to do what they are passionate about and in terested in. Ultimately, higher education is not just grades 13 through 16 un less we allow it to be. College is what you make of it. Sure, you can go through class after class doing the minimal amount of work possible, but why bother? Doing the minimal amount of work is only a disservice to your self. Don’t you want to graduate college thinking you’re smarter? Knowing you’re smarter? Feeling like your money, time and energy was worthwhile? In college, we have the choice of classes to take, along with what time and with which pro fessors. There’s no reason to be unsatisfied with what we learn. If the material isn’t challenging enough, we have the option and are encouraged to talk to profes sors to discover new ways to look at things. We can take harder " * classes and learn about subjects we’ve never heard of. Compared to high school, college gives us the luxury to make our own deci sions — including when to go and what to study. So what’s the future of higher education? A Community Col lege Week article in January said 80 percent of new jobs in the near future will require post-second ary education. In addition, a re cent Oregon University System survey released this month showed that of 600 Oregon regis tered voters, 78 percent believe that in five years, it will be more important than it is now to have a degree in order to secure a well paying job. The importance of higher edu cation should not be lost in years to come, but instead encouraged and considered a vital part of one’s education because of the life lessons, experiences and op portunities college gives us. So next time you’re debating whether to sleep in and miss that history lecture, think of the $300 tuition money you’re spending on that one class, and think of your future without a college de gree. Carol Rink is the online editor for the Emerald and a member of the editorial board. Her views do not necessarily rep resent those of the Emerald. She can be reached at crink@gladstone.uoregon.edu. Letters to the editor Join debate; don't stop it Student-group funding (“Money Down the Drain,” ODE, Feb. 7) gives groups a better shot at achiev ing their goals. Few would argue with that. Although, many might disagree with the groups. How many student groups do you agree or disagree with? Who knows, you might even be a member of a stu dent organization that disagrees with another student organization. There is a wide variety of groups out there. But whether you take the opportunity or not, issues — and students’ organizing — will still ex ist, and you have the opportunity, as everyone does, to organize around issues too. You could work on issues that affect people across the state or the country or the world. Student fees help make those op portunities happen. It’s like having a ticket to a giant amphitheater where you can play a part. Still, some disagree not only with the student group but also with the idea of supporting groups at all. Would you deny your fellow stu dent the opportunity to express themselves in class? Would you close down the business school be cause you study science? Please, participate in the debate; don’t try and stop it. If something new frightens you, learn more about it. Knowledge like this, avail able in this “marketplace of ideas,” can change your mind or reaffirm the views you already had. You will find other people you agree with or respectfully disagree with, but you will always find people organizing. You will find people organizing in the real world too. Ryan Messick junior business Poll Results Every week, the Emerald prints the results of our online poll and the poll question for next week. The poll can be accessed from the main page of our Web site, www.dailyemerald.com. We encourage you to send us feedback about the poll questions and results. Last week's question How many hours a day do you spend on the Internet? Results: 99 total votes 1 -3 hours—39 votes, or 39.4 percent 4-7 hours—30 votes, or 30.3 percent 8 12 hours—11 votes, or 11.1 percent 12 hours or more—19 votes, or 19.2 percent That’s a lot of people spending 12 hours or more online. Sure, theonion.com is great, but don’t they have classes? This week’s question What has been the single most satisfying aspect ofyour education at the University of Oregon? The choices: Professors and curriculum Extracurricular activities Earninga degree There is no satisfying aspect ODE responds to cartoon controversy Our editorial cartoon that ran in the Feb. 9 issue (“The evolution of the redskin in America”), sparked several angry and concerned re sponses from readers, directed ei ther at the Emerald or at the car toonist, Frank Silva. While the individual reactions are respected, I feel as though there was some misinterpretation of the cartoon’s point. The images depict ed were not intended to debase Na tive Americans, but instead to pro voke outrage that the term “redskin” still survives in today’s lexicon. The Emerald’s editorial editor, Michael Kleckner, and I approved the cartoon for publication, believ ing that its harsh reality would make people think about how little the white-dominated culture has progressed in eliminating this de grading term. We apologize if that commentary was not made clear. The cartoonist also wished to re spond to those hurt or offended by his work, and those comments are printed below. Jack Clifford, Emerald editor in chief Racial insensitivity and the rights of indigenous peoples are issues I care deeply about. The point of my cartoon on Feb. 9 was to bring to light the history of a word as insensi tive and derogatory as any in the English language. The cartoon was also meant to stimulate awareness among readers of the repulsiveness of the fact that pop culture celebrates and markets this utterly insulting slur in the form of a mascot for the nation’s capital’s professional foot ball team (the last team to desegre gate, I might add). I hope the cartoon has inspired a healthy discussion re garding this insensitive hangover of the 20th century. What do you think? Please send comments to ftb@glad stone.uoregon.edu. CORRECTION The article “PFC debates Emerald, Philosophy club budgets—again" [ODE, Feb. 9] misstated the amount of annual fund raising generated by the Emerald. The dollar amount should have been approximately $800,000. The Emerald regrets the error.
