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RO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
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Friday.' member2,2001
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Michael J. Kleckner
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Yeste year's Editorial
Halloween
Halloween has come and
gone with hardly a
passing notice from
University students. It
seems true there were a number
of parties based loosely upon the
occasion, the most laudable in
our minds being the Sigma Alpha
Mu celebration for the children of
Pearl Buck School.
One of the most enterprising
fraternities added a new twist to
the trick or treat routine. Going
University
of Oregon
125th
ANNIVERSARY
Nov. 2, 1959
around to
different
women’s liv
ing organiza
tions, the
group would
demand a
hearty buss
from the girl
who an
swered the
door as ful
fillment of the treat. It is report
ed they met with outstanding
success.
Downtown the pace was a lit
tle swifter. Three gorgeously
dyed chickens squawked discor
dantly with one frightened hen
taking time out to lay an egg on
the sidewalk as she fled down
the street. It was a pathetic sight
however, no matter what you
think of chickens.
The movie houses were
crammed. Two sports cars raced
up Willamette Street, weaving
through crowded traffic. The
only thing they proved was how
ignorant drivers of flashy sports
cars can be.
The final episode occurred late
that night. A couple, strolling
about the fountain, in Eugene’s
city center, pointed laughingly at
the foam created from a box of
laundry soap dumped into the
pool. The young lady, fascinated
by the bubbles, began kicking at
them. One particularly vigorous
thrust with her foot sent her shoe
flying through the air. It landed
neatly in the center where it
bobbed far out of reach. The
maiden’s distress was relieved
however when her gallant escort,
shoes and stockings in hand,
waded out and retrieved it.
We hope the girl thanked her
hero properly afterward. She was
laughing too hard when we last
saw her being hurried away by
the fellow.
GTF is a J-O-B
Guest Commentary
Kay S.
Byber
“Man, I wanna be a math GTF!”
—Actual quote from a student, when told I
“only" teach one class per term
Not that I want to discourage anyone from
going to grad school or anything, but I think
there might be just a wee bit of misunder
standing among undergraduates as to just
what is involved in being an “overpaid
GTF,” as the Oregon Commentator referred
to us last week. So I thought I’d give a bit of
a rundown on the real scoop.
I am a student and a teacher at the same time.
On the student end, I take classes, do research
and study for huge exams—to the time of
about 20-40 hours a week. I also teach a class
each term. This means I give lectures, hold of
fice hours, write and grade exams, compute and
agonize over final grades, and organize a course
Web site, for another 16-20 hours a week.
GTF as teacher
Pop quiz: Which takes longest?
(a) Writing, proofreading and copying a 50
minute midterm
(b) Grading the midterm (for about 35 students)
(c) Writing make-up exams for two students
who overslept
Actually they all take about the same
amount of time, seven to 10 hours each. This
in the middle of having my own midterms to
take! This is why, heartless as it seems, I nev
er give make-up exams. I also grade over sev
eral days, to avoid insanity.
GTF as student
“Why would you want to study math?” I
am often asked with a sneer. “What’s it good
for, anyway?”
I am sure that many well-meaning students
truly don’t mean to insult me when they say
this. Maybe it’s some sort of weird way of con
veying admiration. Anyway, aside from its myr
iad applications in biology, chemistry, physics,
economics, statistics and every other science,
math is good for expanding your brain to under
stand abstract concepts. Think of it as
weightlifting for your mind.
And, despite popular opinion, even theoreti
cal math is beautiful. Algebraic topology, for ex
ample, has no practical use at all that I know of,
but I study it because it fascinates me to consid
er worlds that are totally unlike our own.
Believe it or not, I learn a lot by teaching.
GTFs unfortunately don’t get to decide what
should be taught. We’re handed a syllabus and
told, “You have 10 weeks. Good luck.” So part
of becoming a good teacher is figuring out what
to emphasize and what to let the students figure
out on their own. For example, in order to
demonstrate a new concept clearly, should I
avoid examples with a lot of messy algebra? Or
should I give harder examples that might pre
pare students better for the homework? Both
my teacher and student experiences affect my
decisions on these and similar issues.
Despite these challenges, I find teaching im
mensely rewarding. After straining my own
brain to learn the material required for my grad
uate work, it is often a refief to consider ideas I
have mastered. But the most satisfying aspect of
teaching is to see the fight of understanding in
students’ faces. It is an honor and a joy to bring a
great concept to your attention, and to see 35 si
multaneous flashes of epiphany.
Have a great year, and I’ll see you in class!
Kay S. Byler is a graduate teaching fellow in mathematics.
Letters to the editor
U.S. government trains terrorists
Every American knows by now that
Osama bin Laden is the current devil of
American foreign policy. He is the one who
seems to be behind the attacks of Sept. 11.
We are informed that he is a Saudi Arabian
from a wealthy family who holds to an
extreme fundamentalist version of the
Islamic faith. Hardly a likable fellow.
The only problem is, like all devils, he is
partly myth. Not that he doesn’t exist, or
for that matter, play a leading role within
certain terrorist networks! He is such a
power, but the various states now lining
up to volunteer in the “war against terror
ism” know quite well that he is not the
lynchpin in worldwide terrorism. He is
simply a major player specifically within
the terrorist networks that have associa
tions with Islamic fundamentalism.
But another fact that has been men
tioned, but not explained is that bin
Laden was once a CIA operative. He
learned what he knows from this intelli
gence agency of the U.S. government.
What was he trained for? To carry out ter
rorist activities for the CIA, or so one
would have to assume. Like so many of
America’s enemies of the past several
years, bin Laden is also a former ally who
has gone renegade. This is the sort of com
pany that all states seek, the sort of allies
every ruling class courts. Why, then, trust
our leaders when they call us to fight
these terrorists they trained?
Brenton Gicker
student
Lane Community College
Patriotism means respecting dissent
I agree with graduate student Sean
Walston’s description of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks as “an atrocity” (“Peace activists are
hypocrites,” ODE, 10/22). I'm less comfort
able with his description of peace activists as
guilty of “ideological arrogance” and of being
“hypocritical and intellectually dishonest.”
Walston argues that “others have paid
the ultimate price ... in defense of the
principles we as a nation hold dear.”
Freedom of speech is, of course, one of
those important principles; yet, in my
opinion, Walston and others who label
dissenters as unpatriotic dishonor those
who died by wanting to deny the freedom
they died for to citizens who question the
infallibility of our governmental leaders
or who examine the wisdom of their fre
quently self-serving policies.
The current revival of this sort of divi
sive and illogical nastiness posing as
patriotism is merely an updating of the
McCarthyism of the 1950s and the “Love
It or Leave It” nonsense of the ’60s and
’70s. True patriotism to me means sup
porting what's supportable and question
ing what isn’t.
I prefer this approach to blind lockstep
obedience. As an ex-Marine, a teacher for 39
years, a father of three University of Oregon
graduates and a grandfather, I fly the flag
proudly, but that doesn’t mean I want to hide
behind it or wear it as a blindfold.
Jerome Garger
Eugene
Peter Utsey
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