U.S. REPRESENTATIVE * 4tH DISTRICT * OREGON
PETER DeFAZIO
AN INVITATION
TO A TOWN HALL MEETING
Please come to one of my town hall
meetings to share your thoughts and
concerns about Social Security. Look
below for the location nearest you.
Eugene
Saturday, February 5
10:30 - 11:30 AM
EWEB Training Center
and Community Room
500 E. 4th Avenue
Springfield
Saturday, February 5
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Springfield City Council
Chambers
225 5th Street
For more information, please call 1-800-944-9603.
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Athletics, academics unite
BY ADAM CHERRY
NEWS REPORTER
The Athletics Department and the
rest of the University will be en
hancing the way they communicate
with one another in response to two
motions passed by the University
Senate last month.
The motions include directives re
quiring the athletic director to give
an annual “state of the athletic de
partment” speech and requiring the
Athletics Department to consult the
Intercollegiate Athletics Committee,
a group composed of faculty mem
bers and students, in several of its
decision-making processes.
In addition, the chair of the IAC and
the faculty athletics representative will
present annual reports to the Univer
sity Senate. A faculty member from
the IAC will be included on the search
committee when open searches for
new head coaches are conducted.
The Senate based its resolutions
on the findings of the President’s
Task Force on Athletics, which stud
ied the relationships between aca
demics and athletics from 2001 to
2004. The task force was created to
address mounting local and nation
al pressure for reform of collegiate
athletics at big-sports universities.
The findings of the task force,
which was headed by English pro
fessor Suzanne Clark and law asso
ciate professor Margaret Paris and
included Athletic Director Bill Moos,
were generally positive, Clark said.
“(Our final report) shows that
the U of O differs from other
institutions,” Clark said. “We
were surprised.”
According to the report, the Ath
letics Department has succeeded in
providing academic success for
athletes, and the fact that it is finan
cially self-supporting is “reason
ATHLETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY
MYTHS VS. REALITY
Myth: Athletics take money from academics.
Reality: The Athletics Department is self-sup
porting. It receives no money from the Universi
ty's general fund. The athletics programs at the
University are cheaper to the institution than
those of Ivy League schools or others with less
emphasis on athletics because of the self-sup
porting nature.
Myth: Athletics Department administrators are
over-represented on the Intercollegiate Athletics
Committee. The committee has a pro-athletics
bias.
Reality: Athletics Department administrators
who serve with the elected IAC members do so in
an advisory capacity only. They do not hold voting
power.
Myth: Student athletes don't perform as well as
other students in the classroom. Many drop out
or use the University only as a professional train
ing program.
Reality: Recent figures at the University show
athletes with a graduation rate of 62 percent, 4
percent higher than the general population. Only
an extremely small percentage of student ath
letes are on a track to compete in their sport on a
professional level.
Myth: Student athletes all pursue the same easy
majors.
Reality: The distribution of majors of student
athletes closely resembles that of their non-ath
lete peers. Of the top 20 majors at the University,
18 are also the most popular majors for student
athletes.
Myth: Student athletes lose their scholarships if
they’re injured.
Reality: It is the University’s policy to continue
scholarship support after career-ending injuries.
Source: Report and Proposals from the Univer
sity of Oregon Athletics Task Force 2001-2004.
for pride.”
“Our athletic programs do a re
markably good job of representing
the academic integrity of the Uni
versity,” University Senate President
and geography professor W. An
drew Marcus said.
The task force included represen
tatives from the Athletics Depart
ment, and the panel’s decisions
were made by consensus.
“It was a remarkable agreement,”
Clark said.
The Athletics Department was
unable to comment prior to the
Emerald’s deadline on Tliesday.
The bulk of the task force’s rec
ommendations for improvement
came in the examination of the
communication and governance
structure between the two areas of
the University.
“Although the governance struc
ture regarding athletics is not badly
compromised,” the report reads, “it
can be improved.”
Low levels of communication can
allow myths and rumors about ath
letic programs to circulate within
the University community. Myths
are part of the reason the task force
put an emphasis on the community,
Clark said.
“It’s important to keep the work
ing relationship between the faculty
and athletic department alive and
current,” she said. “We were deal
ing with myths rather than dealing
with reality, and we need to deal
with reality.”
Clark said there is “surely” ani
mosity between the University’s ac
ademic and athletic cultures.
“Some if it is because of real dif
ferences,” she said. The values,
SENATE, page 12
Professor: Gassama worked to end apartheid
Continued from page 1
States in 1975. He went to Virginia
Tech, where he received his Bachelor
of Arts degree. He then attended Har
vard Law School and passed the bar
exam in New York in 1985.
After Gassama finished school, he
joined TVansAfrica, a lobbyist human
rights organization, and worked to end
apartheid in South Africa. After Nelson
Mandela was freed in 1990, Gassama
headed the U.S. non-government
elections observation group for the
first election in South Africa. He
also recruited and trained 300
American elections observers. Then
he became a professor in conjunc
tion with his human rights work,
which takes him around the world.
“After Nelson Mandela was freed,
I was looking for something else
to do,” Gassama said. “It was a
big moment in human rights, and
it seemed like an important
moment to move into something
else. So I took advice to go into
teaching law. ”
Gassama has a contagious
passion for his job, colleagues
and students. He says his colleagues
are the reason he has stayed at
the University.
“I love my colleagues. They are
the most fair, extremely brilliant,
energetic group,” Gassama said.
“And my students: It’s really almost
intoxicating to hear from bright
young people who want to hear
your stories and are eager to learn.”
The stories that Gassama tells are
fascinating. He recently traveled to
Cuba for educational purposes and
had the opportunity to meet with
Castro. He said his conversation
with Castro is one that has stayed
with him.
“We asked him about racism in
Cuba and he said 'I’m so sorry to
tell you that in Cuba there is still
racism,’” Gassama said. “Then
we asked why. He said T do not
know. You should ask a psycholo
gist. It is not a problem with the
law, but you cannot change the
mind with the law.’”
Another recent trip took Gassama
back to his childhood home of Sier
ra Leone, north of Liberia on
Africa’s west coast, which has been
devastated by a 12-year civil war,
one of the worst wars in history.
Gassama had not been back for 27
years since he left in 1975 and took
a helicopter tour of the area, observ
ing the complete devastation.
He said virtually all the buildings
and homes have been destroyed,
but the house he was born in was
still standing.
“It was the most personally fulfill
ing trip,” Gassama said. “It was the
most exciting and the one that I
dreaded the most, but felt that I had
to do. It was an extraordinary mo
ment, going back to the house
where I was born. It was truly
something special.”
Gassama, who received the
annual award on Jan. 27 with three
others at the University, said
he doesn’t understand why he re
ceived the award, but his colleagues
certainly do.
“(Gassama) has been incredibly
instrumental in different human
rights issues,” law professor Garrett
Epps said. “But he is also a very im
portant guy inside the building and
does the things that you don’t get
awards for. He will be asked to han
dle many different types of situa
tions and will always do it. He has
kept things running here.”
The awards that bring Gassama
him the most pride aren’t given by
a committee.
Gassama drives his daughter, Fa
tima, to and from school every day
and calls her his life and joy. His
eyes light up and a smile spreads
across his face when he talks about
her. Her picture is displayed promi
nently on the center of his desk.
Gassama gets a similar look in his
eyes when talking about his stu
dents. He says that getting calls
from students is the most rewarding
part of his career.
“There is a guy that was in one of
my classes and is now in
Afghanistan,” Gassama said. “He is
dealing with mercy killings and
standing up for the law. I feel pride,
and it gives me so much joy to see
what my students are doing.”
He also has a post-it note on his
door that a student left him while
he was out, and Gassama said he
has left it up as a reminder to pray
for the student.
“Outside of my daughter, who is
my life and joy, my students make
me feel like my life is worth it
and my presence on earth
has meaning. ”
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