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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2005)
Oregon Daily Emerald Thursday, November 17, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 PARKER HOWELL EDITOR IN CHIEF SHADRA BEESLEY MANAGING EDITOR MEGHANN M. CUNIFF (AREI) PABEN NEWS EDITORS EVA SYLWESTER SENIOR NEWS REPORTER KELLY BROWN KAIY GAGNON CHRISTOPHER HAGAN BRITTNI MCCLENAHAN NICHOLAS WILBUR NEWS REPORTERS (OE BAILEY EMILY SMITH PARTTIME NEWS REPORTERS SHAWN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR SCOTT J. ADAMS LUKE ANDREWS JEFFREY DRANSFELDT SPORTS REPORTERS AMY LICHTY PULSE EDITOR TREVOR DAVIS KRISTEN GERHARD ANDREW MCCOLLUM PULSE REPORTERS A1 LEE SIATER COMMENTARY EDITOR GABE BRADLEY JESSICA DERLETH ARMY FFTFI COLUMNISTS TIM BOBOSKY PHOTO EDITOR NICOLE BARKER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER KATE HORTON ZANE RITE PHOTOGRAPHERS JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGN EDITOR JOHN AYRES MOLLY BEDFORD OSSIE BLADINF, KERI SPANGLER DESIGNERS CHRIS TODD GRAPHIC ARTIST AARON DUCHATEAU ILLUSTRATOR DAWN HEIFER REBECCA TAYLOR COPY CHIEFS JENNY DORNER BRYN JANSSON JOSH NORRIS JENNA ROHRBACHER MATT TIFFANY COPYEDITORS STEVEN NEUMAN ONLINE/SUPPLEMENTS EDITOR TIMOTHY ROBINSON WEBMASTER BUSINESS (541)346-5511 JUDY R1EDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER LAUNADECIUSTI RECEPTIONIST JILT ATKINSON LUKE BELLOTO RYAN JOHNSON SEBASTIAN STORLORZ NICK VICINO DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR MIA LEIDEI-MEYER SALES MANAGER KELLEE KAUFTHEIL JOHN KELLY LINDSEY FERGUSON WINTER GIBBS KATE HIRONAKA DESI MCCORMICK STEPHEN MILLER KATHRYN O'SHEA-EVANS CODY WILSON SALES REPRESENTATIVES BONA LEE AD ASSISTANT CLASSIFIED (541) 3464343 TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER LISA CLARK AN DO AMANDA KANTOR KER1 SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541) 3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER KIRA PARK PRODUCTION COORDINATOR JAMIE ACKERMAN CAJTLIN MCCURDY ERIN MCKENZIE JONAH SCHROGIN T ERRY STRONG DESIGNERS The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub lished daily Monday through Fri day during the school year by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc... at the University of Ore gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union The Emerald is private property Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. Aaron DuChateau | Illustrator ■ Guest commentary Clearing up facts about Transcendental Meditation I appreciate serious, informed de bate over new ideas and concepts. In that light, I offer the following facts in response to your editorial Thursday (“Meditation movement lacks proper credentials,” ODE Nov. 10). Fact: The National Institutes of Health has granted $20 million to study the health benefits of Tran scendental Meditation — in particu lar, benefits for reducing heart dis ease, hypertension and the effects of a stroke. This research has been pub lished in leading, peer-reviewed sci entific journals. The studies have been conducted by the NIH-funded Center for Natural Medicine and Pre vention at Maharishi University of Management as well as by more than a dozen other independent uni versities and health centers, includ ing Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los An geles and the West Oakland Health Center in Oakland, Calif. Fact: Three hundred students at American University in Washington, D.C., are now taking part in a two year study by the AU Psychology De partment on the effects of TM on brain, behavior and health. Similar studies are now under way on the ef fects of TM on ADHD, high blood pressure, grades and overall academic achievement, anxiety and depression, and substance abuse at middle schools, high schools and universities around the country. Fact: Research on the effects of col lective Transcendental Meditation practice has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Social Indicators Research and the Journal of Mind and Behavior. Fact: There is no scientific evidence to suggest that all meditation practices are the same. In fact, over the past 30 years, there have been several meta analyses distinguishing the effects of TM from other techniques, including studies published in the American Psychologist, the Journal of Clinical Psychology and the Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality. Fact: The course fee to learn Tran scendental Meditation is about the same as the cost of a 3-unit course at most universities. However, the TM course is not just one semester but in cludes personal instruction from a qualified TM instructor as well as a lifetime of follow-up meditation in struction at thousands of meditation centers around the United States and the world. The Lynch Foundation is providing full scholarships to students at schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. Fact: Transcendental Meditation is not a religion. It is taught and prac ticed by people (and clergy) of all reli gions — and to people with no reli gious beliefs. Well before scientists began to explore the effects of TM, a judge in New Jersey in 1979 conclud ed there were religious elements to the teaching of TM. However, as we all know, there is a long tradition in the American judicial system (see civ il rights in the south), where decisions are overturned with new evidence. Transcendental Meditation is offered to students of all religions in scores of educational institutions throughout the United States. David Lynch did not come to the University of Oregon to persuade anyone to meditate. He came to an swer questions about his filmmak ing, his creative process and his meditation practice. And to offer, if anyone is interested, to help provide them with the tools to “dive within.” It was — and is — a simple, genuine offer from a brilliant artist and a rare human being. Best wishes. Bob Roth is the Vice President for the David Lynch Foundation for Con sciousness-Based Education and World Peace INBOX Transcendental Meditation benefits outweigh cost As a meditator and a college instructor for more than 20 years, I felt disappointed by the Emerald’s assertion that something as “contro versial” and “pseudo-scientific” as the discussion of Transcendental Meditation by David Lynch and friends does not belong at the Uni versity of Oregon (“Meditation movement lacks proper credentials,” ODE Nov. 10). For the sake of balance I strongly suggest that, before readers of the Emerald take this blast by the editors against the validity of the research on TM to heart, they take a look at tm.org. There they will find refer ences to scores of articles with im peccable science that have been published in such peer-reviewed journals as The Scientific American, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Business and Health, and Science, and learn that the TM technique is “the most thoroughly researched program in the field of human development. The National Institute of Health has spent more than $21 million conducting research on the beneficial effects of TM on heart disease alone.” The benefits for workers, addicts, students and the elderly revealed by this compendium of research will act as an antidote to the tired old cliches you have used to describe a uniquely enriching and scientifically validated mental practice. I for one am thankful that the university setting is still the place where exploring controversial topics, weighing the value of scientific research, and welcoming the chal lenges presented by the David Lynches of the world belongs. Susan Williams Local Coordinator for the David Lynch Foundation Eugene ■ Editorial Diversity template is excellent for UO's future Witn tne uct. zi aaopuon oi a new uiveisuy policy, the School of Journalism and Commu nication has pre-empted the University admin istration’s failed attempt to draft an overarching plan. The school’s plan also provides the Uni versity with an excellent template for future planning attempts. The school’s plan differs in tone and scope from the rejected Five Year Diversity Plan draft, while still borrowing that plan’s objectives. In stead of characterizing diversity issues as a prob lem that can be rooted out in half a decade, the school of journalism has set small goals. These small steps are reasonable, rational, and although maybe immediately attainable, they are feasible. Although admirable and groundbreaking in many respects, the drafted Five Year Diversity Plan failed to clearly and concisely define what diversity is or why it is important. The SOJC plan, however, states that peoples’ “communication styles and viewpoints” are molded by the history and culture of the communities in which they live. Thus, diver sity is extremely important in the field of jour nalism because journalists must be able to convey information to people who see the same events differently. The SOJC plan rightly broadens the concept of diversity to include “social, political, cultural, eco nomic and intellectual diversity.” We are pleased to see “diversity” defined more broadly than the constricting concepts of race and ethnicity; this definition helps the policy avoid “tokenizing” cer tain minority groups, or trying to recruit people to fill a certain number of minority positions. The school’s policy could benefit from more specifics in some areas. Designating certain peo ple or committees to facilitate aspects of the plan, for example, might help the school build momen tum for change. Yet rather than having the University try to en gineer a massive, micro-managed restructuring, departments should be supplied with a broad di versity plan framework onto which they build their own individual policies. Many parts of the Five Year Diversity Plan could be adapted to provide this broad framework. Departments should be encouraged to focus on explaining and promoting diversity in ways that students with interests in specific subject ar eas can understand and apply to their academic and professional careers. Diversity should be im portant to all students, but it can be more under standable when put into a specific context. Departments can better attract instructors and students from diverse backgrounds by targeting those with specific academic interests. Further, department-specific programs such as the Summer Journalism Workshop for Minority High School Students can help bolster diversity for both departments and the University. Still, most students don’t come to college with a clear idea of which department they will receive a degree from, so creating a supportive, diverse campus environment is extremely im portant. The University’s general diversity plan addressed six areas of improvement, but giving some responsibility to the departments would allow it to focus on topics most pertinent to the general community. Splitting up the role of increasing diversity between the University and its departments will help put diversity in context. Some departments would likely need prodding and outside consul tation, but the Office of Institutional Equity & Diversity should provide this leadership. Changes must be made, but we’d rather start making small steps tomorrow on a departmental level than wait another year to start making big, infeasible plans.
