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.