Uris: A protestor gone professor
by Scott Wyland
Feature Editor________________
.
Sitting, chatting, discussing
social issues with sociology in
structor, Joe Uris, is to ex
perience an immediate link with
the 1960’s.
This isn’t to say he’s an
anachronism - though his
somewhat shaggy beard, slightly
unrestrained hair and wire
framed glasses imply a less than
total sell-out of a 60’s political
statement fpr an 80’s fashion,
statement - but rather, he brings
to the 80’s classroom, insights of
the generation that was at the
forefront of a social upheaval so
explosive it re-shaped life, in the
twentieth century.
Uris holds a PH.D. in urban
studies, a Masters in sociology,
has written for the Oregonian,
Oregon Magazine, Willamette
Week, worked with the
Storefront Theater, and even
produced a play entitled “401/
toois” about death, TV and
violence.
Uris himself was once an ac
tivist that rode on the cutting
edge of change: “I was very ac
tive in the anti-war movement
and the civil rights movement.”
When asked if he thought his ac
tivism precipitated positive
changes, Uris, responded, “Yes,
not because they were mine but
because there was such a big
movement.”
Uris noted a change in the
values of students in the 80’s ver-
r
sus the students he encountered
back in 1970: “I began noticing
the change through the 70’s, and
by...I’d say the early 8O’s...I
can’t pinpoint it exactly, the
idealism of the 60’s started to
wane and short-term selfishness
began to take over.”
But in all fairness, Uris conced
ed that the recession of the early
1980’s caused “people to get
scared” and forced them to pur
sue a marketable means to sur
vive - like business - instead of
pursuing socio-political reforms,
which the economic prosperity of
the 60’s had allowed his genera
tion.
____________ ,
“Idealism of the 60’s
began to wane”
He also qualified that not all
students are politically inactive,
the media has simply “declared
the age of protest over and
shifted their focus off present
demonstrations.” He added,
“There’s less protests now than
the 60’s, but there’s a lot more
than what’s acknowledged.”
To the question of whether
schools adequately teach about
pressing social problems, Uris
answered with a flat “no,”
paused, then elaborated, “I
think teachers try, but have the
cards stacked against them.
They’re brought up to believe
that what they teach is true - a
lot of it is, but some of it isn’t.
IMI Domestic
■
issues
by Tammy Swartzendruber
Joe Uris - Sociology instructor
“There’s no objective
analysis; there’s no questioning
of the basic assumptions - for
instance, we’re the free world
and our enemies are communist
dictatorships or even doing the
pledge of allegiance in the grade
schools. Does anyone ever ques
tion what this really means?”
Uris’s favorite topic to write
about is pop culture, and with a
smile he jested, “like Bob Dylan
and the Grateful Dead and their
social significance.”
When asked to make a final
retrospect of the 60’s; Uris
reflected, “It was a more fun
time. It probably was very
tough if you were an adolescent,
but if you were an adult you
could really get into it.”
With another school year
before us, I’m sure all of you
have made some new resolutions.
I know I have. I won’t even begin
to list the things I have planned to
do differently than last year,
although I will tell you that
organization heads my list.
That’s right, I’m going to be
more organized. Now don’t
laugh. I even had my schedule
planned out ahead of time this
term. I also got a locker on
registration day instead of
waiting until half way through
winter term like last year.
I came to school feeling quite
good about all this until I
discovered I hadn’t read my
schedule right and one of my
classes ran four days a week in
stead of three days, as I had
originally thought. Oh well, at
least I had tried to have my
schedule ready. Actually, I didn’t
feel too bad about this, because
you see it really wasn’t my fault;
it was the computer’s fault - it
hadn’t printed the fourth day on
my printout. -
Trying to console myself with
this logic, I hurried to my locker
Instructors display their art
ii ■ by Julie Church
ATTENTION
COLLEGE
STUDENTS
Photographer
You may be eligible for a
two-year Air Force' ROTC
scholarship which can cover
tuition, fees and a book al
lowance plus $100 a
month. To qualify, you
must have at least two
years of college left and be
willing to serve as an Air
Force officer. For details
contact:
Captain Parker
283-7216
_____ AR FORCE
_______ ROIC
r
L eadership E xcellence S tarts H ere
_____________________
Clackamas Community Col
lege art instructors are display
ing their works from September
16 until October 22 in the Paul
ing Gallery on campus.
Their
works
include
photography, watercolor,
calligraphy,
ceramics,
sculpture, painting, and graphic
design. The faculty members in
volved are Les Tipton, Kevin
Forney, Nancy Travers, Leland
John, Rick True, Bill Garnett,
Fred Wilson, Nichy Templeton,
and Ellen Menesee.
regular gallery hours are from
8 am to 9 pm Monday through
Friday, and from 8 am to 3 pm
Saturday and Sunday. There is
no admission charge.
“In all reality things
like that are out of my
control”
Well, as I was saying, I went to
my locker that I had so
thoughtfully reserved, only to
discover that I had lost my key.
But here again one must realize
that in all reality things like that
are out of my control. What real
ly matters is that I was organized
enough to have gotten a locker in
the first place.
Now I hope you will all learn a
lesson from my experiences. In
spite of all your resolutions you
too have probably found it hard
to keep them. It can be rather
depressing to make resolutions.
Stop and think about it. How
many of you had planned to
clean out your closets and get
your fall cleaning done before
coming back to school? How
many of you had planned on los
ing weight this summer? And just
how many of you moms had
decided to take the summer off
and spend some “quality time”
with your kids? Did you really ac
complish all you had planned? If
you didn’t, don’t feel discourag
ed. It’s okay that you didn’t get it
all done. After all, what’s really
so great about making resolu
tions? ______________
“How many of you
planned on losing
weight this summer”
My resolve to be organized
didn’t help me at all. If I had
been less organized I would
have waited until the first day of
school to get my locker and then
I would have had a key. It’s as
simple as that. So my advice to
all of you, whether you’re a new
student or a returning student,
is to just enjoy yourselves. Have
fun this year. Explore new
things. Take challenging
classes. Keep an open mind.
Life is good and life is wonder
ful, and in order to get the most
out of it forget about self-
defeating resolutions. I wish
you all the best this year.
3uttezcup Jfozut
Phone 655 3555
The above painting is one of those featured in the college are
instructors’ show, currently on display in the Pauling Gallery.
Offer Good thru Oct. 6, 1987
to get my books for my first
class. By the way, I was already
10 minutes late for the class. But
that wasn’t my fault either. I ride
to school with someone else. If 1
could have driven myself I would
have been there on time and then
I probably wouldn’t have had to
wait half an hour at the
bookstore to buy some paper. It
must be understood here, that if I
had my own transportation, I
would have bought my paper
several days ahead of time.